The Hufstedler Cemetery predates the construction of “Pinckney’s Tomb” by at least two decades and contains the graves of eight known members of the Hufstedler, Whitwell and Randel families. The earliest burials are those of twins Louisa Moore Hufstedler (d. 30 June 1864) and Robert E. Lee Hufstedler (d. 3 May 1865). In 1887 and 1889, Nathaniel Moses Randel and his wife, Mahalia Marcum Randel were buried in the cemetery; they were the parents of Louisa Jane Randel, who married Pinckney Hufstedler. Pinckney and Mahalia were the parents of the two young twins as well as Josephine Hufstedler Whitwell, who died and was buried here in 1901, as was her husband, Egbert Med Whitwell (d. 1896). Pinckney died in 1895, and his widow Louisa Jane in 1923 or 1924; they would become the final two occupants of the gravehouse.
Local folklore states that Pinckney Hufstedler had an aversion to the possibility of water getting into the graves and built the wooden gravehouse about 1885. Hufstedler also asked that his body be transported to the burial site in a wagon drawn by white oxen, rather than mules. Gravehouses differ from mausoleums in that they are built over graves, not as structures constructed to hold the burials themselves. Their construction may be a folk manifestation mimicking the elaborate tombs of the well-to-do.
Pinckney’s Tomb is basically unaltered since the time of its construction. It suffered from long years of neglect and encroachment by trees and vegetation but has been restored by the Perry County Historical Society through a grant from the National Park Service through the Tennessee Historical Commission. A small marker outside provides brief interpretation about this unusual landmark.
DIRECTIONS:
From the traffic light in downtown Linden, go south on Mill Street for 1.2 miles, crossing TN 13 at another light. Turn left (E) at Veterans Park on to Old Hohenwald Road, then follow the signs on Hurricane Creek Road and Whitwell Cemetery Road to the site.