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Submitted: 8/7/12 • Approved: 8/20/16 • Last Updated: 8/23/16 • R738990-G0-S3
From the Harris Cemetery parking lot, go past the gate, and up the road. The road turns to the right near the top of the mountain. Past the power lines, you will find them on the left of the road just before the wooded area. It would be great to get a GPS location on the site.
My great-great grandfather Nathan Purviance homesteaded that property. He was buried on his farm in the family plot. His wish was to be laid to rest at the top of Perry Mountain because he always loved the view. He died in 1899 at age 60. The power company acquired the property through eminent domain decades ago. They put up a gate, which was fine with our family, but they kept changing the lock without giving us a copy. That makes it very difficult to maintain the site.
The temporary markers were placed by my cousin a few years ago. As far as I know, besides Nathan's there were never any other stone markers and his was broken when a dump truck backed over it to illegally dump dirt and debris. There are six known burials in the cemetery. Nathan has the Civil War marker. On his right is the grave of his son Lincoln Purviance who died of burns at age 3. To Nathan's left is his second wife Jennie. At the foot of Jennie's grave I believe is her second husband, Joseph McLaughlin. Then to his right are Jennie's father, Abraham McMillen and step-mother, Laura Dickson McMillen. Not sure of the order.
Jennie, who was once a local school teacher and Post Mistress in Perry, was almost 80 when she passed. My mom and my aunt knew her well. They believe she died walking to get her mail as she was found on the walkway in front of her house. Supposedly, they had to stop the funeral and use dynamite to blast away more rock, as her grave was too shallow for the casket.
Her will left several acres of property to the city of Perry for a park back in 1938. She also stated that the property should revert back to the family if the city did not build the park. For some reason the city began selling the property and keeping the money. The family never did see any of the proceeds and the buildings are still there. It took some 60 years and the threat of a lawsuit to realize her dream of a city park.
Best regards,
Daryl Johnson
St. Peters, MO
everybodydance2@gmail.com
Contributed on 8/7/12 by marthamccormack
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Record #: 738990