White County Residents Working To Restore Historic Cemetery

An effort to restore White County’s Big Fork Cemetery is underway.

Big Fork Historic Cemetery Incorporated President Terry Haston said the project was started by members of the Haston family who trace their history to Daniel Haston, who is buried at the site. He said ancestors of other prominent area families are also buried in the over 300 marked and unmarked graves.

“I just think it’s part of family history, just natural curiosity where your heritage came from,” Haston said. “A lot of the first pioneers of White County is buried in that cemetery, as is Daniel Haston.”

Haston said the area of Tennessee where the cemetery is located is one of the only places in the country to have tent graves. He said that while some in the cemetery are buried in actual caskets, many are just wrapped in blankets. He also said they want to confirm the possibility that slaves were buried in the cemetery as well.

“We believe, and we don’t know yet, that there may be some slaves, former slave graves around the property somewhere,” Haston said. “We don’t know, we’re going to, as we grow in this effort we’re going to try to recognize that and acknowledge it.”

Haston said the not-for-profit organization bought 2.5 acres surrounding the 1.1-acre cemetery so that they would have access to the cemetery without having to be on someone’s private property to get to the graves. He said the primary goal is to maintain the cemetery and to provide a safe way to park and come view the cemetery.

He said long term there is also an idea to rebuild the church that once sat on the site.
“One day, I mean long term, we’ve had some of our board members talk about maybe trying to reconstruct the Primitive Baptist Church there,” Haston said. “Figure out what it may have looked like, it was a log church, and maybe get something back there for historic preservation.”

Haston said that Big Fork Historic Cemetary Incorporated is accepting donations from anyone who is interested in seeing the preservation of the site.