Sulphur Lick Cemetery
Narrative of visit by Michael L. Gililland
July 29, 2001
8 miles north of Troy, Missouri, on County Highway H
While visiting the cemetery today I met Darlene Hammett[1]. Her husband, Merritt, is buried less than 50 feet from the Gililland area of the cemetery. She offered the following account, as related to her by another local resident, yet to be identified:
The cemetery was established about 1815. A wagon train was passing through and several members of the party had died. Upon inquiring if they could bury their dead at this location, the owner, a local earlier immigrant, donated the land to be used as burial for members of the family. The original occupants of the cemetery are of unknown name, but some of the markers are still present and can be seen in the photos. Som emay be children of John Richardson Gililland.
The Gililland family members were the first identified occupants of the cemetery, their stones occupy the center of the cemetery and are its oldest dated markers. It is apparent from careful viewing of the cemetery that there may be many other Gililland family members buried here, but their markers no longer exist except for a small stone fragment visible through the grass. John Gililland’s first wife, Agnes Johnson Lowe, has not been located, but it is reasonable to assume she was buried at this site.
There are also members of many families related to the Gililland family. Members of the Presely, Ives, Callaway, and other identified families are buried here.
The cemetery was named for a nearby natural spring at which the local deer and other wildlife would come to lick the sulfur-laden water. At one time, there was a Sulphur Lick Church nearby, but it is no longer there.
The cemetery is maintained by Mrs. Hammett’s son-in-law, David Oney[2], also of Troy, Missouri. Each year, members of the families buried here will meet to decorate and improve the cemetery. Mrs. Hammett is the person who reset a number of the Gililland, and other, markers that had fallen over time. Her efforts are largely responsible for the present excellent condition of the Gililland area of the cemetery.
The Sulphur Lick Cemetery continues to be used at this time.