COTT CEMETERY RESTORED; FUNDS ARE SOUGHT

SIKESTON -- After 10 years of exhaustive work by volunteers, a cemetery that had been neglected for more than a century has become an attractive burial place for several hundred people who lived in the 1800s.

A man who led the clean-up effort, the Rev. Marvin Butrum of Sikeston, wants to make sure the cemetery does not revert to its wilderness condition. To assure its continued maintenance, a corporation is being formed and donations are being solicited to establish a perpetual care fund.

The cemetery, known as Carpenters Cemetery, situated six miles north of Sikeston off Highway 61, was clogged with trees, vines, briars and weeds when Butrum visited it a decade ago. He said it was unrecognizable as a cemetery, and he vowed to clean it up.

The cemetery was deeded to the people of Scott County in 1887, which means it is not owned by the county but by the people of the county, he said. Therefore, no county funds go to its upkeep and all maintenance must be donated, he explained.

Many volunteers since have spent countless hours clearing the six-acre cemetery, and finally the task is practically accomplished. Now it must be mowed regularly, and Butrum said he and the others who have worked on the cemetery hope to raise enough money to assure it will be cared for for many years to come.

Butrum said proposed articles of incorporation for establishment of a non-profit cemetery association have been sent to the secretary of state's office, and he anticipates corporation being granted soon.

An ultimate goal of $100,000 has been established for the perpetual care fund. "Investing the money would assure sufficient money to maintain the cemetery," he said. "If we get enough money for the perpetual care fund, then we'll never need to seek donations again," he said.

Since it has been put in a mowable condition, volunteers have used push mowers to mow it, but that is time-consuming, he said. Thus far about $1,500 have been donated to the fund, and some of that money was used recently to buy two riding mowers, he said.

Volunteers will continue to do the mowing and perform other maintenance, he said. "With volunteers doing all of the work, all money raised can go into the perpetual care fund," he said.

Butrum, the pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Sikeston for more than 20 years, said the association hopes to find a large number of people to support the fund with annual donations. He said once the corporation has been formed, contributors would be notified of a meeting, at which the association's direction would be discussed.

Donations may be sent to: Carpenter Cemetery Association, Marvin Butrum, 484 W. North Street, Sikeston, Mo. 63801.

Several hundred graves, both marked and unmarked, dot the cemetery, and stones of all types and sizes mark the known grave sites. The oldest stone dates to 1847, he said.

Anyone can be buried in the cemetery and no plot fee is charged.

"It's not a pauper cemetery," Butrum said. "From the dates we've seen on some of the stones, there's reason to believe that there are slaves buried there. Then there are the ancestors of some prominent Sikeston families buried there, too."