By Bob
Darden - 2001
A crowd of
45 people gathered Thursday at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Money
Road to celebrate the erection of a headstone marking the grave of blues great
Robert Johnson.
"I think
it is going to be real good for the church and the community. This guy was
popular,” admitted Sylvester Hoover, chairman of Little Zion's Deacon Board.
The exact
location of Johnson’s grave has been a source of disagreement over the years,
and the marker probably won’t change a lot of people’s minds about the location
of the musician’s final resting place.
It wasn’t
until last year that Little Zion member Rosie Eskridge told blues historian
Steve LaVere of Greenwood and the Commonwealth that she remembered that her
husband, Tom, was in charge of Johnson's burial Aug. 16, 1938. Gaylon Wardlow
of Pensacola, Fla., who describes himself as a “blues
investigator,” said with other little-known Eskridge's version fits details of
the Johnson case.
Wardlow said
he uncovered Johnson's death certificate in 1968. Although the document did not
list a doctor, it did list that information about Johnson was provided to the
coroner by Jim Moore. Wardlow said Moore had been a worker on Luther Wade's
plantation at the time of Johnson's death. The plantation was directly across
the Tallahatchie River from Little Zion church, he said. Wardlow said he picked the Commonwealth's
story off the Associated Press wire and wanted to pursue it further.
Two months
ago, Wardlow said, he came to Greenwood to interview Eskridge. "She told
me she knew Jim Moore. It fit.”
Eskridge
attended Thursday’s ceremony but did not speak with reporters. Wardlow said
Eskridge confirmed another detail disclosed on the back of Johnson's death
certificate that Johnson was buried in a homemade coffin supplied by the
county. "She didn't know about the
back side of the death certificate," which contained the details about the
coffin and Moore.
Some
confusion was created when the death certificate listed Johnson's burial as
taking place in "Zion Church” Cemetery and not Little Zion, he said.
Little Zion's Hoover said he knew little about Johnson and his influence on the
world of music. "I went to school here, and they didn't teach me nothing
about this guy," he said. "I'm glad he's here. He's in the right
place."
Wardlow said
he believes Johnson was the victim of syphilis and not foul play when he died
at the age of 26. One popular story is that Johnson was poisoned by the jealous
operator of a juke joint. "Robert Johnson knew he was going to die from
complications of syphilis. He had the bad eye," Wardlow said. Wardlow also
said the story that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for
supernatural musical talent is a myth. "Robert Johnson did not sell his
soul to the devil at the crossroads," he said. When Johnson died, he
"went to a spiritual heaven, not with Satan and the devil," Wardlow
said. Wardlow said he provided the $684 granite headstone veneered in black.
Although an inscription hasn't been made on the marker, Wardlow said he had a
few ideas. He’ll probably write 'Legendary Mississippi Bluesman' or 'Most
Influential Bluesman of All Time. May He Be in the Heavenly Way,"' he
said.
The Rev.
McArthur McKinley, pastor of Little Zion, said the celebration of the marker
was appropriate. "I'm glad we finally found him. We'll take it from here," he said.
"Take it" is right. The next week, they took it right out of there, allegedly planning to erect a taller marker.
![]() |
The Greenwood Commonwealth, Aug 27, 2001. |
A headstone was finally placed in the early months of 2002. Whereas Gayle Dean Wardlow had graciously agreed to pay for the first marker as well as contribute to the supposedly massive second marker, Steve LaVere ended up footing the bill for his specialty marker, which contained the highly questionable handwritten letter supposedly written by Robert Johnson. LaVere, however, never allowed anyone to examine the letter to verify its authenticity. Thus, still today, it remains highly dubious. Not only that, but his purchase of the marker gave him and the Johnson estate a fair amount of discretion as to how or if the church might maintain its own cemetery. He was not above filing a lawsuit against the church, which created much tension within the congregation. Instead of unifying the church by supporting the pastor, who was put in a very precarious situation by supporting the installation of a bluesman's grave marker, LaVere instead thwarted his efforts to prove the marker would be a boon to the church.
![]() |
The Greenwood Commonwealth, Feb 22, 2004. |
No comments:
Post a Comment