FREEMAN CEMETERY
WEAKLEY COUNTY, TENNESSEE
WILLIS A. and ELIZABETH HARPER FREEMAN FAMILY
WILLIS A. FREEMAN (1822-1862) was born in Granville County, North Carolina, and married ELIZABETH HARPER FREEMAN (eventually CRUTCHFIELD) (1825-1908), who was born in Weakley County, Tennessee. Their five children, three of whom are buried along with their parents in Freeman Cemetery, are:
ANDREW LEVIN FREEMAN (1846-1897)
ELIZABETH ANN (MALISSA/MASSIE) FREEMAN BRIGHTWELL COLE (1850-1938)
MARY M. FREEMAN CRUTCHFIELD (1851-1923)
WILLIAM T. FREEMAN (1857-1884)
MARGARET ETTA FREEMAN WOOD (1859-1936)
ANDREW LEVI FREEMAN (1846-1897) married REBECCA JANE DAVIS FREEMAN (1846-1890), and they are both buried in Freeman Cemetery. Census records indicate that early in their marriage, PEYTON HENDRIX (1810-1895), who donated the land around 1850 for the burial ground which later became known as Freeman Cemetery, lived with Andrew and Rebecca after the death of his wife NANCY HENDRIX (1799-1870). Hendrix at that time was 66, whereas Andrew was 23.
In addition, AGNES C. DAVIS (1856-1893), a sister of Rebecca's, is buried in Freeman Cemetery.
Andrew and Rebecca had the following children:
OSCAR LEE FREEMAN (1867-1944)
LENA ELIZABETH (BETTIE LOU) FREEMAN (1869-1870)
ALONZO FREEMAN (1871-1872)
NANCY LUELLE FREEMAN (1873-1876)
ELISHA LAFAYETTE FREEMAN (1876-1967)
ARTHUR WADE FREEMAN (1878-1958)
EFFIE CORNELIA FREEMAN MARRIS (1880-1920)
HARMON ADOLPHUS FREEMAN (1881-1925)
A. FRANK FREEMAN (1884-1887)
TOMMY K. FREEMAN (1886-1888)
After the death of Rebecca, Andrew married MOLLY (Unknown) FREEMAN (1850-1930) in 1893. (After Andrew died, Molly went on to marry D. S. Jackson, and her tombstone reads MOLLY JACKSON.
Andrew and Molly had one child:
IVA LEE FREEMAN (1897-1907).
Iva Lee was born two days after the death of her father, with Andrew passing away on January 3, and Iva being born on January 5.
It is also interesting to note that Oscar Freeman married the daughter of SUSAN OPHELIA MEEK HOGARD (1848-1885), from another of the main families connected to Freeman Cemetery. Oscar married Penola Hogard Meek, who had been adopted by her uncle MADISON (MAT) MEEK (1858-1889) and his wife, ALACE JACKSON MEEK (and later FINCH) (1859-1926). They are discussed on the Meek and Mahon family page of this website. Oscar and Penola Freeman are buried in Marmaduke, Arkansas.
Elisha remained in Weakley County and is buried in East Side Cemetery.
Wade moved his family to New Mexico around 1911 and is buried there.
Effie married THOMAS ELIJAH (T. E. or LIGE) EDMISTON (1874-1908), and they had three children:
WILMER E. EDMISTON (1898-1918)
Alma Vivian Edmiston Hodges (1901-1968)
GUARRIE C. EDMISTON (1905-1910)
After Lige and Guarrie died, Effie moved to New Mexico, along with their daughter, Alma, where both of them are buried. Their other son, Wilmer, who went to New Mexico with Effie and later joined the US Army Aviation Division during World War I, died of tuberculosis and pneumonia at the Fort Sullivan training camp in South Carolina and was returned to Freeman Cemetery for burial near his father and grandparents.
Harmon lived and is buried in Arkansas.
As was all too typical of the time, six of Andrew's eleven children died in infancy.
Willis and Elizabeth's daughter MARY M. FREEMAN CRUTCHFIELD (1854-1885) married MONROE CRUCTHFIELD (1851-1923), and they are discussed in the Trevathan group.
WILLIAM T. FREEMAN (1857-1884), another son of Willis and Elizabeth, evidently stayed on the farm with his mother after his father's death, later also helping support his sister Massie and her children after her first husband's death. Unfortunately, he died at the young age of 26. He is buried at Freeman Cemetery.
Margaret Etta Freeman Wood (1859-1936), though a daughter of Willis and Elizabeth, is buried in Wood Cemetery with her husband, Thomas Clemons (T. C.) Wood (1857-1937). However, they had a great deal of importance for Freeman Cemetery.
In 1877, Margaret and T. C. married. T. C. was a member of a very prosperous family in the community. He helped to build the original Bethany Methodist Church. The Wood family were also involved in the development of educational opportunities and schools, including McFerrin School, which became McFerrin College. Excerpts from his obituary tell a great deal about the man and his importance to the small community.
Records indicate that T. C. and Margaret Freeman Wood sold property to George Dillard and Charlie Meek Brooks in 1905. This property included a portion of Freeman Cemetery as it is known today.
From the obituary of T. C. Wood
T. C. Wood, Pioneer Citizen, Passes Away. Was One of the Founders of McFerrin College and Builder of Martin.
Thomas C. Wood, son of Rev. T. L. and Margaret E. Wood, was born February 15, 1857; died June 28, 1937; age 80 years, 4 months, and 13 days. He was married to Margaret E. Freeman, December 1877, who departed this life February 23, 1936. To the union was born one son, Cleatus Andrew, August 30, 1880; died July 5, 1887.
About 1887 Bethany Church was organized and a building erected on land donated by him.
T. C. Wood and wife took a nephew, Press Freeman, into their home, which had been made childless at the death of their little son, and showered upon him the love and affection of a real mother and father.