Today, I visited Boligee, Alabama, population 328, in search of Mt. Hebron Cemetery, in a quest to locate Emmett’s grandparents, Cephas Love Wilson Sr. and Emily B. Wilson.
Using the information posted on Find-A-Grave, and typing the address into Waze, I set out with my husband on Interstate 20/59 West, to Alabama State Road 20.
Source: Google Maps
There’s cotton in huge bales wrapped, ready to be taken to a nearby gin.
There’s rutted roads with logging here and there.
There’s houses with dozens of junked cars in the yard; this is a poor part of Greene County. Little signage along the way; SR 20 winds a bit. According to the information on Find-A-Grade, the cemetery is only about 15 minutes north of I-20/59. My husband reassures me it isn’t too far off our scheduled trip to the in-laws — hell, we’ve been driving for hours anyway. It’s fine.
Fifteen minutes after taking the exit, the Waze voice chirps, “you’ve reached your destination.”
This is the church I was looking for near Boligee, Alabama. Source: Stephen McBride for Find-A-Grave
My husband pulls over to the side of the road. It’s a deeply rutted mud road. No signage anywhere, no primitive white church building on the property.
“I don’t think this is it,” I said.
“Let’s go on a bit further,” he said.
We crossed Highway 39 and continued another 10 minutes.
“What exactly is the address, again?” my husband asked.
“There isn’t one; only the location is given — Mt. Hebron Cemetery. According to Waze, this is where it is, but Find-a-Grave says it’s near the intersection of Highway 39 and State Road 128.”
“Aha,” he said. “Waze doesn’t have the right GPS coordinates for Mt. Hebron. So, let’s find 128.”
Alas, I could not. The dreaded “No Service” in my cell phone status bar.
“Wait. I have a map of Alabama from the last rest stop. Let’s check it.”
Unfortunately, State Road 128 wasn’t even listed. And unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to explore the back roads of Greene County: The kids were starting to complain about wanting lunch. And, neither of us knew enough about Greene County to feel confident exploring without a map or a technology assist.
“Tell you what,” my husband said. “Let’s track it down when we get to the house. We can try to stop by on the way back out.”
We did find Mt Hebron Cemetery — and S.R. 128 — on a map when we got home. It is in the middle of nowhere — there may be a dirt road off of S.R. 128. I hope. Source: Google Maps
We have a better idea how to find it now. And, I’ll pay Emmett’s grandparents a visit when we do.
Meanwhile — I promised to post information about Emmett’s secretaries in the last post. I’ll do that this week. Good news: I found one of the clerk/secretaries who worked for Emmett’s brother, Cephas L. Wilson, in Marianna! Progress!
Categories: Family Interesting & Odd Research Status
jsmith532
Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus
Tell my story. 
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