As with many of our days off, Wednesday was a genealogy-geocaching day!  In our quest to take photos of at least one cemetery in each county in Kentucky, we visited four more – bringing our total to 33 out of 120 counties in Kentucky.  Yes, we have a little ways to go!

We started in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in the county seat of Paris.  The Paris City Cemetery was our first stop – the photo above was taken there.  It was a glorious day as you can see by the blue sky and wisps of clouds.  Any other year I wouldn’t dream of visiting a cemetery in the middle of August – but this year has been one for the record books.  The high was about 80 degrees!

Paris Cemetery is large, with a mixture of old and new stones.

Reuben Hutchcraft, born January 22, 1794, died July 4, 1865

Fanny, his wife, born October 8, 1805, died April 4, 1867

Silas H. Hutchcraft, born March 15, 1832, died November 7, 1857

Mary E. Ray Hutchcraft, born May 23, 1834, died October 14, 1861

The entrance to the Paris Cemetery is very ornamental.

By this point we were famished.  In the old J. J. Newberry building on Main Street the soda fountain, complete with bar and stools, is in use by Lil’s Coffee Please, the rest of the building an antique store.  What a treat!  It reminded me of Sisk Brothers in Lebanon, with the long soda bar, stools, big fans – and the monthly magazines in a rack at the front of the building!  Homemade pies and quiche were waiting for us!  The strawberry pie was divine!  Since everything was so good we ordered half sandwiches of chicken salad and olive nut to go.  Genealogy can be hard work!

William Brophy, a native of County Queens, Ireland, died 1883, aged 56 years

Before we left Paris we went to Mt. Olivet Cemetery, actually beside the Paris City Cemetery.  I believe it is a Catholic Cemetery.  Many Irish were buried there as is evidenced by the above photo.

Ed

Edmund Martin departed this life November 28, 1811, aged 65 years

We followed US Hwy 68 from Paris to the Nicholas County line.  Just over the line is a small cemetery on the left side of the road.  It is an old, old cemetery called Millersburg – named for the town of the same name just on the Bourbon County side of the county line.  Even though fairly large you could tell this cemetery had not be used for burial in many years.  All the stones were old.  One section was a rock walled area that contained even older graves – you can see part of the rock wall in the photo below – right side.  And there is an old vault in the cemetery, made of large block stones, that is so old the sides are bulging!  There will be more about this cemetery in a later blog, but I did want to share the gravestone photos of Edmund and Susan Martin.  Edmund was born 1746.

Susan, wife of Edmund Martin, Senior, departed this life July 18, 1821, aged 62 years

Susan Martin was born in 1759.  This was a fascinating find!  On to the Carlisle Cemetery – a newer cemetery, although one with some older graves. – and also in Nicholas County.

Sallie Thomas Hall 1837 – 1920

This gravestone caught my eye immediately!  Lost in peaceful slumber!

We backtracked to Bourbon County, and while in the northern section visited Colville Covered Bridge – I believe there are four covered bridges in Kentucky.  This one was built in 1877.  Of course, our main objective was a geocache hidden under the bridge!

On to Harrison County where our first stop was the old Endicott Meeting House.  This was another cemetery Ritchey found through geocaching!  There are at least four Revolutionary War soldiers buried here.  It’s a small cemetery, but oh so valuable in genealogy worth!

Moses Endicott, born, New Jersey, October 31, 1759, died, Kentucky, May 8, 1834.  Private, North Carolina Militia, 1777-1781.  Battle of Guilford Courthouse, March 15, 1781, Revolutionary War

Sallie E., wife of Oscar Kennard,, died April 19, 1869, aged 27 years, 5 months and 22 days.  Also, Walter, son of O. and Sallie E. Kennard, died July 19, 1869, aged 4 months and 4 days.

Our next stop was Battle Grove Cemetery, in Cynthiana, Harrison County, where we found the above gravestone.  It is another cemetery with a mix of the new and the old.  At this point hunger was overtaking us – even though we ate our sandwiches while stopped at the covered bridge!  In Cynthiana we found Biancke’s – a small, family restaurant.  I had the “Green” Burger – a freshly made hamburger, with bacon, topped with fried green tomatoes and a side of dressing made from horseradish.  If you are not from the south you may wonder what a fried green tomato might be – a wonderful culinary delight to tempt the taste buds!  Mom always dredged hers in cornmeal and fried until golden brown on both sides – with just a sprinkle of brown sugar!  Oh, my!  It was the very best burger I’ve ever had!  If you find yourself in Cynthiana, do stop by!

Driving on we found a very old cemetery in town.  The lot was large, but there was much room between the stones – making me think there were many more at one time.  Most were difficult to read, but the following was a great find.

Hon. John Trimble, born December 4, 1783, died Jun 17, 1852

Eliza D., wife of Hon. John Trimble, born July 2, 1804, died March 16, 1843

As you can tell, the shadows are hinting at evening.  But we had one more stop – the Georgetown Cemetery in Scott County.  Such a huge and beautiful cemetery.  I wish we had more time, but with light fading and an hour and half drive home, we took still took 135 photos before leaving.

Thomas Smarr died November 28, 1868, aged 73 years, 11 months and 10 days

Eliza Ann, wife of Thomas Smarr, died June 20, 1853, aged 42 years and 20 days

John Tee Smarr, born January 14, 1837, died November 28, 1893

Thank you for going along on our adventure!  I’ll post more about each individual cemetery, but wanted you to have a peek at all of them.  We visited eight cemeteries and found eight geocaches!  A good day’s work!  Now I’ve added four more pins to my Kentucky map!  87 more counties to go!