The Lanning-Pittillo Cemetery was originally two cemeteries separated by a hedge row.
The Pittillo cemetery property was donated by Mittleton Pittillo. The first known Pittillo descendent buried in the Pittillo Cemetery was that of Milton Y. Pittillo, who died in 1867.
The original Lanning Cemetery property was donated Jan. 18, 1916, by James Wilkerson Lanning, his wife Leah King Lanning, and their son Hiram William King Lanning, along with his wife Eliza Nix Lanning. The first known Lanning descendant buried in the Lanning Cemetery was Leah N. Lanning, who died in 1888.
On Jan. 23, 1934, Hiram William King Lanning, J.B. Pittillo, S.J. Pittillo and L.B Pittillo deeded a right of way to the trustees for the Pittillo Cemetery.
At a later date the hedge row was removed to join the Lanning Cemetery and the Pittillo Cemetery to form the Lanning-Pittillo Cemetery.
In 1945 Hiram William King Lanning and wife Eliza Nix Lanning and daughter Bertha Lanning Pryor and husband, Ernest Jay Pryor, donated additional land for the Lanning-Pittillo Cemetery. In 1952 Bertha Lanning Pryor and husband donated more property to expand the cemetery to its current size.
The cemetery is well maintained and still used by descendants and other members of the community.
There are more than 340 graves in the cemetery of 1.84 acres off Fruitland Cemetery Road.
The oldest inscribed headstone is that of Milton Y. Pittillo.
Confederate veteran graves include those of John Littleton Pittillo (1908), Milton Y. Pittillo (1867), and Samuel P. Pittillo (1917). Also found in the cemetery is a broken Civil War stone for Walter Lee Ingram.
John Littleton Pittillo enlisted in the 60th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. D, Henderson Rangers. He was captured at the Battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tenn., a prisoner at Camp Morton, Ind., and exchanged in April 1863. He was wounded in the right arm and captured at the Battle of Missionary Ridge during the Chattanooga Campaign. He was hospitalized and his right arm amputated at Chattanooga, Tenn. He was exchanged in February1864. He was absent wounded through November 1864. He died in 1908.
Milton Y. Pittillo enlisted in the 60th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. D, Henderson Rangers. He was captured at the Battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tenn., a prisoner at Camp Morton, Ind., and exchanged in April 1863. He was sent to the hospital in May 1864 and furloughed for 60 days. There are no further military records. He died in 1867.
Samuel P. Pittillo enlisted in the 60th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. D, Henderson Rangers. He was captured at the Battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tenn., a prisoner at Camp Morton, Ind., and exchanged in April 1863. He was wounded in the chest and left leg in Tennessee. Based on movements of his regiment, he was probably wounded at the Battle of Missionary Ridge during the Chattanooga Campaign. He served through the war. He died in 1917.
The grave site of James Madison Lanning (1852-1939) who served in the Spanish-American War can also be found within the cemetery. Lanning served with the 1^st N.C. Volunteer Infantry, Co. G, during the Spanish-American War. He mustered into service in 1898 and mustered out of service 1898.
The grave site of a Marine from Henderson County who died in the Korean War is also located at the cemetery.
Marine Pfc. Patrick D. Pittillo served with the 11th Marine Regiment, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during the Korean War. He was mortally wounded by enemy artillery fire at Ching Dong-ni, “School House,” South Korea. He died of his wounds Aug. 7, 1950.