Fielding Hurst Grave

The last resting place of Colonel Fielding Hurst is located at Mount Gilead Cemetery in northwest McNairy County, Tennessee.

After financial hardship forced him to sell his two-story home in Purdy, Hurst moved with his wife Melocky and their adopted daughter Flora to their "country home" in northwest McNairy County about 1876. This area was known as the "Hurst Nation."

There he died six years later on April 3, 1882 at about the age of 72 and was laid to rest in Mount Gilead Cemetery. In the early 1900s, it was proposed that his remains should be re-interred at Shiloh National Cemetery in nearby Hardin County, but it never occurred. 

Over the years, the grave was reportedly desecrated by individuals still bitter over Hurst's actions during the Civil War. No grave -- not even that of a man as despised as he -- should be treated in such a disrespectful manner.

The cemetery is located behind Mount Gilead Baptist Church at 6185 Rowsey School Road, Bethel Springs TN. Here is a map link to the church.