MOUNT MUNCIE CEMETERY--HIGGINSVILLE, MO

On the weekend of February 11, 2020, one of our committee members, Fred Smith drove through the cemetery and saw that there was damage to five tombstones/markers. Our committee alerted the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office and a report was filed. It appears that the damage was caused by a horse that entered from the front of the Brand Cemetery into the Mount Muncie Cemetery. We still are seeking any information about who may have done this type of vandalism.

The committee met and hired the Kidwell Granite Works Company that is from Versailles, MO to do the repair work. Jimmy, Tyler, and Wendell came to assist us. We are so happy with the results and the information that we learned about tombstone setting, how to get information from a tombstone that has writing that is difficult to read, and how to clean the different types of stones.

Mount Muncie Cemetery Committee members are Bishop William Thompson, chairperson, Fred Smith, vice-chairperson, Alice Elmore, secretary, Joyce Haynes (finance) , Arron Haynes (finance), Linda Smith (finance), Earl Elmore, Reverend Glenn Elmore, Reverend Wilbur Conway, Rowan Haynes, and Ralph Collins.

Here are some pictures of the team doing restoration work today.

Leveling work

Angel was cracked and glued to restore.

Jimmy used rubbing paper and a tennis ball to find out writing on tombstone.

COMMEMORATION SERVICE FOR UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS
(U.S.C.T.), UNION SOLDIERS

The Lafayette County Juneteenth Foundation will be honoring three United States Colored Troop (U.S.C.T) Union Army veterans who are buried in the Mount Muncie Cemetery which is south on Shelby Road in Higginsville, MO. We will be honoring these soldiers on June 14, 2019 at 3 pm during a special commemoration service. Dr. Joahn Hall of the Howard A. Hall Foundation and the Buffalo Six Ranch in Richmond, MO will be assisting by providing a riderless horse tribute.

All of the soldiers were born enslaved and died as free men. We honor them for their sacrifices to end slavery, America's horrific institution.

“...Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us, sing a song full of hope that the present has brought us; facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won...”

(excerpt from song titled “Lift Every Voice” by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson).

Joseph Johnson was born ca. 1842 died on November 16, 1914. He was born in Virginia and he died in Lafayette County, MO. Johnson was married to Winnie Johnson and he worked as a janitor. No other information about his parents is known.

Joseph was a member of the 13th Regiment Heavy Artillery. This regiment organized at Camp Nelson, KY, on June 13, 1864. It was attached to the Military District of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to February, 1865, and to the Department of Kentucky, to November 1865. The regiment served in garrison duty at Camp Nelson, Smithland, Lexington and other places in Kentucky until November 1865. It mustered out on November 18, 1865.
SOURCE: civilwararchive.com”

Perry Parker was born ca. 1842 and the date of his death is unknown. He was married to Eliza Parker. Perry worked as a farmer. The names of children were Minnie, Lawson, Frances, Nedore, Rebekkah, and Houston. Eliza died in 1927 in Higginsville, MO and is buried in the Mount Muncie Cemetery and was a widow at the time of her death. In a February 11, 1910 article in the Higginsville Advance, listed that the body of Frances Jones, Negro which was brought from Centerville, IA., Thursday was buried in the Negro cemetery here Saturday. The funeral was at the home of her mother. Eliza Parker.

“Perry Parker was a slave owned by Daniel Parker. In November of 1863, at the age of 22, he enlisted at Lexington, MO in the Union army. He was immediately sent to Benton Barracks in St. Louis and became part of the 62^nd USC Inf. The company was organized as Co. “D” in the 1^st Colored MO Volunteers on Dec. 9, 1863. On January 22, 1864 the company left Benton Barracks on for New Orleans, LA on a steamboat. The boat sank at St. James Parrish, but all on board survived. The unit arrived at Port Hudson, MS on Feb. 14, 1864 where they were stationed until Oct. 5, 1864 when they were ordered to Brazos, Texas. This unit saw active duty in what is widely believed to be the last battle in the Civil War at Palmetto Ranch, TX. After the war the company did various duties in Texas until March of 1866 when they were mustered out of the service. Perry’s unit, the 62^nd MO USC Inf., is credited with creating Lincoln University in Jefferson City. These men donated part of their pay to leave a legacy of learning that is still in operation today.”

Charles Smith was born ca. 1844. and died on January 21, 1926. He was born in Virginia and died in Hgginsivlle, MO. He was a widower at the time of his death and worked as a janitor. Arthur Smith was an informant on the death certificate. Charles Smith's father was Manuel Workcuff who was born in Viriginia.

Smith was a slave owned by David Smith in Cooper County, MO. At the age of 18 he enlisted in the Union army. He was mustered into the 83^rd Regimental Infantry at Fort Scott, KS in July of 1863. The 83^rd infantry was organized from the famous 2^nd Kansas Colored Infantry who had been the first colored troops to engage in battle in the Civil War at Island Mound, MO. Up until that time it had been believed that colored troops were incapable of combat duties. They had served primarily in support, such as escorts, guards, and maintenance. The 83^rd would distinguish themselves yet again in battle at Jenkins Ferry and the entire Camden Arkansas campaign. They were also the first colored unit to charge and overtake rebel forces in a battle at Camden AK. This unit returned to Fort Smith and was later mustered out on in the fall of 1865 at Leavenworth, Kansas. The regiment lost 2 officers, 32 enlisted men were killed and mortally wounded, and 211 enlisted men died of disease.” Sources: www.civilwararchive.com and www.kansasguardmuseum.org.”

Excerpts are from the Mount Muncie Cemetery: A History & Burial Registry, Higginsville, Missouri, 2009 written by Kay Russell and Linda G. Smith.

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/small-missouri-community-celebrates-civil-war-soldiers-emancipated-after-war?fbclid=IwAR3zug5txASr0pchoPzEAJ67aSawoKx1v18KzzB96MvRtnoMmaU2yjnUr24