[09/04/03] Two Warren County cemeteries are among the first eligible for public maintenance under a new state law. Whether they will be remains to be seen.

One is Old Hopewell, adjacent to Warrenton Elementary School’s parking lot, where Revolutionary War veteran Capt. Benjamin Pettit is buried. The other is Asbury, near Timberlane at the end of Halls Ferry Road.

“I think there are certain responsibilities we’re entrusted to,” said Gordon Cotton, author, historian and director of the Old Court House Museum, as he looked at the grave markers on a walk through Hopewell.

Cotton rattled off story after story about Pettit and others buried in the cemetery that served the long-gone community or Warrenton south of Vicksburg. For instance, William Lewis, who started the cemetery, has a grave marker bought by his illegitimate daughter. Another man there is buried between his two wives.

“To me, what has always been fascinating is the stories behind the people,” Cotton said.

The Old Court House Museum is operated by the Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society. About 10 years ago, Cotton and a few other volunteers undertook the physical labor of clearing Asbury and Hopewell of trees, brush and weeds revealing some tombstones unseen for decades. Since then, they’ve had periodic workdays in the long-abandoned graveyards but it’s a lot of work.

Under the law passed this year, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History can certify a cemetery for maintenance upon proof of 100-year-old graves and other requirements. Cotton submitted the paperwork to have Hopewell and Asbury each receive a Certificate of Historical Significance.

Normally, public funds cannot be expended on private property, but the certification clears the way for the Warren County Board of Supervisors or the Sheriff’s Department to use inmate or other labor from time to time to make sure historic sites aren’t lost to neglect.

Scott McCoy, review and compliance assistant for the Department of History and Archives, said Mississippi has 236 abandoned cemeteries throughout the state. He also said said the designation doesn’t require the county to do anything to them; it just makes it legal if they choose to do so.

Maintaining abandoned Warren County cemeteries wasn’t on this week’s board agenda and might not be for a while.

Bill Lauderdale, who is District 4 supervisor and represents the area where Hopewell is located, said descendants of those buried in the cemeteries should pay to have them in good condition, like most other people do.

“I’ve got a great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War, and I’m taking care of his plot,” Lauderdale said.

He wouldn’t say whether he would support money going to keep up abandoned cemeteries. He said research would have to be done before he made up his mind.

That leaves it an open question of whether the county will take any action. And that’s OK with Cotton. The Old Court House Museum has long been operated without taxpayer support, and Cotton is clear on the point that families and communities can preserve their history without government assistance.

But at least the certificates are there. And, as time goes on, supervisors can step in to help or take over if private efforts wane.