Conner Cemetery Historical Marker

The Conner Cemetery, a very historic graveyard begun in 1848, contains two Revolutionary War veterans, Thomas Palmer and William Moore, and several Conner and Roark ancestors. Both Jerusha Blythe Roark and James P. Roark were buried there in 1876 and 1877.

The Cemetery was founded by M.C. “Mack” Conner, at the request of his father Maximilian Haney Conner II on land owned by Thomas Palmer, Sr. Hidden from view and difficult to find without guidance, it is located on the private farm of Ronald Johnson, in Northwest Hamilton County.

The cemetery was in a sad state of deterioration when the R-CA came to its rescue. The R-CA family began holding an annual “work-day” with Chuck Gross as the leader. Many R-CA members assisted, and over time the Cemetery was cleaned and fenced, as the pastures are still active, and the markers were cleaned, reset, and repaired. The R-CA also placed 141 numbered markers to designate unmarked graves. About 2002, Darwin Lane and David C. Roark arranged for the R-CA historical marker to be installed on Highway 316 (Birchwood Pike) south of Birchwood.