Grave Houses – Not Only In Appalachia – Calloway County

Almost every cemetery we visit has something unusual – perhaps a particular stone, or brick-covered above-ground graves.  Perhaps it is very unusual names, or the cemetery is laid out differently.  Miller Cemetery in Calloway County is no exception.  This was one of Ritchey’s finds via geocaching.  Titled ‘Three in a Row at Miller’ the cache was located just outside Miller Cemetery, in the woods behind the grave sites.

This cemetery has three grave houses – a feature I have never seen before.  These were erected over the graves of three members of the Purdom family, John Reid Purdom and Frances Futrell Purdom, and their son, Alvin Purdom.

A grave house is a structure erected over or near a grave.  This was to protect the grave from the elements and animals.  From an online article by Candid Slice, ‘The practice of constructing grave houses has also been long associated with Melungeons…