Thaxton Trip

Even with a map, it had required a bit of luck and persistence to locate Liberty Hill Cemetery. Then as we were leaving, Neal Huskison, driver of the lead vehicle, asked me if I thought we would be just as well off to continue down the gravel road, rather than turn around and go back the way we came. I agreed the road should take us back to the Lafayette Springs road, and off we went. We hadn’t traveled a mile when we came to a fork.

"Which way?" Neal asked, and before I could respond he made a decision to take the left fork.

A mile or so further we came upon a Tee. Again Neal asked which way but remained stopped until I answered.

Flipping the map upside down to get a sense of direction, I stated, "Take a left."

Jeannie, Shannon’s younger daughter had switched vehicles with Brenda and was beside me in the backseat.

"Did you just turn the map upside down?" she asked.

"Yes."

"My husband thinks it's weird when I do that," she shared.

"Well it sometimes helps," I replied. "Since we’re both Carters, I’d say that might account for our similar thought processes."

We didn’t have to drive very far until we came to Lafayette Springs Road and knew where we were for the first time in a while. Our plans were to stop at Janie Luther’s cabin, where part of the expedition would be spending the night, then drive into nearby Thaxton to visit the Thaxton Cemetery where other Carters are buried. Janie Luther and Ladine, Shannon’s late wife, were half sisters. Janie owns a home in Pontotoc but lately spends a lot of time at the cabin her son built. It’s a modern log cabin, and all the floors and interior walls are wood. After a few minutes spent taking in the cabin and its remote location, it was easy to see why Janie enjoyed staying outside of "the city."

The two young girls had all the traipsing in cemeteries they needed for one day and willingly chose to remain at the cabin with Janie while the rest of us headed to Thaxton. Continue reading>>