The Starkie Thomas cemetery was established in 1825 and the earliest burials are thought to have been enslaved African-Americans owned by Starkie or his brothers. The first Thomas family members interred at the site were Starkie and Mary (Bridges) Thomas's daughters Adeline (7 years old) in June 1838, and Peachie (6 months old) in August 1838. Generations of Starkie and Mary's descendants have been and continue to be laid to rest at this site.



A large area within the cemetery includes an undetermined number of unmarked graves of African American slaves and their descendants. Two small modern markers designate the plot as that of "Thomas Slaves". Family lore suggests that descendants of Thomas slaves continued to bury their dead at the cemetery for several generations following emancipation. In addition to those within the fenced cemetery, several slave gravesites lie outside the back fence of the cemetery and remained clearly marked with field stones as late as 2005; only two are marked with a tombstone.



The cemetery's iron fence has an historic connection to Trigg County. A large section of the fence was placed around the cemetery's perimeter by Francis M. "Fant" Thomas. Fant purchased the fence at a public sale of county property in November 1907. The fence had enclosed the court square at the Trigg County Court House for many years but was ordered removed and sold by the Fiscal Court following the passage of a "stock law" in 1905 which forbade free-roaming livestock in the city limits of Cadiz. The fencing was auctioned in four lots; the other sections were bought by F.T. Street, W.H. Hooks, and John S. Thomas, and their fate is unknown. Additional iron fencing in a similar style was added to complete the enclosure.