Burial "Rights"

THE WAR WAS OVER ! David Thomas Jefferson Kersey, hereafter known as Grandpa, was pardoned when the Army of Tennessee was pardoned May 1, 1865 in Greensboro, North Carolina. On the 12th of May he was given permission by the Office of Provost Marshal, Paducah, KY To Pass beyond the Guards and Outposts of this Command to Country.

A few days later Grandpa was back home with his mother and father, Susan and David B. Kersey. He'd married Clarinda Calhoun in March of 1861 and they had a toddling two year old son, Robert, and with another child on the way. You see, he's been wounded in 1864 and sent home to recouperate. He hobbled about and put in a garden and cotton crop in that year and when Lee surrendered he went to Paducah to "get out officially."

By the middle of 1866 David B. was very near the end. So on July 8, 1866 Grandpa and his brother-in-law, Frank Calhoun, went to Troy and co-signed a bank note, borrowing seven dollars ($7:00) from L. S. Park, and promising to pay back by six months after the day. I don't know what it was for, maybe it was to buy the plot of burial ground.

July 11, 1966 Grandpa's father, David B. died and final preparations required another trip to Troy three miles away. Grandpa took his crutches, went to town for the things needed for his father's burial. Below is the list of items shown on the receipt when part of the bill was paid.

Estate of David Kersey to Reeves & Meacham
11 Jul 1866
5 yds Blch Domestic, 1.75
1 par gloves, .50
1 par socks, .50
1 linin handkerf, .65
1 par shoes, 3.00
5 yds Coffin linning, 1.75
1 paper tacks,.10 cents;
(total) 8.25
Rec on the above by son in Cotton, 7.00. (Balance) 1.25.

By the time Grandpa got back home neighbors and family had probably built the coffin and had it ready to tack in the lining. David B.'s body had already been washed and covered and may have been lying on the table as was the custom of some. He was then shrouded in the five yards of domestic (muslin) and laid in the coffin and the linen handkerchief was placed over his face. He then was carried, surely by wagon, to Sander's Chapel Cemetery and laid in a new grave. I think Grandpa needed the shoes and the gloves to dig the grave.

Two cotton crops were made before the debt was paid completely off and at some later time the family was able to buy a stone and have it engraved. Grandpa's body was prepared in a way similar to that of Jesus.

"After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." (John 19: 38-42 NASB )

Some years ago his name sake, David Burhl Kersey, found the grave and a cedar tree growing through it and the stone leaning against the tree. Recently, he and his children placed an additional marker under the tree recognizing David B. Kersey's service in the War of 1812 under General Jackson. This past spring tornadoes hit West Tennessee killing several people in the area; the old cedar is splintered but still standing.

Unlike Grandpa, Jesus the Christ arose and our debt for sin was paid in full. No amount of treking to town, borrowing money and back-breaking labor in the cotton field could pay the debt that Jesus paid. It is his gift to us. It is free, but it isn’t cheap.

When life is dark and hard to understand remember that He Arose without a cost to us and took his seat on the right hand of God to ever make intercession for us. The debt was paid in full for every person ever born on this earth.

We can look forward to victory over death and everlasting life with our Lord if we have confessed before men that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and do the things he has commanded.

Glory Hallelujah!