Newsgroups: soc.roots
Date:         Sun, 13 Sep 1992 18:53:17 EDT
Reply-To:     "Max A. Crocker" <FPRMAXC@UKCC.UKY.EDU>
From:         "Max A. Crocker" <FPRMAXC@UKCC.UKY.EDU>

A real genealogy story.  Max A. Crocker, FPRMAXC@UKCC.UKY.EDU

LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, Lexington, Kentucky
Community Section
Wednesday, September 9, 1992

                       GRAVEYARD GRANNIES

'Squad of women prowls Scott County in search of old cemeteries,
burial sites'

Georgetown--Alice, Carrie, Hazel, Hester and Ruby like to poke
around Scott County for fun.
     Every Tuesday and Thursday, with their grubbing hoes and
"graveyard poker," maps and insect repellent, the five retirees
have spent the last year scouring the back roads of Scott County,
poking for old family cemeteries buried underneath brush and
briars, and discovering tombstones weathered beyond recognition.
     "It keeps us off the street," joked Carrie Rogers of
Georgetown.  "We were looking for men.  We started with the dead
ones because we couldn't find any live ones."
     The women's work made it possible for the Scott County
Genealogical Society to publish a book detailing 301 church and
family cemeteries in the county.
     This 200-page, hard-bound book--Gone, Forgotten, Now
Remembered: Scott County, Kentucky Cemeteries-- can be bought
through the Genealogical Society.
     The project was financed partly by a $5,000 grant from the
Bicentennial Commission.  Total cost of the project was about
$15,000.
     The "Graveyard Grannies" as they are affectionately known, is
a group of five women in their late 60s to early 70s: Carrie and
her sister, Hazel Hampton; their cousins Hester Underwood and Ruby
Lush; and friend Alice Walters.  They made the book a reality.
     The group received its nickname after a story appeared in the
Georgetown Graphic in 1991.  Since the, the women have had shirts
printed that bear the new nickname.
     "They loved this project," said Earlene Arnette, chair-woman
of the society and director of the Scott County Public Library.
"They still want to go looking for more graveyards."
     The search for forgotten graveyards started more than 20 years
ago when local historian C.A. "Chic" Mifflin discovered a box of
old funeral notices.
     Mifflin, noticing that many of the burials had taken place in
small, family cemeteries, became curious and began a search that
eventually led him to visit 100 small Scott County cemeteries in
the early '70s and to record his findings.
     Seeing the poor condition of many of the old graveyards led
him to realize the importance of recording the inscriptions from
the surviving monuments so that if they disappeared or were
destroyed, at least a written record would survive.
     Some time after the formation of the Genealogical Society,
member Sarah Baston volunteered to index Mifflin's records.
     It wasn't long before the society was involved in a major
project to try to find every family and church cemetery in the
county, thus Gone, Forgotten, Now Remembered: Scott County Kentucky
Cemeteries was born.
     There are large number of graveyards because Scott Countians
buried their dead on family farms in earlier years.  For that
reason, the society sought information on the whereabouts of the
forgotten graveyards from the public.
     That's when the Graveyard Grannies got into the picture.
Alice, who volunteers at the library on Mondays and Wednesdays,
slowly got her four friends to join forces.  They packed a picnic
lunch and beverages, and piled into Alice's car.
     The women--smelling of bug spray and looking rugged in their
long-sleeve shirts, boots and socks pulled up over their jeans--
have spent hours driving around Scott County's back roads finding
lost cemeteries.

     'RESCUE' PARTY

     One time, Scott County Sheriff Mike Leaverton, received a call
from Alice and Ruby.  The worried women reported that Hazel and
Carrie had become separated from the rest of the group near a creek
on Salem Road and hadn't been seen for more than an hour.
     Two cruisers with sirens blasting accompanied two tracking
dogs to find the missing women.
     The dogs picked up the women's scent by sniffing a sweater and
jacket.
     Not too long after that, the duo was found walking down a
shaded lane.  They had crossed a creek, climbed a hill and sprang
over a fence trying to find another graveyard.
     "We weren't lost; we were just separated," Hazel said.  "We
were raised in that part of the country."
     One grave the group looked for was that of a long-lost
relative.
     "Our great grandfather didn't have a tombstone ... Everybody
in the family knew family members were buried there," Ruby said.
     "When we found him, I said, 'Grandpa, I've been looking for
you for years.'"

     DOING THINGS TOGETHER

     Even when the women aren't grave hunting, they spend a lot of
time with one another.  They get together at least once a week, on
Fridays, to go grocery shopping, eat lunch and jaunt through Big
Lots.
     "People see us," Ruby said, "and say, 'There go the crazy
ladies.'"
     But the women want to keep finding old graves.
     "We feel like there are more out there," Alice said.  "We ran
out of cemeteries, but if you know of one, we'll find it.
     "This is like an unsolved mystery.  You can't stop until you
find what you're looking for."

BUY THE BOOK

     Gone, Forgotten, Now Remembered: Scott County Kentucky
Cemeteries is available through the Scott County Genealogical
Society.
     The book includes maps of Scott County and shows where each
cemetery is, as well as the names of the people and families buried
in each plot.
     To order the book, send $25 plus $5 postage to the Scott
County Genealogical Society, c/o Scott County Public Library, 230
East Main, Georgetown, Ky. 40324.
     Also, the Grannies will autograph copies of the book from 2 to
4 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Scott County Public Library's community
room.
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