I had never had any idea that this was my great-grandfather and some of his other children. All those years had come and gone, and as far as I knew the only relatives buried here were my father, Leslie Wilson, a couple of aunts, and grandparents. However I now realize that there are a number of other relatives buried here. We walked the cemetery that day as they showed me where most of the family were buried. I made some notes, knowing that I must return to this place again soon.

The Garmons
As we left the cemetery I asked my aunt and uncle what they knew about my mothers grandparents, the Garmons. They answered, Yes we know where they are buried. It's just a short distant down the road. Come, we will show you where they are.

As we went, I was wondering where a cemetery could be near here. I remembered one across the road from grandfather Tildon Wheeler's home place, on Bird Ridge, but nobody had ever said anything about relatives bring buried there. We traveled down the road past Sparksville, on past the next road where grandfather Joshua "Josh" Wilson lived, and on to the Eldon Fudge Road, which led to a farm where I lived with my mothers sister and her family for a number of years as a child. Uncle turned off highway 61 just a short distance on Eldon Fudge Road, perhaps it was two tenths of a mile, to a small abandoned farmhouse.

I stood there looking
Getting out of the car, one of them said The graves are just off the road here. We walked over to the graves. They were fenced in with an old iron framework and woven wire. The graves were facing opposite the road. Walking around to the front, I saw two graves. The headstones were marked James B. Garmon, born July 12, 1844, died May 10, 1927, and Harriet Ann, wife of James B. Garmon, born July 6, 1851, died February 25, 1922. I stood there looking at the graves and the old house near by the grave site. I remembered that I had passed this place hundreds of times when I was a young boy. Nobody ever told me, these were my great-grandparents.

So this is grandmother Mollie Garmon Wheelers parents? I asked. They replied, Yes, and we knew them well. Uncle replied, The funeral for Jim Black was here at the house. I attended his funeral the day they buried him here. I could not hold it back any longer. I said Wonder why I was never told that this was my great grandparent? Then aunt said, I guess people just didnt mention things like that unless asked. I jotted down the names and dates. Then we left the site, returning to their home to visit for the day. The next day before leaving to return to Indiana I thanked them for helping me with the family tree and their fine hospitality. They said Come back anytime and maybe we will know more the next visit.

To be continued...