Cupp Cemetery

by Joshua Heston

It was a bright March afternoon in 2010 and I was exploring little Cupp Cemetery in rural Taney County, Missouri. The cemetery was founded in 1844 and named for the family of Isaac Cupp.

Pepper Jackson, a southwest Missouri native, was kind enough to share with StateoftheOzarks his family geneaology in relationship to the little cemetery in the shadow of Bear Mountain. Isaac Cupp was an ancestor.

Despite the roaring traffic — the place is within spitting distance of Highway 65 just north of Branson — there is a sense of quietness in the cemetery, a strong reminder this is sacred ground.

Cedars shade the corners while yucca — planted who knows how many years ago — sprout from gravesides, continuing a long tradition of placing evergreen plants in cemeteries — a symbol of everlasting life (Plate 9).

“Waiting for Us” says one tombstone. Another, “Mother and Baby At Rest.” Eerily enough, cattle bones are scattered through Cupp, a reminder that pastureland is right over the old woven wire fence (Plate 5).

Lives were left here along with uncounted tears. Its the distillation of the Ozarks’ Christian faith, of grief, decay, and hope, all beneath the gnarled limbs of ancient oaks and tall, seemingly eternal blue sky.

Cupp Cemetery is sacred ground a long ways from the hustle of a modern world believing itself important.

June 17, 2013

Cupp Family History

from Pepper Jackson

Generations of Isaac Cupp (Jackson family descendents): Isaac Cupp was born in Holland and immigrated to the United States. He settled in Tennessee and later moved to Chariton County near Marceline, MO. Isaac had two wives Nancy and Sarah (married to both at same time).

Children of Isaac and Nancy (1st wife):

• Thomas • Marion • Tennessee • William • Sterlin • Ann (married name Markin) • Jane (married name Lane- lived in Marceline, MO)

Children of Isaac and Sarah (2nd wife):

• Celia (married name Drew) • Sarah (married name Jackson) • Rachel (married name Howe) • Silah Cupp • Simpson Cupp (married Catherine McDaniel in Chariton County, MO)

Simpson and Catherine Cupp later moved to Taney County, Missouri, to be near his son Isaac Cupp (grandson of Isaac Cup Sr.) and his family. Simpson is buried in the Cupp Cemetery at Meadows, MO.

Children of Simpson and Catherine Cupp married about 1860 in Chariton County, MO:

• Isaac Cupp (married Nancy Ann White of Marceline, MO) Jackson family descendents: • Cass (married name Lake) • Dave • Lumm • Jack • William (married name Clevenger) • Mary Ann (married name Sportsman)

Children of Isaac (Jr.) and Nancy Ann Cupp, married around 1886 in Chariton County, MO. Later moved to Taney County, near Meadows, Missouri:

• Maude- born June 18, 1887 (married Fred Anderson, Opal Coats father) • Simpson- born December 1, 1888 • Emma Ann- born November 13, 1890 (married Ed Anderson, Roger’s grandfather and Pepper’s great-grandfather) • Ella and Nella- twins born January 26, 1893 • Mabel (married Elmer Keithley) • Henry –born January 19, 1897 and died young • Otto- born May 7, 1899 • Daisy- born August 13, 1901 (married Jesse Bilyeu) • Dolla- died as a small child • Tedd- born December 25, 1904 (died before parents) • Nettie- born October 6, 1905 (married Clarence Bilyeu) • Herbert- born February 1, 1909 (married Grace Jennings) • Elliott- born September 26, 1912 (married Dessie Cooker) • Jewel- born July 22, 1914 (married Tom Bostic) died during childbirth and buried in Schubach Cemetery near Chestnut Ridge, Missouri

Children of Edgar Edmond Anderson and Emma Ann Cupp (Roger Jackson’s grandparents and Pepper’s great-grandparents):

Married June 22, 1908 at Meadows, Missouri. Lived most of their lives on Bull Creek, later near Chestnut Ridge, MO in Christian County. Moved to Ponce De Leon, Missouri (Stone County) where they lived the rest of their lives.

• Mildred Florence- born June 24, 1909 (married Robert Jackson at age 15) This is Roger’s mother and Pepper’s grandmother • Elmo Eflon- born December 12, 1912 (died in 1914) • Lowell Edgar- born May 20, 1914 (married Mary Orlean Gideon) • Roma Ann- born May 4, 1916 (married Clarence Word) • Zoe Evelyn- born July 2, 1917 (married Curtis Glossip) owned the General Store in Ponce De Leon, MO • Orville- born December 9, 1918 (died as a small child buried at Meadows Cemetery) • Loyal Isaac- born December 8, 1921 (died January 8, 1945 at Battle of Bulge, World War II buried at Highlandville Cemetery, Highlandville, MO) • Louis Harold- born November 1, 1923 (had several wives) • Doris Mabel- born December 20, 1925 (married Val Gene) • Mary Lou- born May 9, 1932 (married Arnold Louis Howe) • James Russell- born December 8, 1933 • Dennis Franklin- born November 29, 1936 (married Betty Hopper)

Children of Robert Jackson and Mildred Florence Anderson (Roger’s parents, Pepper’s grandparents and Christopher’s great-grandparents) Married August 19, 1924:

• Harold Eugene- born September 3, 1925 (married Vivian Irene Mathis) • Leonard Leon- born June 13, 1927 (married Dorothy Jean Mathis, Vivian’s sister) • Joe Arnold- born July 22, 1929 (married Geneva Stone) • Nancy Irene – born September 25, 1931 (married Jessie Earl Smith) • Roger Lee – born January 6, 1936 (married Frances Jane Hill) • Robert Dean- born September 6, 1942 (married Shirley Jean Gaunt) • Bennie Edwin- born May 17, 1945 (married Sheryl Kannar)

Children of Roger Lee Jackson and Frances Jane Hill (Pepper & Chelle’s parents) Married August 31, 1956 in Springfield, MO. Later moving to Halltown, MO.

• Pepper Lynn- born August 27, 1957 (married Brenda Lee Cutburth, May 5, 1978) • Dawn Michelle (Chelle)- born August 18, 1961 (married Mark Davidson)

Children of Pepper Lynn Jackson and Brenda Lee Cutburth. Married May 5, 1978 in Springfield, MO. Later moving to Halltown, MO

• Christopher Kay- born July 17, 1986