The gravestone depicted here is that of Elisha Lott Tarver, buried on the old Cockerham / Tarver homeplace in Liberty, Amite County, Mississippi. Elisha purchased the land from the "John" Cockerham estate.

When the property was sold years later, the deed stipulated that a small piece of property be reserved for the family burial grounds. When time permits, I will add copies of the deeds to the Document Library of Tarver-Gen's Visual History section.

Only two graves remain today, and those are lost in a stand of commercial pine, on private property belonging to Reginald K. Wicker. A guide is required to find the graves.

The Amite County cemetery book erroneously locates Samuel Wilson Tarver's grave as on this property. Samuel Wilson Tarver (my line) is buried in the National Cemetery, Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, sec.A, grave no.1417. He served as a Union soldier with Co. C 1st. Indiana Heavy Artillery. He died at age 93.

According to Mr. Wicker, pictured below, the only known photographs in existence of the graves on his property are those my mother and I took in the summer of 1999. No one else has visited the cemetery in decades, and no one has ever been known to photograph the gravesite. Mrs. Wicker said even she had never been through the woods to see the gravesite.

Elisha's grave is covered with a large flat slab on which the epitaph is engraved. The epitaph on Elisha's tombstone reads Sacred to the memory of Elisha L Tarver Born Dec 15, 1813 Died Sept 26, 1851 Elisha Tarver married Hannah French Hamilton. To cite this gravestone, see copyright info and citation notice below.

The other grave on this property is that Hannah's brother, John French Hamilton. John Hamilton's marker had an old weathered red survey flag tied to it, where the loggers had cut out a work road thru the commercial pines.

If you look closely behind my mother in the first photograph below, you can see the road we took into the pine forest. Yes, that's it . . .  over tree stumps and pine stubs, and that was the cleared portion of the road! I rode in the back of Mr. Wicker's 4-wheel drive work truck and it was a fright when the rough ride scared about a thousand granddaddy long leg spiders out from under his tool box. I know they aren't poisonous, but between hanging on to the edge of the truck to prevent falling out, and watching out for the spiders, the ride was beyond description!

My mother told me "Those granddaddy spiders may not hurt you one bit, but they will sure make you hurt yourself!"

John Hamilton's marker is a Civil War marker and reads J. F. Hamilton Co B 33 Miss Inf C.S.A. Born Jan 7, 1830 Died Aug 4, 1901

Click on photo to view larger original.

Reggie Wicker Homeplace

Adina Tarver Cirilo after a rough ride through the pine forest to locate these graves.	John French Hamilton J.F. Hamilton Co B 33 Miss Inf C.S.A. Born Jan 7, 1830 Died Aug 4, 1901	Elisha L Tarver Sacred to the memory of Elisha L Tarver Born Dec 15, 1813 Died Sept 26, 1851	Elisha L Tarver Sacred to the memory of Elisha L Tarver Born Dec 15, 1813 Died Sept 26, 1851	Reggie Wicker Owns the John Cockerham Sr. estate property on which these graves may be found

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