Decatur City Cemetery

History

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The Decatur City Cemetery is a historic graveyard within the City of Decatur, Alabama.

Located roughly in the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 13 of Township 5 South and Range 5 West. Technically, the newer addition to the cemetery is in the SW ¼ of the NW ¼ of Section 18 of Township 5 South and Range 4 West. For reference, on the USGS quad sheets the main part of the cemetery is on the Trinity map, and the newer part is on the Decatur map.

It is currently divided into seven (7) sections. Original, Brown, Cantwell, Cowan, Decatur Land Co., Humes and Sterrs.

History

The Banks Family Cemetery on Lafayette Street NW was getting full in 1853. Calvin Brown asked "Where are we going to put the dead?"

On a few acres of gently rolling hillside that year, Brown buried the first of two people in what would become Decatur City Cemetery.

Maria Ford's burial, on 2 July 1855, was the first to be recorded, although other burials preceded hers, as early as 1851.The cemetey now covers more that 41 acres, with some 35,000 graves. The Sterrs Addition is 7.9 acres. All the land was donated and the cemetery is, now, managed by the Decatur Parks and Recreation Department.

The cemetery is unque in that from 1855 until 1979, the Brown family was involved with the management and control. The Wyker family provided support at various times and all the bookkeeping was done at Wyker's Hardware on Bank Street for many years.

The Brown's connection in the management of the cemetery was this:

• From 1853 until 1910, Calvin Brown ran the cemetery;
• From 1910 until 1942, Frank Calvin Brown was in charge;
• From 1942 until 1977, Lewis Carlton (Pinky) Brown ran it;
• From 1977 until 1979, Paul Jones (Bud) Brown Jr. ran it.

In 1897, Decatur Cemetery Association, which for many years had been in charge of the city cemetery at the end of Memorial Drive, was reorganized, and took out papers of incorporation. Interest in the association, which characterized itself as "a benevolent and burial society" had apparently lagged among members to judge by an entry in the minutes of August 16, 1884, which stated that "The president congratulated the members on so many being present after so long a time elapsing since the last meeting which was in March, 1879". The president at that time was J.W. Jones, Daniel L. Downs was Treasurer, J.T. Banks, Secretary, and families listed among members were those of Harris, Wade, Brown, Cartwright and Thomas. Following the death of J.W. Jones, W.W. Littlejohn was elected President, in a meeting held at the Bank of Decatur on May 5, 1885, and a committe was appointed to attend to fence repairs and other improvements. In 1892, the price for all lots was increased to $10.00. Plans were made in 1897 to donate a portion of the cemetery to a colored burial association which was being organized.

The meeting for reorganization was called by Pres. Littlejohn on May 7, 1897; a charter was adopted, a committee appointed to compile the by-laws and the certificate of organization was duly filed in the office of the Probate Judge. The trustees at this time were: C.C. Harris, W.W. Littlejohn, M.T. Cartwright, Calvin Brown, James E. Penney, Charles A. Bassett, W.E. Skeggs, John D. Wyker, and John T. Banks. C.C. Harris became President of the association in 1907, and vacancies on the board were filled by W.H. Long, W.B Shackelford, A.A. Hardage, B.W. Malone. Others who have since served as trustees and officers through the years include F.C. Brown, L.B. Wyatt, R.H. Wolcott, John W. Wyker, Lewis C. Brown, John W. Wyker, Jr., Paul J. Brown, Paul J. Brown, Jr., and Peggy Brown Fite.

The joint effort of the Brown and Wyker families failed to provide adequate funds to operate the cemetery, and in 1979, the City of Decatur took control.

The Cemetery Today

The City of Decatur - Parks & Recreation Department - manages and maintains the cemetery today. DO NOT contact them for historical-burial information.