When we started digging into Jim's family history, we quickly had more questions than answers. Several questions centered around Jim's great-grandfather, William D. We could not find records of his death. According to the death certificate of his wife, Mary C., she died in 1925 and was buried in Sheboss Cemetery along the Maury and Hickman County line. From a local historian's records, Mary had a barely readable tombstone years ago, but no burial records existed for William D. We talked about a road trip to Sheboss Cemetery many times, but it just didn't materialize. Last week it finally happened, unfortunately, due to the death of Jim's second cousin in Hickman County. While at the funeral home, we discovered his cousin would be buried at Stand Cemetery not far from Sheboss and might possibly contain some missing relatives.
Stand Cemetery was our first stop. This cemetery is located in the Shady Grove community of Hickman County. After scanning row after row of headstones looking for any relations, we can across a surprise-William D! We couldn't believe it. He died in 1941 outliving his wife by nearly 16 years.
On cloud nine we headed for Sheboss to locate William's wife. I really like the name Sheboss. I was told an inn or a trading post existed in the area, and it was ran by an Indian and his white wife. When business transactions were to occur, the Indian would refer the customers to his wife, saying "she boss." Just a great name!
Unfortunately, after two misturns and lots of backtracking to the cemetery, Jim and I did not find Mary's tombstone. We are not giving up yet. I plan to contact the cemetery committee to see whether they know where she is buried. If they do, Mary might get a new headstone.
Another question. Why are William and Mary not buried in the same cemetery? Jim and I can only speculate. One question answered and more that may never be answered.
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