Hillcrest Cemetery is a historic cemetery in

Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in, and the county seat of, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the southern border of Tennessee. Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations and was dep ...

, United States. Established in 1837, it is known as the "Little Arlington of the South." It contains the burials of five Confederate generals.

Location

The cemetery is located on Center Street in Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi.

History

The cemetery was established in 1837, when William S. Randolph, an early settler of Holly Springs, donated the land. The railings were designed by the Jones, McElwain and Company Iron Foundry prior to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. It is known as the "Little Arlington of the South" in allusion to the

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Notable burials include five generals of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

Samuel Benton Samuel Benton (1820–1864) was an American attorney, newspaper publisher and politician. He served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was promoted to brigadier general but died two days later before t ...

Winfield S. Featherston Winfield Scott Featherston "Old Swet" (August 8, 1820 – May 28, 1891) was an antebellum two-term U.S. Representative from Mississippi and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was later a state ...

, Daniel Govan, Edward Walthall, and Absolom M. West. Other notable burials include

Wall Doxey Wall Doxey (August 8, 1892March 2, 1962) was an American politician from Holly Springs, Mississippi. He served as a Democrat from Mississippi's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1929 to 1941. After th ...

, Benjamin D. Nabers,

Hiram Rhodes Revels Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827Different sources list his birth year as either 1827 or 1822. – January 16, 1901) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician, minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Chur ...

, and James F. Trotter. Also buried there are painter

Kate Freeman Clark Kate Freeman Clark (September 3, 1875 – March 3, 1957) was an American painter born in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Clark was the daughter of Edward Clark, an attorney in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Cary Freeman Clark, whose great-uncle was Edw ...

, the wife and son of Alamo defender

Micajah Autry Micajah Autry (1793March 6, 1836) was an American merchant, poet and lawyer who died in the Texas Revolution at the Battle of the Alamo. From Natchitoches, Louisiana, on December 13 he wrote: "About 20 men from Tennessee formed our squad.... e ...

,List of Autry memorials
in Hillcrest, on ''Find a Grave''. Retrieved 08 December 2015. and architect

Spires Boling Spires Boling (1812–1880), whose name is often misspelled as Spires Bolling, was a slaveowner, master builder, architect, and distillery founder in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He is known for holding the journalist Ida B. Wells and her family i ...

. The cemetery was vandalized in 1980.

Heritage significance

It has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since June 28, 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillcrest Cemetery Buildings and structures in Holly Springs, Mississippi Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi 1837 establishments in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Marshall County, Mississippi