Fulfilling a Promise

By Janet O’Conor Camarata

Farmland, Grundy County, Missouri

Fulfilling a Promise

Placing the Headstone for

William Terry Myers

 1861-1937

One sunny summer afternoon in 1986, two men and a young boy stood over an unmarked pauper’s grave in a small country cemetery south of Albany and north of Evona in Gentry County, Missouri. It was a drier year than usual, and the grass was already struggling with the heat, humidity and lack of rain. It was a little greener in the south western corner of the cemetery as the course, deep rooted grass was shaded by one lone elm tree on the knoll, next to the boundary fence.  The cemetery was surrounded by small farms in a chain of treeless rolling hills. In the distance could be seen a line of willows crowding the edges of Sampson Creek as it flows into the East Fork of the Grand River.

Cemetery photo provided by Blair B. Carmichael. Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA

Claude Fish, Lynn Myers and Lynn’s son, Brian stood quietly together with bowed heads as they tried to locate the actual site for the grave of a grandfather, William Terry Myers. They were standing where the poor of Gentry County were buried, many without headstones.  As they stood, facing east, Lynn asked Claude, “Are you sure this is the spot where he is buried?” Claude answered, “Yes, I’m sure. I dug the hole.”

Claude was the grandson of William Terry Myers. Lynn was a great-grandson and Brian was a great-great-grandson.  Lynn, in the summers of his college years began researching the Myers family and was one of the first family genealogists to show an interest. Claude, Lynn and Brian were at the Shepherd Cemetery that hot, humid summer afternoon hunting for the exact location of William Terry Myers’ grave site without a gravestone to guide them.

The men of the Myers family planned to jointly fill the life-long wishes of another of William Terry Myers’ grandsons, Emmett Myers.  Emmett, after his marriage, moved to Kansas and had died there in 1971.  Over the years, conversations between Lynn and his grandfather, Emmett about the family history frequently returned to Emmett’s desire to place a headstone on William’s unmarked grave.

William Terry Myers was born December 7, 1861 In Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana at the beginning of the Civil War. He was the second son of William Jackson Myers and Mary Etta “Met” (Asher) Myers.  William Jackson Myers and his parents were originally from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and had moved west, sometime in the early 1840s, settling in south central Indiana. The story of their move further west to Missouri is a tale for another time.

William Terry Myers, also known as “W.T” and nicknamed “Blackie” grew up clearing, plowing and planting the land in Grundy County for his father.  It was in Denver, Worth County, Missouri that W.T. met this future wife, Martha Emaline Sharp.  She was the daughter of their Worth County neighbors, Henderson Sharp of Tennessee and Mary Adeline (Sitton) Sharp of North Carolina. W. T. married Martha Emaline on June 10, in 1883. He was a farmer, like his father before him, mostly working rented lands near Albany and Evona in Gentry County, Denver in Worth County, New Hampton in Harrison County and Lebanon in Boone County at various times between 1883 and 1892. Their seven children were born in Albany---Frank, Gertrude, Oley who died of whooping cough in 1889, Helen who was stillborn in 1890, Emmett, Everett and Clara. Claude was the son of Gertrude Myers and James R. Fish; Lynn was the grandson of Emmett Myers.

By 1895, W. T. was able to purchase 80 acres in Athens Township, Gentry County, Missouri east of Albany. It was prairie land, suitable for farming and grazing, crossed by Sampson Creek, a tributary of Grand River.  He spent the next 40 years farming, raising his family, improving the land and living a Christian life in a community he had known since a small child.

William Terry Myers sold his 80 acres during the Depression. He and Martha moved to the unincorporated community of Evona, not too far from their farm they spent so many years improving. In the early days of Evona, when the Wabash railroad was built about 1879, the town was of more importance, but many residents moved out of the area looking for work. At the time of his death, the town contained one small country store. Their home was a small simple two-bedroom house, always open to their friends and family. W.T. suffered a heart attack in October 1936. He died at 10 o’clock Monday night February 1, 1937 at the age of 75 after suffering from myocarditis that confined him to his bed for about three and a half months before his death. The funeral was conducted in their home by Rev. Frank Jacobs of the Methodist Church of Albany. Claude Fish, the 26-year old son, of James and Gertude “Gertie” Fish and W.T.’s grandson was asked to dig his grave in Shepherd Cemetery. W.T.’s children were present at the funeral and included his son, Frank (Alfred Franklin) of Evona; Emmett of Centralia, Kansas; Mrs. Clara Keessee of California; Mrs. J. R. Fish, Everett and Ollie Myers of Albany. He was survived by his six children, 21 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, one brother and three sisters. At the time of his death, W.T. was listed as an “old age pensioner” of Gentry County. William Terry Myers was buried in an unmarked grave, too poor to afford a headstone during the Depression.

After the death of W.T., Martha went to live with her daughter, Clara Keessee in Griswold, Cass County, Iowa and died 11 years later, August 30, 1948. She was not buried next to her husband of 54 years, but near her daughter, Clara and son-in-law, John H. Keesee. Martha is buried in the Flint Cemetery, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Her headstone reads, “Mother Martha E. Myers, 1865-1948.”

In late summer 1986, Claude Fish, Lynn Myers and Brian Myers placed a bevel stone on W.T.’s grave.  Lynn, explained to Brian, “The headstone illustrates a life well lived by our ancestors. Great-great-grandfather Myers lived life to the fullest and the headstone symbolizes our family’s memory of this one special ancestor. I think today is a very special day, because Uncle Claude is celebrating his 75th birthday by placing the stone on the grave of his grandfather.”  His stone reads, “William Terry Myers, Dec. 7, 1861 - Feb. 1, 1937.”

Janet O’Conor Camarata