Preserving the Past

Behind a small pasture on Seventh Street in Sulphur Springs, Mel Haven Cemetery can be found at the end of Debord. Beyond a field gate at its entrance are what look like scattered graves in a peaceful setting with the buffer of surrounding wooded areas keeping out the sounds of the city.

There are, however, many more graves in this cemetery and much more history than one might notice with a cursory glance of the grounds. Those are among the reasons why Mel Haven Cemetery Society and community volunteers have joined forces to host a community-wide clean-up, Operation Restore.

“We want every citizen of Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, to understand the historical significance of Mel Haven Cemetery and why it is so vital to our history. It is time for the younger generations to step up and assist the men and women to carry on the legacy and upkeep of Mel Haven Cemetery and assist in revitalizing a part of our history,” the Society stated in a release last week.

According to the release, the cemetery is in “dire need” of cleaning along the fences lines, around trees and even the graves themselves, as many have become overgrown.

“The Hopkins County Genealogical Society is supportive of the [Mel Haven] cemetery society’s effort to clean up their cemetery, and we will be there to help out,” said CarolAnn Dixon of HCGS.

In addition to cleaning up the grounds of debris and overgrowth, there are many grave markers that require attention.

“Some of them [the grave markers] have been turned over and some of them are leaning and some of them are coming out of the ground,” said Wilbert Roland, an active member with Mel Haven Cemetery Society for around 50 years. “That is our desire [to replace markers], to have some bricks laid around. We can’t forget about it. We’re going to make that thing look pretty.”

HISTORICAL LEGACY

There are graves in Mel Haven Cemetery dating back to the late 1880s, which at one time was an African American only cemetery.

Rhonda Bechhold, volunteer with HCGS, has begun uploading information to an online database, Find-A-Grave, which provides visitors with locations of graves, along with photos of the deceased and other biographical or historical tidbits.

“The land was donated by C.M. Houston in 1889 to City Cemetery. He sold an acre of land for $100 to the colored people of Sulphur Springs, then he donated an acre of land to the cemetery,” Becchold explained. “It was originally called Colored City Cemetery Sulphur Springs.”

The earliest known record indicating the name “Mel Haven” as the listed cemetery is dated 1931, Becchold said. Among her research topics, she’s searching for anything related to the name change.

The Debord family, she said, donated the right-of-way to the cemetery from Seventh Street.

At the Aug. 6 session of the city council this year, City Manager Marc Maxwell announced the list of streets for repaving through the Street Improvement Program. Debord Street, as well as Seventh Street, is on that list along with almost 20 others. Funding for the program comes from a street maintenance fee added to city water utility bills, a measure that was passed by the city council in 2018.

“The only record we ever found on Mel Haven was something from Barbara and Bruce Fannin. In 2011, They drew a map of the cemetery and wrote down every headstone they could find. There are a lot of unmarked graves, and there are a lot of unnamed graves or with tokens like rocks or something, marking them,” Becchold said of the condition of the cemetery.

Roland, 86, is the only one of 13 siblings still living, he said, and has outlived both his parents.

“My dad died working at the WPA. …He just fell dead there in a hole. That’s what they said. …Mama raised all 13 of us, never remarried. Her desire was to get a home, and we worked for it. Five of us went into service and five stayed home. We went up picking cotton, pulling cotton,” Roland said of his family’s efforts to make sure their mother got that home she wanted.

He said his family has been in Hopkins County for “forever.”

“We’ve been in Sulphur Springs all our lives,” he said.

When asked if he would also be laid to rest in Mel Haven Cemetery with his family, Roland responded, “Yes. Yes, Lord.”

HIDDEN TREASURES

Eddie Askew, Mel Haven’s current caretaker, does what he can to maintain the grounds; however, he’s currently in his 70s, though that’s younger than some of the members who contribute their time and efforts. Askew has been working on the grounds for the past 20 years, said Jason Lindley, minister at Morning Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs.

Eddie Askew, 72, is a member of the Mel Haven Cemetery Society and the cemetery’s grounds keeper. It takes a crew of four people to regularly maintain the grounds, he explained during an Operation Restore volunteer meeting Thursday evening.

“The value that it holds, the history that it holds—the City Cemetery and the Mel Haven Cemetery, they are divided,” said Lindley. “My ultimate goal — I would love to see the fence torn down and see it as one continuous cemetery.”

The history, he said, is why the clean-up and education about Mel Haven’s history is so important. Having the involvement of younger people will allow that legacy to continue.

“It’s important because the older ones are leaving us, and if we don’t know the history and the lineage of it, how are we going to appreciate it? It’s important to my spirit. I think it should be a somber ground,” Lindley said.

In December 2007, Lindley’s mother, Linda Lindley, passed away and was buried in Mel Haven Cemetery, according to her obituary, which can be found on findagrave.com.

“You want to feel at peace on somber ground. It’s time for the younger men and women to carry it on. I remember that people would go out there and cook and clean up [the grave sites] individually,” he said.

There are currently more than 1,100 records on Find-A-Grave with almost 50% of those with either photographs or documents attached to the names.

Among those is Dorsey Hardaman, born in 1812 in Virginia, according to the website, and died in 1912. His birth date is among the earliest if not the earliest known dates of birth in the cemetery. But there are a great number of grave sites that do not list the year of birth on their markers, and many graves don’t have markers at all.

Because its history dates into the 19th century, there are also veterans buried in Mel Haven who are known to have served as far back as World War I.

“That hit me in my heart,” Lindley, who is also a U.S. military veteran, added.

KEEPING UP

“We’ve mostly just been just trying to get volunteers. We need money. … We just need to get this thing really started. We need some young people now,” Roland said. “We have to go out there every week and see what needs to be done.”

Roland doesn’t want the community to forget about Mel Haven Cemetery. “We need to clean it up. It’s going to take lots of work, and it’s going to take lots of money.

All we need is help and show the people what we’re doing,” said Roland. “People are always able to help do a little something.

“What we need is publicity; we have to make an effort and let people see what we’re doing,” Roland said.

The Society encourages anyone with information about the cemetery and the deceased interred there to send it to the Society for preservation.

“This way, we can update the burial logs and provide the Society with new information,” the Society’s release stated. “This way, everyone can work together in preserving this for posterity.”

Information can be given to Bechhold at the HCGS office inside Sulphur Springs Public Library at 611 North Davis St. in Sulphur Springs or emailed to Lindley at lamonlindley@gmail.com.

The cleanup will be held 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 at Mel Haven Cemetery on Debord Street in Sulphur Springs. A meeting of volunteers will be held Thursday, Sept. 12 at The ROOOM on Fuller Street.

Those who will be participating in Operation Restore are asked to bring weed eaters, chainsaws, shears, limb clippers, gloves, lawn mowers and any additional equipment that may be needed, if they have them.

Drinks and a hot dog lunch will be provided by the organizers for all volunteers at the clean-up; however, participants are welcome to bring their own.

“It’s time for the young people to step up and help. …It’s been an ongoing process. Now we have a lot of people who are on board, and we’re gong to take advantage of it,” Lindley said.