CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The
only certainty in life is death. Along with birth, it is the universal
experience faced by all people through all time. How a culture deals with this
ultimate act is a reflection that tells many things about that culture and the
way it functions. In the Western World for the past several centuries,
cemeteries have been the repositories of the dead and are the final stop in the
journey of life. In a very pragmatic sense, a cemetery is the least likely part
of a community to have changed. Buildings are demolished or can be incorrectly
restored, but cemeteries usually are only added to, not subtracted from. Thus,
they offer the unique chance to study an undisturbed continuum of cultural
change, like the layers of sediment in rock which a geologist studies to measure
geologic change, and one which has the potential to be the most complete and
authentic of the various elements of material culture.
Missouri has been a gateway to the West much longer than it has had a Gateway
Arch in St. Louis. Through this state passed multitudes of people, some who
settled in the state, some who passed through on their way to another
destination, and some who stayed because they died here. In the Boonslick region
in the very center of the state, centered on the Missouri River, cemeteries can
be found from the days of earliest white settlement, through the westward
migration period, the Victorian era, the agricultural world of the turn of the
century, and the modern twentieth century. Thus, these cemeteries can
legitimately serve as a index of the region so that the Boonslick can be better
understood in relation to the entire state. No scholarly work has been done in
this Boonslick region and little scholarly work has been done in Missouri or the
Midwest. This dissertation is a first attempt to correct this lack.
The people of the Boonslick have held traditional beliefs since they settled the
region. Each generation conformed as closely as possible to the standards of the
day and placed great emphasis upon stability. The people were always followers,
rather than innovators. The reasons for this are probably as varied as the
people who populated the region and are beyond the scope of this study. But for
whatever reasons, no new major artistic style develops in this area and spreads
throughout the country. Rather, the reverse occurs with the major artistic and
cultural motifs, styles and beliefs coming into the Boonslick from other regions
and being assimilated into this mid-Missouri culture.
But even though the people were not leading the vanguard of change, they did
react to ideas, themes, and cultural attitudes which were presented to them,
even if that presentation was far behind the vanguard of a movement. Sometimes
the people reacted negatively and sometimes they reacted positively. What
matters is that they did react and in doing so they left a record of their view
of the world.
This dissertation, therefore, is the first survey to explore what did transpire
in the Boonslick by using cemeteries as a yardstick to measure how these people
memorialized and commemorated their dead. Each type of cemetery layout design is
discussed in depth with one to three representative examples examined in greater
detail. The memorial markers are likewise examined in detail since they also
conform to the patterns used across the entire country. With the Boonslick right
in the center of the state and the state in the center of the nation, the
Boonslick offers the chance to study a region where conflicting cultural forces
clashed and were absorbed. Because of the relative stability of the population,
this region also offers the continuity of trends from the past carried into the
twentieth century.
No scholarly work has been done in the Boonslick except the transcription of
inscriptions on gravestones for the genealogical data found on them. Even this
record is not absolutely complete since some of the older, private family burial
grounds were missed and many of the African American graveyards were not
surveyed. The exclusion of the latter raises interesting sociological questions
in itself which are beyond the scope of this work. Most of the research on
cemeteries has been done on or near the East Coast where the first settlements
of this country occurred, or in the far South where cemeteries have been studied
for the cultural differences they exhibit with little emphasis upon the artistic
treasures they contain. Most of these works represents a first discussion of
their subjects, and so, like this work, they devote much space to primary
questions and basic information. These include but are not limited to:
1.
What types of cemeteries exist in the Boonslick?
2.
Do these cemeteries conform to the cemeteries found in other sections of the
United States from the same period? Is the same type of culture producing the
same cemetery or is environment making changes?
3. Do different chronological periods produce different cemetery layouts? In
other words, do cemeteries have styles?
4.
Where and who erected the gravestones? Are there symbols or types of
gravestones based upon ethnic group, age, sex or social status and if so, what
are they? Are all groups that have lived in the Boonslick represented in the
cemeteries of the region?
5.
How have these cemeteries changed over time and what does this change mean in
terms of material culture?
6.
Are these cemeteries worthy of artistic consideration and historic
preservation efforts?
A few definitions are needed. A burial ground is the repository for the dead
which contains less than a dozen graves (usually), is not associated with a
church, and usually is found in a rural area. Often, members of only one family
are buried in the grounds. Professional landscaping is lacking and the primary
purpose of the burial ground is as a repository for the deceased. A graveyard is
associated with a religious denomination and is adjacent to a church building at
the time the graveyard started. Hence, the primary purpose of the land when
purchased was for religious services, rather than burials. A graveyard is also
not professionally landscaped as one entity, although the grounds may feature
fences, gates, and be well maintained. A true cemetery is designed solely for
burials, but also considers cultural implications. The great romantic, park-like
cemeteries of the nineteenth century were recreational areas as much as
repositories of the dead. For example, some cemeteries feature restrooms,
certainly an amenity for the living. Landscaping is done on the entire cemetery
as a unit and the municipal cemeteries are tax supported. Cemeteries are not
adjacent to a church, but on occasion may be associated with a religious
denomination. The word "cemetery" in the terminology of the general
populace includes all three types of burial places and thus it will be used if
the discussion is general and includes all types of burials.
Likewise, tombstone and gravestone cause problems when discussing burial
practices. A gravestone is a marker placed at the actual burial site. A
tombstone can be placed at any point on a tomb and is not necessarily directly
at the spot of the burial. A cenotaph is a memorial marker to a deceased person
who is not buried there, such as a soldier lost at sea. A gravestone technically
encompasses all mediums. Thus, it is possible to have a metal gravestone.
However, for purposes of this dissertation, if the medium is not stone, the word
monument or marker is used.
To answer all the above questions, a survey of all the Boonslick cemeteries was
necessary. Although fieldwork had been conducted in these cemeteries over the
past twenty years, each was visited during the Fall of 1988. Three areas were
surveyed at each cemetery:
1.
The physical
layout of the cemetery grounds
2.
Cemetery contents beside gravestones
3.
The gravestones
were then assessed by the following criteria--
a. The most "typical" or common gravestone type and
style in the cemetery
b. An example of great artistic worth
c. A gravestone that was signed
d. A gravestone that was unique, not just to the cemetery but
to the Boonslick region
Any work on a mid-Missouri cemetery is ground breaking (no pun intended). Some
questions could not be completely answered and some areas could not be explored
to the depth desired.
It appears that the data supports the following assertions:
1.
The first white settlers into the Boonslick came overwhelmingly from the
Southern tradition more particularly the Upland South and continued the
lifestyle they had followed in their former homes. They buried their dead at
first in private, family and community burial grounds which were not sanctified.
In so doing, they followed almost totally the Upland South pattern.
2.
As
the area filled and permanence was assured, churches sprang into existence and
became as much community centers as religious establishments. With the building
of churches, the location of burials shifted to graveyards adjacent to the
church. In some cases, a burial ground preceded the church and was the reason
the latter was constructed in that particular place.
3.
Municipal cemeteries were purposefully platted for burials and designed with
this use in mind. Out of this idea of a place consciously platted for the burial
of the dead arose the idea in Europe and the eastern coast of this country of
the romantic, rural, park-like cemetery. One cemetery in the Boonslick, Walnut
Grove Cemetery in Boonville, fulfills all the criteria for this classification.
4.
In all these cemeteries, people were immortalized by a wide variety of markers
ranging from cenotaphs (which are purely memorial and do not mark the site of an
inhumation), to rocks merely placed at the grave, to elaborate gravestones
costing thousands of dollars. These monuments came in various styles and like
all art forms can be classed into general characteristics that
are specific to a particular time period. The shifts in styles reflect the
shifts in attitude and tastes of the population. Thus, to understand these
gravestones and their variety, is to see more vividly the life and times of
those who erected these monuments.
Cultural attitudes are harder to analyze than material items such as
gravestones, yet in the funeral practices of a society, it can be seen how
beliefs and attitudes develop and change over time, corresponding not only to
the personal or family or regional ones, but corresponding also to the larger
world. One family in the Boonslick region which continued the same professions
and economic level throughout the study period is used to illustrate how the
result of forces of the larger world acted upon the family and the individuals
who composed it. Whether the individual is white or of African American descent
is reflected even in burial practices and it is quickly seen that it has made a
great difference in attitude and socio economic status.
Many of the Boonslick cemeteries are endangered due to neglect, vandalism, or
encroachment from urban development or farming. Even the cemeteries which are
not physically threatened face the problem of conservation of the markers and
upkeep of the grounds. In many cases, endowment funds provided decades ago are
the only source of revenue and they are nearing exhaustion. The original
families buried in these grounds usually moved from the Boonslick many years ago
and the current citizens of the region have no reason to be attached to these
cemeteries. Yet, these cemeteries are more than just repositories of the dead.
Although far removed from the original intent, many of them serve as the last
refuge of wildlife and vegetation that has been depleted elsewhere in the
Midwest. In the spring of 1989 the Missouri Conservation Department is having a
botanist study Cooper County cemeteries in hopes of finding the rare buffalo
clover which was known to be in these cemeteries as late as 1980. These
cemeteries are also cultural statements reflecting the Boonslick as it has
evolved since 1810. The destruction of these cemeteries is proceeding at a fast
pace. Many cemeteries visited two decades ago are no longer in existence.
Although the Boonslick is finally developing a sense of historical integrity
when it comes to architecture, this interest has not spread to the cemeteries.
For many Boonslick cemeteries, the future is bleak at best with destruction the
most likely prospect. Hopefully, some of these historic cemeteries will survive
until they assume a place of importance once again in the public arena.
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