Magnolia

Merritt's grave

Corporal Merritt R. Brown lies in his family's plot at Magnolia Cemetery, a mile south of the square, under a big magnolia tree. Near him stand the obelisk of his father, Benjamin F. Brown, the small stone of his infant daughter, Mattie Duncan Brown (1870–1871), and the stone of J. W. Brown of his own company. To find it, face the Confederate Soldiers Memorial marker from the road that circles the gazebo: the Brown plot is just to your right.

Merritt died of yellow fever at the beginning of September 1878, one of the first in Collierville to die in that epidemic. His grave had no headstone for sixty-two years. On January 15, 1940, Mrs. B. M. Cowan of Collierville applied to the War Department for a headstone for "the UNMARKED grave of a veteran." The stone was shipped on May 10, 1940. It gives his rank, company and regiment. It gives no dates.

The cemetery

Magnolia Cemetery was organized and chartered in the spring of 1878. Its charter members were J. T. Biggs, W. H. Irby, J. K. Waddy, and Drs. P. A. Perkins and W. D. Summers. The 57 acres were bought that year from William J. Brown, Merritt's brother. That fall the yellow fever came to Collierville, and Merritt was buried in the cemetery that had been his family's land.

Comrades at Magnolia

Merritt Brown does not lie alone. Ten other men of the Wigfall Grays are buried at Magnolia Cemetery, each confirmed by his headstone and by his service record or the federal soldiers' index.

Captain Wiley T. Cargill (1835–1887). He enlisted as a private in May 1861 and was elected captain at the reorganization of April 1862. Wounded at Perryville, he commanded the company, later combined with Company H, from Murfreesboro on, and it was his company that chose Merritt for the Roll of Honor. He was paroled at Memphis in May 1865. His government stone spells the name "Cargil," as his parole did.

Ordnance Sergeant Thomas L. Taylor (1842–1921). An original Wigfall Gray at eighteen, he was wounded in the head at Shiloh and rose through the sergeants' ranks. He kept the company's roll until he was captured on the second day at Nashville, December 16, 1864, and was held at Camp Douglas, Illinois, until March 1865.

First Lieutenant James T. Biggs (1839–1900). Elected second lieutenant when the company enrolled in May 1861 and promoted first lieutenant that fall, he was wounded at Shiloh. In 1878 he was one of the men who founded this cemetery.

Dr. John W. Buchanan (1838–1908). He enlisted in Company C and was promoted to assistant surgeon. He was captured twice, at Perryville and at Franklin in December 1864, and was held at Camp Chase, Ohio.

Private John W. Halley (1836–1917). Enrolled at Collierville by Lieutenant W. T. Abington in May 1862, he joined the company at Corinth. From the fall of 1863 he served on guard duty, escorting prisoners from Chickamauga to Richmond and guarding the military prison at Atlanta.

Private Hezekiah S. Halley (1844–1926), his younger brother. He joined the company in December 1863, was captured at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, and was exchanged in February 1865. He was among the last of the company.

J. W. Brown, Company C, buried in the Brown family plot beside Merritt's family. His stone carries no dates.

Private Frank M. Hughes, Company C. A low stone in front of his reads "Our Uncle."

J. H. Fisher, Company C. Wounded at Shiloh, he was with the company at the surrender. His stone carries no dates.

Private Colin P. Person Jr. (1840–1915). An original Wigfall Gray, he was wounded at Shiloh and discharged for disability in July 1862, on a certificate signed by Captain Cargill. He then joined Ballentine's Mississippi cavalry and served to the end. He was paroled at Gainesville, Alabama, on May 11, 1865, the same place and day as Merritt Brown.

The cemetery's Confederate memorial

The 1997 memorial at Magnolia states that "most of these men were members of the Wigfall Gray's Company." The records do not support that. Service records, headstone inscriptions and the federal soldiers' index confirm eleven Wigfall Grays among the 58 names. At least twenty-five others served in regiments from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia. The rest cannot be placed in any unit from the surviving records.

Photographs of the stones by the author's wife, October 2026.

The book

The story of Corporal Merritt R. Brown, the Wigfall Grays and their town is told in An Honor Unearned: From the Streets of Collierville, Tennessee, to Edgefield, South Carolina, by Michael Louis Meece. Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. More about the book at anhonorunearned.org.