Old Harmony Cemetery

Old Harmony Cemetery. Autauga County. , Old Harmony Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Western Autauga County's earliest settlers. The cemetery includes burials of members of both Harmony Baptist Church and Caver's Methodist Protestant Church. Harmony Baptist Church was established April 27, 1827, by Rev. Lewis C. (Clubaxe) Davis on land owned by Sarah Briggs. Harmony Baptist Church was very active during the 19th century and included White and enslaved Black members prior to the Civil War. In 1842, Henry Caver (1789-1856), who came from Orangeburg District, South Carolina, bought land surrounding Harmony Baptist Church from Sarah Briggs' estate. A new church was established on Caver's plantation, known as Caver's Methodist Protestant Church. In 1849, the churches combined and built a new church building on the site of Harmony Cemetery. Both denominations shared the building for several decades. Many members came to Autauga County from South Carolina in the early 1820s and are buried around the building. After the Civil War, Caver's Methodist Protestant Church disbanded. Harmony Baptist Church continued operating until the early 1900s. A fire destroyed the church structure on April 3, 1925. , Old Harmony Cemetery includes at least known 112 burials. The earliest marked graves belong to Martha Adair and John W. Adair, who both died in 1836. The last burial occurred in 1951. The cemetery includes burials for the following families: Adair, Apperson, Bates, Bishop, Caffey, Caver, Cox, Durden, Golson, Overstreet, Smith, Taylor, and Wallace. Harmony Baptist Church was a member of Unity Baptist Association. Pastors included: Rev. Lewis C. Davis, Rev. Enoch Hays, Rev. A. D. Blackwood, Rev. J. D. Moodie, Rev. B. B. Smith, Rev. A. Andrews, Rev. J. W. Wilkes, Rev. Jefferson Falkner, and Rev. G. W. Mills. Old Harmony Cemetery is the final resting place for several Civil War veterans, including William C. Adair, J. M. Apperson, W. J. Apperson, Reuben J. Bishop, John L. Caffey, Jacob Caver, William J. Caver, Noah W. Cox, James M. Durden, J. L. Golson, James R. Overstreet, and Wesley A. Overstreet. Another significant person buried here is Emma Louise Bates Bishop (1848-1924), who was the grandmother of Claudia Alta Taylor, wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. , Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register on October 25, 2023