By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Thanks to the initiative of Eagle Scout Gage Starks, white crosses have now been placed at all the formerly unmarked graves at the former County Home Cemetery.
In the process of performing the project, Starks and his father, Monte Starks, found 13 more graves at the cemetery. The Henry County Cemetery Committee had previously identified 58 former residents of the County Home who were buried in the cemetery and a marker with their names inscribed, as well as a large white cross, were placed at the cemetery during a dedication ceremony in October of 2018.
With the additional 13 grave sites found by Gage and Monte Starks, there now are 71 marked graves at the cemetery.
At Monday’s ceremony, Henry County Mayor Brent Greer noted, “Eagle Scouts are special people” and Gage Starks recounted how the project evolved. He thanked the Henry County Sheriff’s Office for clearing the cemetery, as well as BR Supply, Paris Building Supply, civic organizations and individuals who made donations of supplies and funds for the project.
Starks donated $200 he raised to the County Cemetery Committee for upkeep on the cemetery.
He said the project took some 130 hours to complete and that he feels a lot of satisfaction with the project. “These people were once lost and now their graves are marked.”
County Mayor Brent Greer said the initial impetus to remember the people buried in the cemetery came from the late Paris Fireman John McClure when he implored Greer that the people who had lived and died at the County Home needed to be remembered. “We did not get the opportunity before he passed away, but he was an important part of this,” Greer said.
Two other men—Reed Shepherd and Dillard Castlebury—also were integral. Greer noted that the two men took it upon themselves to clear the brush around the old cemetery and to place a cross to mark the old cemetery. “Their hearts just told them to do something for these souls,” Greer said.
In 2015, Greer formed the County Cemetery Committee and asked them to research the burials at the County Home.
After painstaking research, committee members were able to identify 58 persons who were buried in the cemetery.
Top photo: From left, Monte Starks, Mary Ann and Tommy Claxton, Wayne Webb, Gage Starks, County Mayor Brent Greer and Ron Watkins at camera. Watkins was videotaping today’s ceremony for the County Archives. (Shannon McFarlin photos).