Micanopy Historic Cemetery sheds light on life in early Florida

By Lora E. Ide Correspondent

MICANOPY Just a short distance away from Cholokka Boulevard, with its rustic shops, small restaurants, a historical museum and a church, is the Micanopy Historic Cemetery, resting beneath spreading live oaks draped in Spanish moss.

Micanopy resident Tom Brady said he has been researching the cemetery, which was founded in 1826 after the former Indian trading post became an American town in 1823.

Brady said he has been fascinated by the historic area since moving to Micanopy in 1982, so it seemed natural to look into the lives of the people buried in the cemetery, which is the fourth or fifth area history project he has undertaken.

"Tom Brady has been elemental in the Micanopy Historical Society. He's one of their Micanopy Regulars (who role-play in the guise of early U.S. Army soldiers), and he also is on the Micanopy historic planning board. He's just been an essential part of our town for the last two decades," said Monica Fowler, owner of a local business.

Brady said he has learned that the earliest gravestone in the cemetery marks the final resting place of James W. Martin, who lived from 1737 to 1826, although one old, indecipherable marker with a new stone is the final resting place of someone who died in 1823.

These early residents resided in one of the earliest of inland Florida towns, information about which is meticulously recorded and preserved today in the archives of the historical society, Brady said. However, like in any town cemetery, it's almost impossible to learn as much as one might like about the lives of the people buried there.

"For instance, there is a preacher here with two wives, one buried on each side of him," Brady said.

Women had more difficulty giving birth in earlier times, leading to some early deaths. Perhaps that was why the minister married twice, Brady said.

One of the most unusual pieces of statuary, a tall, beautifully sculpted angel, is a marker for Annie Gertrude Barr, daughter of John and C.D. Barr, who lived from 1871 to 1891. Perhaps she was a young mother, or even one of many area residents in the late 1800s who succumbed during an epidemic of Yellow Fever.

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Micanopy Historic Cemetery sheds light on life in early Florida