Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church

Family of Edward Edwards Linton and Catherine Elizabeth Taylor

Obituaries and Gravestones

Edward Edwards Linton and Catherine Elizabeth Taylor are my great-great-grandparents.  Edward was the son of William Linton and Eliza Lyon Moran; Catherine was the daughter of John Cotton Taylor and Susan Clark Edwards.  Both their families came to Washington County, Kentucky, from Loudoun County, Virginia, between 1800 and 1818.  Edward and Catherine are both descended from Captain John Linton and Ann Nancy Mason – Edward, a grandson, through son William; and Catherine, a great-granddaughter, through daughter Nancy.

Linton Cemetery

Edward and Catherine married March 23, 1852, and lived the majority of their life in the county.  They had 11 children.  Four were infants who died at or shortly after birth.  These four infants are buried in the Linton Cemetery on Highway 555, along with the captain and other family members.  Two other children died at a young age and were also buried in this cemetery –  Margaret Gordon Linton was born March 16, 1864 and died May 17, 1865; Martha Susan Linton was born March 14, 1873 and died January 25, 1876.  It must have been heartbreaking to have so many children die so young.

Annie Elizabeth Linton, December 8, 1860 – April 29, 1879

For the last ten years of Edward’s life the family moved to nearby Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky, where Edward worked in the mercantile business.  Daughter Annie Elizabeth Linton died there in 1879 at the age of 19, of pneumonia.  She was buried at Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Washington County.

Edward died in Lebanon September 5, 1886.  He was also buried at Pleasant Grove.

Edward Edwards Linton, August 13, 1824 – September 5, 1886

Catherine Taylor Linton, January 13, 1830 – May 28, 1910

After her husband’s death, Catherine gathered her remaining son and three daughters and moved them back to Washington County, where they were taken in by her mother’s sisters – the elder Edwards sisters, Mary Jane Edwards Janes and Sarah Edwards – who still lived in the house Captain John Linton built when he came to Washington County all those years ago.  Although Aunt Mary married, she did not have children, and took in many nieces and nephews through the years who needed her help.

Mary Kell Linton, March 16, 1870 – February 15, 1890

Daughter Mary Kell Linton became ill, and after an illness of several months, died at the age of 19.  She was buried in Pleasant Grove Cemetery.

Mary Linton must have been well loved – even the editor of the newspaper missed some of his appointments to attend her funeral.

At this point Catharine Taylor Linton had buried her husband and eight of her eleven children.  That must have been heart-wrenching.  Evidently she was a very strong woman.  Catherine is sitting on the left in the photo above, beside her is Aunt Mary and then Aunt Sarah.  This photo was taken about 1901 – Catherine was 71, Aunt Mary 87 and Aunt Sarah 79.

From the same large family photo, these are Catherine and Edward’s two oldest children, Alice Clark Linton and John Edgar Linton.  They never married, lived together until their deaths.

And also from the same photo, my great-grandmother and family – Frances Barber Linton, Catherine’s youngest living child, with husband Robert E. Lee Montgomery, and their first four children.  My grandmother, Mary Alice Montgomery, stands just in front of her father, she is the eldest.

Catherine lived another 9 years after this photo was taken, dying at the age of 80 years on May 28, 1910, and was buried at Pleasant Grove alongside Edward.  At this point both Aunt Mary and Aunt Sarah had died.  Captain John’s house, which had been purchased by Catherine from the other heirs, now was the home of Alice and Edgar.

John Edgar Linton, December 19, 1957 – March 11, 1919

Edgard Linton died suddenly of a heart problem  on March 11, 1919, and was buried at Pleasant Grove.  He was a most jovial fellow, beloved by all.

Alice lived another 16 years.  She and Frances were very close.  My grandmother, Alice, her name-sake, spoke very highly of her.  Both sisters developed a love for genealogy and preserving the family history.

Alice Clark Linton, October 2, 1855 – October 30, 1935

Of this large family only Frances Barber Linton was left.  But she had her husband and children and grandchildren!  Her life was happy and she lived life the fullest – loved genealogy, her children and grandchildren, put on splendid parties for the grandchildren when they came for a week’s visit during the summer, was very hospitable – inviting salesman to lunch if they happened to be there at noon.  I have my mother’s wonderful memories of her grandmother to rely on!  Like her mother Frances also lived through sorrowful times – as we all do.  She and Robert lost two children at a young age.  But the joys outweighed the sorrows by far.  She died peacefully on August 2, 1945, and was buried in St. Dominic Cemetery beside her daughter and son.  It was the week of the fair, which she loved!  Mom told me the grandchildren were encouraged to go to the fair and be happy, not sad, because that was what Frances would want!  Her wonderful memory lives on through me and will hopefully descend through my children!

Frances Barber Linton Montgomery, August 13, 1867 – August 2, 1945