Cross Roads Cemetery and Church
On a knoll crowned with cedars and oaks, four miles northeast of Marion, is a little burial place of interest. Many graves are there but almost none have been added since my father, William Buckley, bought the 200 acre farm on which it stands, sixty-four years ago. You may read on the old monuments names of pioneers in Williamson County, Cutrell, Sanders, Odum. Three soldiers graves are there, and bear a flag each Decoration Day. One is that of Henry T. Lee, mounted gunman, War of 1812, who was an ancestor of our own fellow-townsman of Marion, Prof. Leon Grant.
This old burial ground is under the care of the federal government, which assures its perpetuity. In 1940 the owners of the Buckley farm, Frank and Alice Alexander gave two acres of ground for the enlargement of the cemetery and a chapel site. The lots in the burial ground will be free, but there will be a small annual payment for maintenance. The deed has been made to an incorporated board of six members: Fred Fosse as chairman, and Guy Jackson, Herman Parks, Prof. Leon Grant, John Wallace and Frank Alexander. They have elected a very efficient secretary- treasurer in the person of Mrs. Ruth Parks. She has a beautifully-kept record of every cent given, (some by little children of the Sunday School), of every dollar raised by the young people in the school by ice cream festivals, and of every day’s work donated. Also of larger gifts by individuals, mostly members of the board.
To Mrs. Parks, Guy Jackson, Mrs. Flossie Jones and others, belongs the credit for the maintenance of a Sunday School in the old church on the hill near Buckley creek, for eight years. And when the building was destroyed by storm it was Herman Parks and Guy Jackson who got help and salvaged what material they could from the wreck. This is piled up on the new site, north of the old cemetery opposite the Cross Roads school house. The members of the board say they will build as soon as enough funds are secured but they desire to fasten no debts upon the young people of the Sunday school.
Mr. Wallace’s secretary carefully estimated the cost of the chapel at thirteen hundred dollars, of which there remains some five hundred to be raised. At the recent homecoming of the Cross Roads School, Mr. Will White and others pledged their help. Men who could not subscribe money have promised work as soon as the building is begun. It will be on the line of rural electrification.
The school, which stands across the road, has just bought two acres north of the school building for an athletic field. Altogether, this is a promising development for the Cross Roads neighborhood, church and school cooperating. There are 22 pupils in the school and Mrs. Stephens, the teacher, does good work.
I heard a state welfare worker, Mrs. Alma Pearce, earnestly plead for the help of every school and Sunday school in rescuing the underprivileged children of town and country from illiteracy and immorality. I believe the projected building of the Cross Roads chapel is a move for the enrichment of rural life and I appeal to our friends to help us. The church is to be inter-denominational, dedicated to God and home, and our dear native land.
By Alice Buckley Alexander October 1, 1941
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Dozens of young men who attended Cross Roads served in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and in Viet Nam. Of that number, Clyde Sheretz died in World War I and Adolph Zoeller, Jr. was killed during World War II on D-Day June 6, 1944, during the invasion of France.
The following names were taken from the existing grave markers in the old cemetery:
1869-1873 Atwood, Miles 1837-1856 Manning, Martha
1802-1858 Cutrell, J. ? – ? Odum, Dempsey
1785-1850 Cutrell, Jemima 1830-1890 Odum, Eliza
1837-1856 Cutrell, Margaret 1869-1869 Odum, Marion
1802-1851 Cutrell, Margaret ? – ? Odum, Mary Jane
1839-1841 Cutrell, Sarah 1824-1876 Odum, Moses
1816-1873 Cutrell, William ? -1870 Odum, Sally
1841-1850 Lee, Andrew Jackson 1819-1885 Odum, William
1844-1892 Lee, Eliza Jane 1836-1887 Sanders, Daniel
1789-1869 Lee, Henry T. 1836-1887 Sanders, H. S.
1821-1880 Lee, Jane Elizabeth 1852-1888 Sanders, Leticta
1806-1869 Lee, Jane Sanders 1877-1885 Troutman, Mamie
1851-1871 Lee, Lewis Henry 1844-1877 Troutman, Mary
1854-1876 Luckey, George
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Daniel Sanders and Moses Odum were both members of Company I, 128th Infantry during the Civil War.
Henry T. Lee was a veteran of the War of 1812. He fought with Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.
(Extracted from the book Cross Roads School, Bob Jackson, 1984, available at the Williamson County Historical Society Book Store)