By By Penny Randall / staff writer
Oct. 30, 2002
Rose Hill Cemetery is the burial site of some of Meridian's first settlers. Many Confederate soldiers were also laid to rest there.
Its history will be discussed when ETV's "Mississippi Roads" airs a special documentary about Rose Hill Cemetery Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Moore said some of the oldest graves in the cemetery date back to 1853. The city of Meridian was incorporated in December 1860.
Moore contacted ETV about three years ago when the cemetery was undergoing renovations. A new fence now surrounds the cemetery, and new lighting and water systems have been installed. The monuments have also been cleaned.
The "Mississippi Roads" program will focus on the Gypsy Queen and the Confederate Mound, where 154 Confederate soldiers are buried.
In September 2001, the men buried in the mound were identified and a memorial with their names was placed at the mound.
During the Civil War, 1861-65, a Confederate hospital was located on the site of Meridian's No. 1 Fire Station. The men who died there were buried in the surrounding churchyard.
Their bodies were unearthed in the late 1880s during the construction of Whitfield High School, called "Old Central" by many residents. The remains were transported by wagon to the south mound in Rose Hill Cemetery and buried in a common grave now known as the Confederate Mound.
Buried alongside the soldiers is one woman. Nebraska Carter Read was the wife of Lt. Charles Read. She died 14 years after her husband. Her remains were sent from California to be placed with her husband's.