May Scavenger Hunt: Find a grave with a birth date in the 1700's.

 That's actually harder to do than you think - unless you're in Fernwood. Fernwood is abundant, of course.

I decided to go with a grave from a smaller family cemetery. Hatchett Cemetery out in Zion to be exact.

This is the grave of William Abraham Hatchett who was born on February 28th, 1782, in Lunenburg County, Virginia to Abraham Hatchett and Mary Farley.

The Hatchett surname is spelled a bit interchangeably with Hatchitt. I've seen about 90% of the Hatchett's in the 1800's use the spellings interchangeably.

On December 13th, 1804, in the same county, William wed Elizabeth Frances Farmer, who is also buried with him in Hatchett Cemetery.

They came to Henderson County, KY sometime between 1820 and 1830. William was a Baptist minister. In December of 1831, he became the new minister for Bethel Baptist Church and served for 10 years.

In 1832, my 5x Grandfather, Daniel Hazelwood, and his family moved to Henderson County from Lunenburg County, Virginia. On a previous visit to Henderson, he'd purchased almost a hundred acres of land and a cabin that didn't sit too far from the church.

When he arrived back to Henderson with his family with him, they weren't able to move into the cabin. The minister (William Hatchett) and the congregation of Bethel Baptist allowed the family to move into the church until they could move properly into their cabin.

A lot of the current congregation of Bethel Baptist Church today are either descendants of William Hatchett or Daniel Hazelwood -- or both.

In the mid 1840's, William's son, Abraham, became pastor of Bethel Baptist.

William Abraham Hatchett passed away on October 10th, 1861. His wife followed him on September 26th, 1870.

They had at least seven children that I know about for sure, and there might be more. They aren't direct ancestors of mine, so my research into them has only gone so far. They do tie into my family tree umpteen different ways, though.

1) Nancy Ann Hatchett: Born August 1st, 1806, died December 10th, 1889. She married an unknown Johnson and was widowed by the 1850 census. She's buried in Hatchett Cemetery.

2) Elizabeth Ermiline Hatchett: Born July 24th, 1808, and died September 29th, 1894. She is likely buried in Cooksey-Crafton Cemetery but no tombstone has been located, yet. Her first husband was Whitfield Lester, her second was Miles Hamlyn Cooksey. She could be buried in Lester Cemetery (behind Zion Baptist Church) with her first husband, but it's less likely.

3) James Dentatius Hatchett: Born February 28th, 1811, died November 18th, 1874. He married Elizabeth Duncan Robertson on November 16th, 1847, in Jefferson County, KY. She was actually the widow of his brother, Benjamin. The children of Benjamin & Elizabeth, then the children of James & Elizabeth would be called "3/4 siblings" DNA wise. They are half-siblings through their mother being the same and their father being different... but they are first cousins due to their fathers being brothers. He & Elizabeth are buried in Hatchett Cemetery.

4) Benjamin Farmer Hatchett: Born September 1st, 1815, died October 18th, 1846. He married Elizabeth Duncan Robertson in 1835. After his death, she remarried to his brother, James. He's buried in Hatchett Cemetery.

5) Abraham Hatchett: Born July 23rd, 1817, died May 4th, 1900. He, like his father, became a pastor at Bethel Baptist Church. Abraham married Mary Courtney Whayne, who was the sister of another pastor of Bethel, William W. Whayne. Abraham and his wife are buried at Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery.

6) Sophia Jane Hatchett: Born August 12th, 1819, died October 26th, 1875. She married Edmund Robertson. Her husband died in 1857 and is buried in Robertson Cemetery - so it's very likely Sophia is buried there as well. Robertson Cemetery is unphotographed. According to Mr. Blue, the description of where the cemetery is -- "Highway 60 E. near Wathen Road." No tombstone for Sophia nor Edmund have been photographed or found yet.

7) Margaret W. Hatchett: Born in 1823, died in early 1900. She married James Madison Stone. Where they're buried is up for debate. They have a son buried in a Stone Cemetery out in Zion. James' parents, however, are buried in the little Stone Cemetery that's off the right side of Highway 60 (as you're headed out of Henderson) right past Wathen (otherwise known as 'The Dump Road'). It's possible Margaret & James are in either cemetery... or they could even be in Hatchett. No tombstones for them have been located. In the 1880 census, she and her husband live on Center St. in Henderson. It's possible they're even buried in a city cemetery.

When I went out to Hatchett Cemetery, originally, in November 2014 - it wasn't cleaned up. Sometime towards the end of 2015/early 2016, some descendants or perhaps the landowners cleaned up the cemetery. I believe it's still cleaned up. At some point I really need to get out and photograph the stones with my newer camera. I also didn't know about the prodding technique yet for finding lost/broken tombstones - I imagine there's several to find.

Cemetery Spotlight - Hatchett Cemetery in Zion, Henderson County, Kentucky

This cemetery is located after you go through Zion, on the right side of the road (if you're heading towards Hebbardsville), behind a house, just before you get to Stone McClellan Rd, which is also on the right side of the road.

I took these photographs in November of 2014. I do believe it was sometime during fall of 2015 maybe when someone finally cleaned the cemetery up. If I can ever get back out to this cemetery - I'd love to prod for lost/broken stones as I didn't know about that technique, yet, when I originally visited the cemetery in 2014.

The oldest burial we found that day was for Benjamin Farmer Hatchett. Born 1815 and died 1846. Benjamin was the son of William Abraham Hatchett and Elizabeth Frances Farmer, also buried in the cemetery. He was the husband of Elizabeth Duncan Robertson.

I'll go out on a limb and say that most likely, the cemetery is on land that belonged to William and Elizabeth (Farmer) Hatchett. I looked at the 1880 Land Atlas for Henderson County and don't see the cemetery listed but, there's some land in the vicinity of the cemetery that does indeed belong to Hatchett's. One name -- "Mrs. E.D. Hatchett," could potentially be Elizabeth Duncan Hatchett, widow of Benjamin. 

The newest burial we found was for Eula May Moss Hatchett. Born 1863. Died 1940. Her tombstone is pictured, knocked over, at the top of this post. Her death certificate confirms the burial in Hatchett although no death date appears on the tombstone. 

Eula was the daughter of Reuben Eaton Moss and Virginia Ann Hazelwood. She was the wife of Fielding Lewis Hatchett, who she shares a tombstone with. He died in 1893. 

It seems like after Eula's death that the cemetery fell out of use. More than likely this is because more and more were able to afford being buried in city cemeteries like Fernwood or their church graveyard - like Cash Creek Baptist Church or Bethel Baptist Church, etc. 

Yes, many tombstones were knocked over, broken, covered by brush, etc. I am hoping whoever cleaned up the cemetery is keeping the tombstones in better shape now and has perhaps found some we didn't see on our trip in November 2014.

There are at least 34 burials in this cemetery. We found all but six tombstones that day... but I'm sure those stones are probably there - just broken and beneath several inches of dirt. 

Do you have any stories involving this cemetery? Family buried here? Tell me about them! I'd love to hear. :)