Many prominent Wilcox County, Alabama pioneers are buried in the historic Camden Cemetery

Confederate monument in Camden, Ala.

Tomorrow (Friday) marks 14 years since the Camden Cemetery was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register. It was on June 17, 2008 that officials with the Alabama Historical Commission added the Camden Cemetery to the register, recognizing its historic significance to Wilcox County and Alabama. Currently, there are 11 Wilcox County cemeteries on the register, but the Camden Cemetery is no doubt the largest.

To date, the Camden Cemetery includes nearly 1,600 marked graves and possibly many more that aren’t marked with a headstone. Those of you who have been to this cemetery before will know that it’s hard to walk very far without passing graves of great historical significance to Wilcox County. In fact, many prominent early Wilcox County pioneers can be found within the confines of this historic cemetery.

A week or so ago, I found myself in the area and pulled over for a quick look around the cemetery. My first stop is always the grave of Margaret Beck, who died in 1822. She was the sister of U.S. vice president William Rufus King, and I believe that her grave is probably the oldest marked grave in the cemetery.

Some might say that the grave of Lt. Joseph Morgan Wilcox is the oldest, and they might be right. Wilcox was killed by Indians in 1814, and most sources say that he was originally buried at Fort Claiborne in Monroe County. Today, some people say that his remains are still at Claiborne in an unmarked grave, while others say that his body was moved to Camden at some point in the distant past.

Not far from the grave of Lt. Wilcox, you’ll find the grave of Dr. John Daniel Caldwell, who was one of the most influential citizens in Camden’s history. Not only was he Camden’s first mayor, but he also named the town “Camden” after his hometown of Camden, South Carolina. Prior to the name change, Camden was known as Barboursville.

A short walk from Caldwell’s grave is one of the more interesting graves in all of Alabama, a pile of bricks that marks the mass grave of the victims of the Orline St. John riverboat fire. About 120 people were aboard the riverboat on March 1, 1850 when sparks from a furnace ignited a fire that sank the Montgomery-bound riverboat. Forty people died in the accident, including all women and children on board. The incident was reported worldwide at the time.

From there, before leaving, I walked over to the Confederate Memorial Statue, which was erected in April 1880. Built to honor the Confederate dead from Wilcox County, the monument was erected by the Ladies’ Memorial and Wilcox Monument Association. It has sat there silently for 142 years, a solemn reminder of the terrible war that sent so many citizen soldiers to an early grave.

The few historic graves mentioned above just scratch the surface of what you’ll find when you visit the Camden Cemetery. If you a local history buff, it behooves you to visit this cemetery, especially if you’ve never been there before. After a few minutes of walking around this cemetery, you’ll quickly see why the Alabama Historical Commission placed it on the state’s historic cemetery register.