Saturday Ritchey and I visited the beautiful St. Francis de Sales Catholic Cemetery in Scott County, Kentucky. It was an absolutely beautiful day, as you can see from the photos – deep blue skies, white fluffy clouds and lots of sunshine, but a moderate temperature of about 80 degrees.
The present church was built in 1820 at a cost of $3,600. Doesn’t that sound amazing in today’s world? This is the oldest parish in the Covington Diocese, and was a pioneer mission for East Kentucky. The parish, second oldest in the state, was formed by Maryland settlers who arrived in 1786; the first church was built about 1794.
The cemetery is across the road from the church – small, but very beautiful. Trees and several benches give visitors the chance to sit and enjoy the cool breeze while contemplating all those who have gone before.
I was amazed at how old the stones are – there are several Revolutionary War soldiers buried here. I share with you today seven gravestones representing some of the oldest people buried in this cemetery.
Sacred to the memory of Bennett Greenwell, born December 7, 1761, died July 12, 1838, aged 77 years. Revolutionary War soldier.
Sacred to the memory of Allouisa Gough Greenwell, consort of Bennett Greenwell, born November 28, 1784, died May 8, 1842, aged 58 years.
In memory of Mrs. Matilda Combs, consort of James Combs, born 28th January 1788, and departed this life 8th February 1839, aged 51 years and 11 days.
James Combs, born August 7, 1772, died April 13, 1852.
Sacred to the memory of John B. Gough, who was born February 29th, 1767, and departed this life February 19th, 1839, aged 72 years.
Sacred in memory of James Twyman, born June 17, 1761, died February 22, 1834, aged 73 years. Revolutionary War soldier, orderly, sergeant, guard and Indian spy, Virginia.
Elizabeth Jenkins, born June 25, 1785, died November 9, 1862, aged 77 years.
Categories: Cemeteries
A beautiful place to see !
There are a lot of Catholics in northern Kentucky,but I didn’t realize they were settled in there by Maryland transplants. They also settled at Holy Cross and at St.Charles in the late 1770s in Marion county,which is the most Catholic county in the U.S. percentage wise.
They must have encountered a lot of trouble in Maryland to migrate that far in those times.
Carl, it was a surprise to me that they were originally Marylanders! I’m working on a book about those early Maryland pioneers who traveled to Kentucky – mostly about the churches they founded and those buried in those cemeteries.
Catholics from England settled in Maryland beginning in 1634. (My own ancestor came in 1637 to Maryland.). Original settlement was St. Mary’s, and you can visit the site on the Chesapeake Bay. The migration to KY was during the 1780s. There’s an organization called From Maryland to Kentucky and Beyond that has descendants of those settlers. Every couple of years there is a Genealogy Reunion, and this year it is in Owensboro. Also, there is a Facebook page.
I should have mentioned that my home parish is St Thomas in Bardstown. I’ve lived in Indiana, however, for the past 49 years.
Jeanette, I am a member of the Maryland to Kentucky group and will be at the Owensboro reunion as vendor selling my CDs and visiting with old friends! Will you be there?
Unfortunately I’ve not been able to attend any of these reunions, and this year is no exception. I did get to go to St Mary’s this spring, though. Beautiful country, reminds me of Nelson County.
Thank you for the great photos of the Cemetery of St Francis deSales. Bennett Greenwell and his wife are my wife’s fourth great grandparents.
Imagine our delight to see such great photos of their gravestones.
You made my day! This is what my blog is about – helping families find information on their ancestors!
Working on the family trees has been a great education and I stilll have so much to cover; I will never get completely caught up. Keep up the good work. You have plenty of future opportunities to educate all of us.
It is a never ending job – but so enjoyable!
Thank you so much for sharing! I hope to visit St Francis de Sales this summer. John B Gough was might Great-great-great Grandfather.
I hope you can! It is a beautiful cemetery, with many old graves.