Williams Cemetery in Meade County

submitted by

James Kendall

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The Williams Cemetery is located on the Jack Simmons farm on the Dave Smith Road in Meade County Kentucky.  The GPS location is 37deg54min29sec N; 86deg8min49sec W. This marks the location of John Finley Williams grave.  The Cemetery is on private property and permission should be obtained before going to the cemetery. There are cattle on the farm and all gates should be closed after entering the farm, unless you like chasing cattle over the county side. The way to the cemetery is via an old-field road turning left into the right of way under utility lines. The entrance to the field road is across from the old Dave Smith house. The field road has a tendency to be very wet and the weather needs to have a dry spell before trying to drive to the cemetery. The usual method of getting to the cemetery is to walk about ¾ mile to the site.

There are five rows of graves in the cemetery that are marked with gravestones. All graves have an east-west orientation with the headstones to the west, some have footstones on the east end of the graves, and not all graves have footstones. There will be a large fieldstone buried at each end of the grave with only a short portion of the stone above ground. I can only assume that these stones were used to mark the grave until the tombstone arrived to be placed at the gravesite. There are smaller stones usually on each side of the graves, supposedly to mark the extent of the graves when new graves were opened.

First Row

The first row on the west side of the cemetery consists of three marked graves; all are members of the Smith family. These are great-grandparents and uncle of the present day owner, William D (Jack) Simmons.

  1. Thos W Smith son of HB and Mary J Smith, born March 2, 1879 died February 7, 1890. This stone has fallen tipping the base and was not visible until the gravesite was probed. The stone is intact and can be reset without having to do anything except cleaning the stone and base before resetting. There is a footstone marker for this grave. There is an inscription at the bottom of the stone,

    2. He passed from our sight

    Like a dream or a story

    From a bosom of love

    To a mansion of glory
  2. Mary J (Williams) Smith wife of HB Smith. Born December 14, 1838, died February 11, 1899. This stone is broken, but can be reset. There is also an inscription on the bottom of the stone, will be able to read once the stone is cleaned and reset. This is the first stone for Mary Jane Smith. There is a footstone marker for this grave.

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  3. HB Smith born April 3, 1834 died July 6, 1914. Mary Jane, his wife, born December 14, 1838, died February 11, 1899. This stone is overturned and can be reset, there doesn’t seem to be any damage to the stone. At the bottom of the stone "rest in peace" At the bottom of the grave is a foot stone with Father and Mother inscribed.

Second Row

There is only one marked grave in this row; there are other graves with fieldstone markers. The unmarked graves have not been probed for buried headstones.

    1. George H, son of OG and S Stanfield born March 1, 1879, died August 25, 1880. There is a footstone for this grave.

Third Row

The third row of graves contains members of the Kendall family and one Williams grave. The Kendall’s and Williams are relatives.

  1. BF Kendall (Benjamin Franklin) this stone is an obelisk and is unseated from the base. Born March 12, 1847. died October 22, 1891. This stone can be reset. There is a footstone for this grave.

    2. There is an inscription at the bottom of the stone,

    Farewell dear
    Wife, my life
    Is past my love
    Was yours for a while
    Life did last after me
    No sorrow love, But
    Love our children on
    For my sake
  2. John Kendall, son of JS (James Smallwood) and E (Elizabeth Williams) Kendall. Born November 26, 1845, died March 21, 1864. This stone is broken and can be repaired, there is an inscription at the bottom, unreadable now, will try to read after stone is cleaned and reset. There is a footstone for this grave.
  3. James S (James Smallwood) Kendall This stone is broken into three pieces but can be repaired and reset. Born December 26, 1826, died April 9, 1867. There is a footstone for this grave.
  4. Mary J Williams Born August 2, 1872, died August 30, 1873. There is a footstone for this grave. There is an inscription at the bottom and will be read after the stone is cleaned. This is the daughter of John F Williams (Jr.) and Kathrine Kennedy Williams.

 

Fourth Row

This are all Williams graves.

    1. Thomas Williams Born February 1, 1831 Died January 15, 1863. This stone is broken into four pieces and parts buried; this stone can be cleaned and repaired. There are inscriptions present but cannot be read until stone is cleaned of a mossy growth.
    2. Anthony Williams Born February 28, 1828, died February 20, 1858. This stone is broken into three pieces and can be repaired. This stone was buried and has not been cleaned.

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    3. John F Williams Born August 05, 1797, died May 24, 1848. This stone is covered with a large amount of mossy growth, broken into three pieces and can be cleaned and repaired. There is a footstone for this grave.

      4. There is another stone for John F Williams, entitled "In memorial of John F Williams" with the same data present as on the other stone. This stone has never been set and is not at the proper location; evidentially the stone I uncovered could not be located when this stone was purchased and placed in the cemetery.

    4. Mary (Vernon) Williams wife of John F Williams. Born December,

26, 1804, died January 28, 1881. This stone is broken into two pieces and the base for the stone is broken. A new base will have to be re-poured and the stone repaired and reset.

Fifth Row

This row contains Williams, Kendall and one Kennedy grave. There is a large number of small graves marked only with fieldstone markers at the head and foot of the graves. These graves have not been probed for headstones. These seem to be small children.

    1. Samuel B Williams, Born January 19, 1823, died October 15, 1865.

There is a footstone for this grave. The stone is broken into three pieces. This stone was buried and has not been cleaned, but can be repaired.

2. Anthony, son of Abe and Mary Kennedy, born January 28, 1865,

died July 01, 1865. This stone is broken, but it can be cleaned and repaired. There is a footstone for this grave.

3. Henry C son of BF and J Kendall, born November 21, 1876, died

Mar 23, 1877. There is a footstone marker for this grave. Stone

needs to be cleaned. There is an inscription on the stone,

 

Sleep on sweet Babe
And love why rest
God called thee home
Where he thought best.

 

4. Augustus Kendall, Born August 01, 1886, died May 07, 1887.

Son of BF and J Kendall. There is a foot stone for this grave. Stone and footstone are in excellent condition. There is an inscription on the stone,

Sleep on sweet babe

A favored lamb to thee

Is eternity given.

There is a small lamb carved at the top section of the headstone.

5. Abe, son of BF and Jennie Kendall, born August 09, 1874 died

Nov 25, 1893. This stone is off the base and can be reseated.

The stone needs to be cleaned before the lower inscription can be

read. There is a footstone for this grave.

 

To the south side of this cemetery by the entrance gate there are a large number of slave graves marked only with fieldstone markers at the head and foot of the graves. This section of the cemetery is in the process of cleaning. I estimate there are between 20-30 graves in this section. I will be able to determine the exact number when all the leaves and vines are removed.

James Kendall