Wilcox County's McWilliams Cemetery recently added to Alabama Historic Cemetery Register

McWilliams Cemetery in Wilcox County, Ala.

The Alabama Historical Commission released its updated Alabama Historic Cemetery Register listings on Nov. 15, and I was pleased to read that another Wilcox County cemetery had been added to that prestigious list of historic cemeteries.

According to the historical commission, the McWilliams Cemetery at McWilliams was officially added to the state’s Historic Cemetery Register on Oct. 23. This register is the state’s official list of historic cemeteries in Alabama, and the commission considers historic cemeteries of this type particularly worthy of preservation and appreciation and therefore deserving of the special recognition of being placed on the register. The register is updated annually.

While reviewing the register, it occurred to me that I’d never actually been to the McWilliams Cemetery myself, so I took a little field trip to McWilliams on Wednesday morning. I couldn’t find directions to the cemetery before heading out, but I figured that I could ask someone for directions when I got to McWilliams, which is what I did. While easing down Holly Road in McWilliams, I came upon a young lady who was out walking with half a dozen dogs, and when I asked her where the cemetery was located, she gave me directions that were spot on.

She got me pointed in the right direction, and I took Holly Road on around to Cedar Street, hung a left and continued on to the stop sign at State Highway 21. From there, I could see across the blacktop a tall red brick column with a “McWilliams Cemetery” sign on top, marking the easy-to-miss entrance to the graveyard. I crossed the highway, drove past the brick column, continued down the short driveway to cemetery and parked outside the main gate.

I stepped out of the truck and stood there for a minute listening. There was a touch of fall chill in the air, but it was bright and sunny. A couple of crows passed overhead, headed north on some important errand, as I stepped inside the cemetery.

I spent the next half hour or so exploring the cemetery and found numerous graves that were well over a century old. The oldest grave that I found was that of George L. Lamkin, who passed away at the age of 32 on Feb. 4, 1860, about nine months before Abraham Lincoln was elected president for the first time. Visitors to the cemetery will also find a large Woodmen of the World monument near the main gate and several graves bearing Masonic symbols.

Visitors will also find several fluttering flags and military headstones that mark the graves of veterans buried within the confines of this historic cemetery. A survey of those graves showed men who’d served in the Confederate army as well as in World War II and Vietnam. In all likelihood, there are a number of other veterans buried in the cemetery without military markers.

Perhaps the most unique grave in the entire cemetery is the distinctive above-ground tomb containing the remains of Samuel F. Parker Sr. and Jennie M. Parker, who passed away five years apart in the 1930s. According to Sherry Johnston, a past president of the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance, this unique type of grave is called a “double crypt.” The lid on this whitewashed tomb looked enormously heavy, and one is left to wonder why the Parkers chose this unique style of grave.

Not far from there is a large committal shelter, supported by 14 columns, containing a solitary, wooden pew. I stepped inside and noted that someone has taken steps to preserve this old structure by having concrete bases poured around the bottom of each column. The only other thing of note that I saw beneath this shady structure was a granddaddy longlegs, picking his way down one of the white posts, on his way to important matters elsewhere.

In the end, if you’d like to see this historic cemetery for yourself, it’s not hard to find. If you’re coming from Camden, take State Highway 10 east to Oak Hill, then cut south on State Highway 21. You’ll pass through Caledonia and as you enter McWilliams start looking for the 72-Mile marker. Just past this green and white marker, you’ll see on the west side of the highway a single brick column bearing the sign for the cemetery. The entrance to the cemetery is very close to the Wilcox-Monroe County line, so if you cross over into Monroe County, you’ll need to turn around because you’ve gone too far.