Chalybeate Springs Cemetery

These are photos taken at Chalybeate Springs Cemetery on 20, 21 and 22 June 2002. Notice the dense foliage and undergrowth in the cemetery. Not normally a place that I would go alone, but hey.... it was mostly family there.

When you first approach the cemetery you see this gloomy area. At least ninety percent of the cemetery is under the cover of the trees. Chalybeate Springs Church was also in this area.

Another view into the cemetery from the South. There at least three visible headstones in this shot. Personally I would not want to stumble upon this place on a moonlit night with the crickets chirping and a light wind blowing. As interested as I was in the area and the cemetery, I did not wish to camp here overnight either.

Another view looking South into the cemetery. When I took this I was the only person for at least a mile in the area, and my cell phone had no service. Notice the dirt road at the very left of the picture, the dirt road ends just to the left of where I am standing. It is gravel up to this point, approximately half a mile off the paved road.

Looks like a nice place for a picnic.

This is the newest section from what I could tell.

Elizabeth is in the newer section.

Looking East from the entrance to the cemetery

Is anybody out there.......?

Looking back to where the previous picture was taken. Nobody was here.

Under all that growth there are flat headstones everywhere. This was taken with 400 speed film. It is really much darker than it appears in this and the following pictures.

Francis Jett Sigler. He is deep into the cemetery. This one should be standing up instead of laying down. Considering that this stone is approximately three feet tall, there was no way I could return it to it's proper place.

Francis married Lucy Shelton. Lucy was Elijah Franklin Shelton's daughter, Thomas Shelton's brother and Thomas Jefferson Shelton Jr.'s uncle and later was appointed his guardian just before T.J. Jr. married Elizabeth Ellen Melton.

I am putting this picture up to show how dark it was in this area of the cemetery. This was shot with 400 speed film and my camera set on an aperture priority setting so I could get the most light. I needed a tripod or a flash to be able to get this. This was taken at 1:30 in the afternoon. This headstone belongs to Hulda Sigler, who was Jesse's wife. T.J. Jr. wrote numerous letters to Jesse, and subsequently they were used in court to grant Elizabeth Ellen Melton a divorce after T.J. Jr. ran off and left her.

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