Cemetery Pryamid

These three pictures were made at a cemetery that is almost lost in the woods.  Even though the pyramid is large (8/9 feet tall) it almost disappears into the undergrowth. The person who showed it to me said you could not see it unless someone showed it to you, and he was correct. The standing marble slab has a Masonic symbol  followed by this inscription:

Our Father

McKendree Tucker

Born Mar 5, 1808

Died April 16, 1884

Soldier of Christ, well done,

The battle fought, the victory won,

Come to reap the sure reward

With all who've labored for the Lord.

The pyramid is made of a combination of brick and the flat flint rocks that are common in this area.The pyramid has been plastered over with cement. It is cracked in places and a sweet gum sapling is growing out of one of the cracks. Several other small plants have established a foothold in the cracks. I hope to return and spray these invaders, as they can rapidly degrade the structure. There is a stabilizing pillar of rock that protrudes from the apex  of the pyramid, and on one side of the pyramid is an opening into a tunnel. The tunnel is lined with brick. A large rock lies beside the opening, symbolizing the stone that was rolled away when Jesus rose from the dead.

To one side is another marble slab with an inscription that is  very difficult to read. It is not so well preserved as the upright slab marker, probably because leaves and other debris collect on it and ate away at the inscription through the years. I hope to return and do a rubbing to see what this marker says. To the other side is a grave made by stacking flint rocks as is common for old graves in this area. I see no marker associated with this grave.

One thing is evident: the person laid to rest in this spot was greatly loved and a huge effort went into making a suitable marker .

Further Info Supplied by a Reader

Rev McKendree Tucker
4 March 1908 , Milner, Georgia

This noted minister of Christ was distinguished for the part he performed in Eastern Alabama in the early days of Congregational Methodism -distiunguished (sic) honorably by this after having already won renown in Georgia and elsewhere...
he had all earnest desire for the salvation of others. Even at the early age of fifteen, it was common for him to lead in public prayers and addresses which left a lasting impression upon young and old. Not a few would in these early years have gone on to Heaven and area stars in his glory crown.
In 1828, at the age of twenty he was licensed to preach. Two years later he withdrew from the M. E. Church and cast his lot with those who were at that time just establishing the Methodist Protestant Church, his father being one of the Baltimore Convention who in 1830 framed the constitution. and discipline of the M.P. Church. The reason McKendree Tucker asigned for his change of church relationship was that he was opposed to that arbitrary power of the Espicopacy which debarred the lay members any place in the Annual or General Conferences. Said he: "I is a principle of tyranny that lords it over God's Heritage... the laity are taxed to build churches and pay the salary of preachers the government should...ed as backsliders and distributers of the peace." Had he been seeking popularity, this was certainly not a step he would have taken against the advice of many friends; but his generous nature and democratic training gave him an undaunted devotion to civil and religious liberty and to rights due to man from man; both politically and ecclesiastically.
For twenty-six years he labored in the Methodist Protestant Church, traveling on horseback all over Georgia, preaching salvation and mutual rights and liberty. For three or four terms he was President of that Church, thus filling the highest office in it.
But in 1856 (four years after the foundation of Congregational Methodism) he moved from Newton County Georgia to Chambers County Alabama. There he found no M.P. Church, but a large membership of Congregational Methodists near by. He was not a man to act hastily so examined, his brother says, "thoroughly" the Constitution and Government...

john b pedersen added above on 13 Jan 2008

Rev McKendree Tucker Editorial in.. The Watchman - General Organ of the Congregational Methodist Church


Eppes Tucker, son of McKendree Tucker

Judge Eppes Tucker

1923 , The Lewis Publishing Company, 1923; Vol III, p.150

It is given to comparatively few men to enjoy the grateful distinction of seeing a flourishing city grow up within their experience in a community where they were leaders and first movers in starting the development that later generation enjoys. Such has been the distinction of Eppes Tucker, Sr, one of the oldest members of the Florida bar, and a leader in his profesion and in the public affairs of Lakeland from the very beginning of its corporate existence.
Mr. Tucker was born in Newton County, Georgia, Spetember