In Carlton, Alabama there’s Mount Nebo Church – it’s pretty much in the middle of the forest, and it’s not very easy to find (if you’re interested in going, email me: ginger AT deepfriedkudzu …dot… com – I have the directions saved). This is the road leading up to the church:
At the end of the road is a gate, so you’ll need to leave your car there to walk up to the cemetery and church.
The cemetery has some interesting monuments:
But the thing that makes this place so special is that some of the monuments have death masks.
The monuments were done by Isaac Nettles, Sr.
It’s a little hard to make out, but it says “Mother was born Jan 1894 (???) died July 6, 1933”. I may have not made that out completely correctly but I think that’s it.
There are a couple of other monuments Mr. Nettles was supposed to have done that I could not find. I think that this one …but I’m not sure at all… might have been one of his creations. I hope-hope-hope this was not a victim of vandalism:
The way Isaac Nettles did these death masks is that he had the people – while they were still living – press their faces in a box of sand. From that impression he would pour concrete and use paper and wire to make the finished mask.
