Mrs. Robert Britt, president of the Fillmore Cemetery Association wrote the following letter to the editor of The Planters’ Press. It appeared in the July 30, 1936 issue of that paper.
“Dear Friends of Fillmore Cemetery: I am again asking you t pay your dues. Several checks have been received, in response to my last letter, for which we are grateful.”
“The cemetery is nicely kept at all times and it wouldn’t cost any one much if every one who has loved ones buried there, would lend a helping hand.”
I am sorry to report that there has been some shrubbery removed. Some one did it who evidently did not have any interest there and who has no respect for the dead. I can’t conceive of any sand person, who has any respect at all for the dead, or themselves, doing a thing like this.”
“There is a law protecting sacred burial grounds and any one found guilty of removing or molesting anything in a cemetery can be punished. If this person or persons continue to dig up the shrubbery and flowers at Fillmore and can be identified they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We have worked hard for several years and interested people have helped us make Fillmore a fit place in which to bury and we are going to put forth every effort to find out who is responsible for this unseemly act and be governed accordingly.”
Clif Cardin writes about Fillmore Cemetery in his book Bossier Parish Headstones.
“Fillmore Cemetery is one of the oldest in Bossier Parish. It contains the graves of many early Bossier Parish settlers. There is also a Negro cemetery adjacent (north) to this same property… The Negro section is larger than the white section. The first burial in the white section of is that of Samuel F. Pope, who died April 8, 1849. The earliest born person buried there is probably Phillis Miller, who was born August 5, 1782.”
Both the black and white sections of the cemetery are dedicated.
To learn more about Bossier Parish cemeteries, visit the Bossier Parish Library Historical Center
Ann Middleton is Director of the Bossier Parish Library Historical Center. She can be reached at (318) 746-7717 or by e-mail at amiddlet@state.lib.la.us
