The Minden Cemetery, located in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States, has graves dating from 1843, seven years after the founding of the city in 1836. Some of the oldest marked graves date back to the era of the American Civil War, but most are 20th-century interments.
Location
Part of the graveyard is located south of Bayou Avenue not far from the downtown district. A larger section is bordered by Bayou Avenue on the west, Goodwill Street on the south and Rephart Street on the north and east. Rephart Street follows the easternmost part of the newer portion of the cemetery adjacent to the main artery of traffic, Pine Street. There is a traffic light at the intersection of Pine and Goodwill at one of several entrances to the cemetery.[1]
History
According to the cemetery website, historical accounts differ on when interments began at the cemetery. Many older grave markers were destroyed in a tornado on May 1, 1933. The first grave, the re-interment of a Mrs. Mary A. Smith on April 22, 1840, is unmarked, having been among the monuments toppled in the tornado. Two other early graves are those of Sarah Emily Pennell on September 13, 1843, and Samuel B. Harper on October 12, 1859.[2] In 1854, the cemetery owners, Colonel and Mrs. John Langdon Lewis, deeded the property to the city of Minden.[3] As of 2009, gravemarkers still existed dating back to 1843.[4]
In 1864, the bodies of twenty-one Confederate soldiers who died of wounds suffered at the Battle of Mansfield were buried in unmarked graves in the cemetery. In 1936, an obelisk was placed at the site of the graves.[5] Individual markers were placed near the obelisk in 2008 to honor the soldiers.[6]
The last surviving Confederate widow in Minden, storekeeper Alberta Glass (August 25, 1845 – January 8, 1937), is interred at Minden Cemetery.[7]
In 2003, the Minden Cemetery Association began conducting an annual "Ghost Walk" to raise money for cemetery upkeep. The event features citizens dressed in period costume portraying some of those interred at the cemetery.[8]
Notable burials
Prominent local citizens interred here include two U.S. representatives, four state representatives, a state senator from the 1950s, and twelve mayors who served since 1910. Their tombstones are pictured in their (if any)Wikipedia articles, accordingly:
Historic Minden Cemetery has graves dating from the era of the American Civil War.
Mayors in chronological order
J. J. Carter (1832–1907), mayor 1891–93; state representative for Webster Parish, 1878–80
McIntyre H. Sandlin (1870–1955), mayor 1894–96; state representative, 1896–1900, parish tax assessor, 1908–37
Abner Drake Turner (1877–1953), mayor 1910–16
W. Matt Lowe, mayor 1916–20
J. Berry Sandefur (1868–1954), mayor 1920 to 1922
Connell Fort, mayor 1922–26 and 1932–34
Henry L. Bridges, mayor 1928–32 and 1934–36
David William Thomas, mayor 1936–40
John Calhoun Brown (1879–1964), interim mayor 1942–44
^"History of Cemetery at Minden: First Interment Occurred in Cemetery in 1840", Minden Signal Tribune and Springhill Journal, Historical Edition, April 30, 1971.
^John Agan, Webster Parish historian, "The Minden Cemetery: A look at the story behind the historical graves," Minden Press-Herald, November 1, 2005
