Cochran Cemetery in Poplar Bluff, Missouri

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Get directions Poplar Bluff, Missouri, USA

Coordinates: 36.68610, -90.51920
Cemetery ID:
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This cemetery is one of the oldest in Butler County. The first land was donated by Joel Cochran in the early 1800s. The cemetery is comprised of old and new sections. The older section has numerous graves with no stones, only fieldstone markers with no record of who is buried there. The older section is a memorial to five slaves who are buried there. Paul Morrow's great grandfather, Brannum, had slaves and when freed, he gave one of the families, known as James, 40 acres joining Cochran Cemetery. The other family received 40 acres about two miles from the cemetery. This information was passed to Paul Morrow by his father. The location of the graves were established by Charlie Franklin in the early 40s. He was working at the cemetery when four black came to the the graves of their loved ones. The graves had been marked with a pine bush which had grown into a tree. Only a stump remained to tell the story. At one time a plaque was paced in the cemetery telling the story and metal markers were place at individual graves reading: Slave 1, Slave 2, etc. No one knows who placed the markers. The land for the new section was donated by Mr. Morrow's grandmother, Eliza Langley.