Pratt Cemetery - Idlewild, TN - U.S.A. - Worldwide Cemeteries on Waymarking.com

Pratt Cemetery is located in the Idlewild, TN community. At one point it was the cemetery for Harmony Primitive Baptist Church which was located near the intersection of Old Harmony Road and Buddy Neill Road. In 1952 Harmony was relocated to Idlewild Hollyleaf Rd where Walnut Grove Road ends.

On the back of the granite cemetery sign is inscribed:

THIS LAND OF REST OWNED BY
CHICKASAW INDIANS
JAMES ARBUCKLE DEEDED TO
WILLIAM C. PRATT 1849
WILLIAM WILLIAMSON DEEDED TO
HARMONY PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH
1897

On a flat rock next to the cemetery bell is inscribed:

In memory of:

William Brown
1897 - 1982
&
Bertie Lee (Crocker)
1902 - 1983
ARNOLD

For their generous contribution
to the perpetual care of
PRATT CEMETERY

Approximately 170 are interred at Pratt Cemetery. The exact number is unknown due to tombstones that have broken, decayed, or in some cases were never placed. One example is Mary Jane "Mollie" Richards Rodgers who died in 1916.

Mary Jane was married twice. The second time was to Francis Marion ROGERS, son of Cantrell B. and Frances Rogers. Francis Marion was a Baptist minister, and a carpenter, and they had six children. They located near the Campground
community where Francis Marion became a member of Pleasant Green Masonic Lodge and was later past master of that Lodge.

Mary Jane died during the big snow of 1917 and because of severe weather the funeral procession was not able to reach Poplar Springs Cemetery where her two husbands were buried and where she wished to be laid to rest. On the way, the snow was so deep and the drifts even deeper, they had to turn back and choose a site at Pratt's Cemetery. Men from her family, and neighbors alike, built a huge fire to melt the snow and thaw the frozen ground enough to dig a grave at "Pratt's". This had become a time consuming process to wait until the snow was melted, the ground thawed and the ashes removed before the digging of the grave could be done. It had been a long cold, hard day and was midnight or after when Mary Jane was finally laid to rest. Her family buried her there with good intentions to remove her remains at a later date and rebury them at Poplar Springs Cemetery near one of her late husbands, as she had wished. However, the grave site had not been marked sufficiently and was lost among other fresh unmarked graves. Her body was never removed and it is not known exactly where she is buried at "Pratt's".

Directions:
Go to Idlewild which is between Bradford and Milan. Turn at the old Idlewild Stores onto Idlewild Hollyleaf Road.
Go 3.7 miles, turn right on Lyndell Hayes Rd. Go 0.6 mile to Pratt Cemetery Rd.
Turn left and go 0.1 mile. Pratt Cemetery is on the right on top of a hill.

Web sites:
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City, Town, or Parish / State / Country: Not listed Approximate number of graves: Not listed Cemetery Status: Not listed Cemetery Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Post an original, un-copywrited picture of the Cemetery into this Waymark gallery, along with any observations about the cemetery.

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