Cemetery Spotlight - Brown-Konsler Cemetery in Cairo, Henderson County, Kentucky

These are views of the back of the cemetery, looking at it from the front. The back houses the Konsler graves, whereas the front houses the Brown graves. See how much open space there is? I'd bet anything that there are missing graves. In my research, I found record of numerous infants that are buried in the cemetery, likely without ever having a tombstone.

Map of the cemetery and where it's located. Please, please get permission from landowners before going out to any cemeteries in the county! It's best to go with a descendant of someone buried in the cemetery as well. GPS location: 37.7242100, -87.6492500

The grave of Peter and Catherine Konsler.

The grave of Rachel Brown.

The grave of Charles W. Brown, Veteran of the War of 1812. 

Cemetery Spotlight: Brown-Konsler Cemetery in Cairo!

Henderson KY Cemetery Research Group was taken to the cemetery in October 2016 by a handful of Konsler descendants. We relished the opportunity to go to such an old family cemetery and photograph it for the group and Find-a-Grave! 

The Brown-Konsler cemetery could slightly appear to be two separate cemeteries because of the space between the graves but the Brown's and Konsler's actually are related to one another, as are most families out in the Cairo area that have been in the area for generations. 

I feel that the blank space "between the two cemeteries" may actually have some older graves that are lost to the years. Regardless, the name is Brown-Konsler because in their own rights, Brown's, and the Konsler's, are both prominent Cairo-area families.

The focus graves of the cemetery are for Peter Konsler and his wife, Catherine nee Schneider - and for Charles Washington (not Wesley as it has been reported) Brown and his second wife, Rachel Coleman nee Green.

Peter and his wife, Catherine, are in the Cairo area by the 1840 census. Peter was born in Germany in 1810 and died in the area of Corydon, in Henderson County, in 1900. The last name had been spelled "Kountzler" in Germany. Catherine, too, was born in Germany in 1817, and died here in Henderson County in 1906. Her parents, John and Catherine were here in Henderson, too. In the 1850 census, it says John hailed from France but I believe this is incorrect. The family was undoubtedly German. 

A snippet from the Louisville newspaper about Catherine Konsler's passing. Although the family were not here in 1797 -- I do consider them pioneers of the Cairo area. 

John Schneider died in this county in 1859 - but I believe that's earlier than the burials in St. Louis Cemetery have on record... so it's possible John Schneider could be buried in Brown-Konsler. His wife, though, died in 1873 and is in St. Louis Cemetery with a tombstone. The family was Catholic, without a doubt. The last name is of course spelled Snider on many occasions. 

About the Brown family -- Charles Washington Brown was actually a veteran of the War of 1812. He was born in 1787 and died in 1867. We know Charles was here in Henderson County by 1812, because that's when he married his first wife, Mary.

I have extensively researched the cemetery and both the Konsler and Brown families - I feel pretty strongly that Charles' first wife, Mary Sights, is buried in the cemetery. Dying in 1831 - her tombstone was probably one of the oldest and most easily destroyed/lost. 

The wife, Mary Sights, was the daughter of an early Henderson County couple -- Jacob Sights and Mary Elizabeth Black. Jacob and Mary moved on out of Henderson and went up into Illinois, but some of their descendants stayed in Henderson County. The Sights Cemetery is full of their descendants. The last name was originally Seitz in Germany. 

Later in the year of 1831, Charles married Rachel. A young infant of Charles & Rachel was buried in the cemetery in 1833 (undoubtedly their first child together) so I feel it's very very likely Mary was buried there in 1831. The Brown's were living in the area at this time so it makes sense that these burials were some of the first in the cemetery.

Rachel's parents - Peter Green and Elizabeth Terry were in Henderson County by the 1820 census. They hailed from Virginia. Peter died in this county in 1830 - it's tough to say where his burial place is located. It's entirely plausible that he, and his wife, who died in 1861, are buried in Brown-Konsler. It's also plausible that they're in an old family cemetery on a family farm that hasn't been unearthed yet.

After working on the Brown family and posting about them a few times - I was reached out to by some Brown descendants through Obadiah Brown, born in 1813, to what I believed was Mary Sights and Charles W. Brown. Come to find out... Obadiah's Y-DNA doesn't match the Brown family. Being a bit of a genetic genealogist myself, I've wondered a few scenarios. Perhaps Mary was pregnant already at the time of her marriage to Charles and he either... didn't know, or perhaps he married her to save her from shame (because he loved her.) Was her pregnancy rape? Was it a consensual relation? Or does this mean that Charles Brown himself wasn't biologically a Brown? Lots to consider.

Now - how the Konsler and Brown families tie in to each other.

Charles and Mary's daughter Elizabeth Jane Brown married Preston Green Sights (they are buried in Agnew Cemetery which is also in the Cairo area). Elizabeth & Preston's daughter Virginia Sights married William Konsler (they're buried in Fernwood, next door to where I live, in the city of Henderson proper). William Konsler was the son of Peter and Catherine Konsler - buried in Brown-Konsler Cemetery.

This cemetery at one point was in very, very rough shape. Descendants cleaned up the cemetery rather extensively after it had been let out to pasture. A lot of the tombstones have been damaged by cows, or so the family told me. 

If you'd like to trek out to this cemetery, let me know and I can put you into contact with the Konsler descendants!

Are you related to the Konsler or Brown families? Ever been to this cemetery? I would love to hear your stories!