This area of Garrard County, Kentucky, is very quiet now. The sound of gunshots is very far removed by time. The birds sing in the little copse of trees. Cows moo and swish flies with their tails. Corn grows in the fields surrounding the cemetery. Queen Anne’s Lace grows in abundance. It is so far away from everything that you don’t hear cars or other signs of civilization. An idyllic place.
To get here you drive through a creek, and a little way up the hill, stop and politely ask the farmer that lives on the edge of the property if you can visit the graveyard. He gladly obliges, tells you to drive back on his property about a mile, when you get to the barn climb over the fence – you are now on farmland that belongs to his neighbor. Walk down the little hill and up the next and you’ll see it – on the edge of the cornfield.
There are only two purchased stones in this cemetery. Alex Hill, a Civil War soldier, no dates – and Lucy Hill, died 4 March 1850 in the 43rd year of her age. Lucy was the wife of Isaiah Hill, killed in the Hill-Evans Feud, 13 March 1852, during the tobacco house fight. Isaiah’s stone we found face down. When we turned it over it was very brittle and crumbling. Cows had walked through the cemetery and many stones were overturned.
This is what we could read on Isaiah’s stone:
I. Hill, Was Born, the 8 of , And died, Mar
Isaiah and two brothers were shot on the same day. Russell and Isaiah died immediately, Fred lived a few weeks, but eventually died of his wounds. Their brother Jesse had been shot and killed three years previous, in March of 1849.
We found one stone that had some lettering – J. S. Hill Was Born – that’s all. It’s almost as if this stone is frozen in time – no dates to possibly calculate who J. S. Hill was. Why was it not finished? Could this be the stone for Jesse? Of course there were several John’s in the family; James was a popular name, also. It is impossible to say for sure whose stone this is.
This photo was taken in 1981 – I was pregnant with my son when we went on this adventure! This is a better picture than the one taken during our visit in 1997.
Another view of the cemetery – you can see some of the stones standing in the upper left-hand corner – and Ritchey diligently checking a stone for any name or date. Other than the four stones I’ve mentioned, we found nothing written on any of the others. There are about 30 graves in this cemetery – most having a headstone and a footstone. Several are very close together – a child’s grave. I made a drawing of the location of all the stones, and it has been very helpful through the years.
I think it’s time to make one more trip to the Hill Cemetery – it’s been 30 years! Perhaps there will be something we’ve missed the first two trips! And most of all, I just want to make sure it is still there!
Categories: Cemeteries, Family Stories, Genealogy Ramblings
It’s so sad to see a cemetery in ruins. Such mysteries surround tombstones that are broken and/or unreadable.
Looking forward to a post about your upcoming trip to check on the cemetery.
And the stones cry out…..
Thank you both for understanding! I think it is so important to find our ancestors and bring them to life again – and keep them in our memories! And try our hardest to solve those mysteries!
To think of so many who are lost and forgotten about. Family has moved on and these souls have no one to visit them. It is a shame no one knows who all is buried there, or that the broken stones cannot be restored or replaced. Hopefully someday soon, someone will take the endeavor on to find funding for a project to restore all the families that live on this little piece of ground.As always, your stories such as this is heartwarming as well as heart felt.
Peggy, I would love to have the money to buy that plot of land! The same with the Linton cemetery that is so overgrown! If I ever win the lottery that is on my list! But until that time I can at least try to find out who these people were, tell the world about it and hopefully they will be remembered by many.
Thank you for the photo of the Hill Cemetery; your website; and, for your research into the Evans-Hill Feud. I am the 3rd great-granddaughter of Frederick Hill and someone contacted me for information on the Hill-Evans feud. I knew almost nothing and referred them to your site.
I am looking for information on the Lawrence Brasier family; Hans Black, Elizabeth Black, John Riley Brasier all of Christian County, Kentucky.
Thank you.
Vandelia Graham
Thank you for your kind words! I’m so glad you enjoyed my website!