By: Jerald Harris \ MicroMemphis Reporter
The Eckles-Madison Family Cemetery is a small cemetery located 50 feet south of Carnes Street, directly across the street from a duplex numbered 3764-3766 Carnes. The vacant lot is in the middle of the Normal Station neighborhood near the University of Memphis and is heavily overgrown with only a few headstones remaining.
Jodie Davis, a resident in the Normal Station area, said that the cemetery has been abandoned for quite some time and feels that nobody has any respect for the graves on the land.
“Kids hang out over here and people let their dogs use the bathroom in the lot,” Davis said. “I think its disrespect to those that are buried there to have it looking it like that and not keeping it up.”
Jodie Davis, a resident in the Normal Station area, said that the cemetery has been abandoned for quite some time and feels that nobody has any respect for the graves on the land.
“Kids hang out over here and people let their dogs use the bathroom in the lot,” Davis said. “I think its disrespect to those that are buried there to have it looking it like that and not keeping it up.”
The cemetery has a record of only nine burials, only four remain intact, and only one headstone can still be read. The still legible headstone is inscribed to Susan Rebecca Bibert, wife of Francis Bibert, a French gardener from Alsace. She was born on Nov. 16, 1845 in Winston Salem, N.C. and, she died on Jan. 11 1917, in Memphis. Francis Bibert is also buried next to his wife, but only the base remains and there is no headstone of his own.
Community Safety Liaison for the University of Memphis, Tk Buchanan, said that the vacant lot is where most of the young people hang out, and it has become a plac for drug and alcohol abuse.
“This place also has many hiding places because of the overgrowth, and it’s a real dangerous place to go by yourself,” Buchanan said.
This old and neglected cemetery has been messy and disorganized for quite some time; somewhat like the houses that are also in the area. Neighborhood residents wonder if trying to clean it up and preserve the cemetery might invite more harm than good.
“We want to honor the dead without encroaching on their space,” Buchanan said. “The ultimate goal for the property is to revitalize the space so that it may be a community asset and serve as a monument.”
David Madison is the oldest known heir to the property. The Madison family, which owned large plots of land along the south side of Southern Avenue, was the first to subdivide the property to accommodate the imminent suburb the University would bring.
The Madisons’ had acquired the land 10 years earlier from a relative, Julia Eckles, who sold them the properties for “$1, Love and Affection", according to the deed.
Community Safety Liaison for the University of Memphis, Tk Buchanan, said that the vacant lot is where most of the young people hang out, and it has become a plac for drug and alcohol abuse.
“This place also has many hiding places because of the overgrowth, and it’s a real dangerous place to go by yourself,” Buchanan said.
This old and neglected cemetery has been messy and disorganized for quite some time; somewhat like the houses that are also in the area. Neighborhood residents wonder if trying to clean it up and preserve the cemetery might invite more harm than good.
“We want to honor the dead without encroaching on their space,” Buchanan said. “The ultimate goal for the property is to revitalize the space so that it may be a community asset and serve as a monument.”
David Madison is the oldest known heir to the property. The Madison family, which owned large plots of land along the south side of Southern Avenue, was the first to subdivide the property to accommodate the imminent suburb the University would bring.
The Madisons’ had acquired the land 10 years earlier from a relative, Julia Eckles, who sold them the properties for “$1, Love and Affection", according to the deed.
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