Cazmo Nicholoff

Husband of Effie Nicholoff

July 23, 1895

February 11, 1928

An American Soldier whom our country called.

He fought for her and in the end did fall.

So reads a particular monument in Mars Hill Cemetery in McNairy County. It might have gone unnoticed had there not been one just a few feet away that matched it perfectly—perfectly, that is, except for the message that it bore.

Effie

Wife of Paul H. Parker

July 31, 1907

January 16, 1942

Lord she was Thine and not my own.

Thou hast not done me wrong.

Cazmo Nicholoff, husband of Effie Nicholoff. Effie Parker, wife of Paul H. Parker.  With matching monuments, they rest side by side.

Cazmo Nicholoff was born in Macedonia, Greece. According to his monument the date was July 23, 1895; according to his military and citizenship records, it was January 1 of that year or perhaps 1893.  On May 5, 1912—when he was not quite 17—he entered the United States through the port of New York.  His dream of citizenship became a reality on July 3, 1918, a petition that was granted fully two years after he enlisted in the United States Army during World War I.  He was assigned to Troop M of the 16 ^th Cavalry and was eventually transferred to Troop L of the 17 ^th .  The task given these troops was to patrol the neutralized border between the United States and Mexico, but things did not go well.  He was honorably discharged on January 26, ^, 1920 with a Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability due to having developed pulmonary tuberculosis.  Despite the fact that most of his family had settled up north, he somehow met Effie Harris of McNairy County, Tennessee.  On April 5, 1925 they applied for a marriage license with the ceremony being performed by J. T. Martin the following day.

Sadly, his condition worsened, bringing about his death on February 11, 1928 at the Veterans’ Hospital in Outwood, Kentucky. They had been married less than three years; he was 25.  The condition he contracted during his military service had brought about his death.  “An American Soldier whom our country called.  He fought for her and in the end did fall.”

Effie later married Paul H. Parker and at her death in 1942 he chose to return her to her first love. For the last 74 years they have rested together, only inches apart.  In his grief, Mr. Parker saw fit to mark her grave as she had marked her first husband’s, and to let God know he bore Him no ill will for having reclaimed His own.

Every life has a story. Every story deserves to be told.  And sometimes the telling begins at the end, with two matching monuments standing side by side in a country cemetery.

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