Even though the above stone reads “Hutchcroft”, the last name of this family is actually spelled “Hutchcraft”.  All others in the cemetery are buried with the correct spelling on their gravestones.

Several members of the Hutchcraft family moved from Culpeper County, Virginia, to Kentucky in the early days of the state.  James Hutchcraft was the son of Thomas Hutchcraft and Eleanor Harrison Epperson, born in Bourbon County about 1799/1800.  January 6, 1829, he married Eliza A. Williams.  Their first daughter, Carrie, died as an infant in late 1829.  Ten more children were born to the couple in the ensuing years.

In the 1850 Census of Bourbon County, Kentucky, James is listed as 51, a farmer, with wife Eliza Ann, 36, and children Richard W., 18; Ann E., 15; Margaret M., 12; Lou Ann, 10; Carrie W., 4; Amanda, 3; and Kate, 1.  Notice another daughter has been named Carrie; unfortunately she passed away before the next census.

In the 1860 census, James is listed as 61, a farmer, with wife Eliza Ann, 48; Ann E., 23; Margaret M., 21; Lou Ann, 18; Amanda, 12; Kate, 10; Samuel, 8; and Martha, 6.

To our daughter, Louann M., who was born June 27, 1840, and died June 22, 1860, James and Eliza Hutchcraft.  Paris Cemetery, Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Daughter Louann died shortly after the 1860 census was taken.

Of the children who lived to adulthood, the following is a list of marriages:

• Mary Frances Hutchcraft married Henry Hedges
• Richard Williams Hutchcraft married Susan Croxton, and secondly, Margaret Fleming
• Anna Eliza Hutchcraft married Charles F. Hart
• Margaret McIlvain Hutchcraft married James Edward Ray
• Harriet Amanda Hutchcraft married W. A. Hill
• Kate Butler Hutchcraft married Russell Mann
• Martha Clay Hutchcraft married William M. Miller
• Samuel LaTrolle Williams Hutchcraft married Frances Brinker

H. Hutchcraft Hill, 1847-1921

Daughter Harriet Hutchcraft studied art in Cincinnati, New York and Boston, and eventually in Paris, France.  Several of her pieces are in museums.  She eventually returned to Paris, Kentucky, where she did a series of portraits of Bourbon County judges, and taught art in Danville, Kentucky.

James Hutchcraft, died May 11, 1863, aged 63 years, 3 months

Eliza lived another eighteen years before being laid to rest next to her husband.

Eliza A., wife of James Hutchcraft, born September 22, 1812, died May 18, 1881.

Another stone to the memory of James and Eliza Hutchcraft.  Tomorrow I will post obituaries on a few of the children of James and Eliza.