I’ve written before about gravestones in Bethany Church Cemetery, a shady burial ground tucked away in the county north of Collierville. It’s filled with old and interesting markers, but none are so intriguing as a row of seven flat stones marking the last resting place of the children of the Archer family. Why are they so mysterious? Because the gravestones show that, over a period of 14 years in the 1920s and early 1930s, eight children were buried here, and not one of them lived more than a few months. Anyone who stumbles upon these simple markers must wonder: What on earth happened to these poor children?
The graves are all in a row, lying within a long stone border. The inscriptions on the seven stones read:
Elwynne May Archer (May 26, 1921 – May 26, 1921)
Twin Dorothy May Archer (Dec. 22, 1922 – June 15, 1923)
Twin Alvaray Archer (Dec. 22, 1922 – June 5, 1923)
Evelyn Fay Archer (Feb. 4, 1924 – Feb. 7, 1924)
Twins Archer Baby Girls (Nov. 26, 1928 – Nov. 26, 1928)
Max Callicutt Archer (Sept. 6, 1929 – Oct. 8, 1929)
Glenda Elizabeth Archer (May 1, 1935 – July 2, 1935)
