In Search of Grave in Kentucky of Elizabeth Jones Hoy Callaway, Wife of Col. Richard Callaway
The following article was written by Sidney S. King, Jr. (great great great grandson of Elizabeth Callaway) and published in the 1979 CFA Journal.
When Richard Callaway came to Boonesborough, Ky., from Bedford County, Va., about 1775, he brought his second wife, Elizabeth Jones Hoy Callaway and their three children, Keziah, Richard, Jr., and John. Little has been known or published about Elizabeth. In September of 1977 I was in Louisville to meet my cousins from California, Sidney Scott King (named for my father), and his son Richard Scott King. We, along with our wives, were to spend a week or two exploring the ancestral grounds of our ancestors in Kentucky.
While waiting in Louisville, I delved into the excellent files of the Filson Club to search the genealogical records of the King and Callaway families. In the French family folder, I found a report of the grave of Elizabeth and some rather vague directions as to its location in Montgomery County between Winchester and Mr. Sterling off of US-60. We went to the area and located a farm owned by elderly Mr. James French of Winchester but no graveyard was to be found. We had to give up on the search.
In subsequent months I had some correspondence that led through several persons until I reached Mrs. Kenneth D. Singleton of Frankfort. She had an account of the location of the grave that had been given her by a lady in Maysville, which proved to be correct.
On May 22, 1978 I visited the French family graveyard located on US-60 on the farm now owned by Mr. J. B. McNabb, located in Montgomery County about 50 yards east of the Pruitt - Grassy Lick Road, on the south side of US-60, about 3/4 mile east of the Clark County line, between Winchester and Mt. Sterling. To reach the graveyard you must go through the farmyard, take a rough farm lane to the right at the tenant house, cross a brach of Somers creek. The cemetery is in a grove of cherry trees on top of the hill beyond the stream - about a half mile from US-60. The cemetery is marked with a cross symbol on the Montgomery County map of the Kentucky Department of Transportation.
The cemetery was in a deplorable state of destruction from vandalism, but it was a real thrill to find it. There are many graves but I was able to locate those of Elizabeth and her daughter Keziah French. Some of the stones were literally half buried in the dirt but, fortunately I had the foresight to take along a wire brush, tombstone rubbing paper and my camera. There are many graves there, but I concentrated on reconstructing thouse of Elizabeth and Keziah sufficiently to make a permanent record. After finding 10 of the 11 pieces of the Elizabeth Callaway stone, I started to play the jigsaw puzzle game to fit them together and clean them enough to get a rubbing and pictures.
Col. Richard Callaway had been killed by Indians on March 8, 1780. For the 33 years before Elizabeth died in 1813 she had been a widow and had gone to live with her daughter Keziah. Keziah had married Judge James French, a member of one of the leading families of that area. It is interesting to note that the unusual legend on Elizabeth's tombstone clearly ties her to the French family by identifying her as the mother of James French's wife. The markings on the two graves are:
ELIZABETH CALLAWAY Mother of James French's wife
KEZIA (sic) died Dec. 13th 1813 Aged 80 years
KEZIAH FRENCH Born In the Year 1769 In Va Died Sept. the 26, 1845
The epitaph on the balance of the stone has eroded and most of it cannot be read.
The grave of James French is adjacent to that of Keziah and the stone is broken into several pieces.
The above record has been placed in both the Callaway and French family folders at the Filson Club and the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort.
When Richard Callaway came to Boonesborough, Ky., from Bedford County, Va., about 1775, he brought his second wife, Elizabeth Jones Hoy Callaway and their three children, Keziah, Richard, Jr., and John. Little has been known or published about Elizabeth. In September of 1977 I was in Louisville to meet my cousins from California, Sidney Scott King (named for my father), and his son Richard Scott King. We, along with our wives, were to spend a week or two exploring the ancestral grounds of our ancestors in Kentucky.
While waiting in Louisville, I delved into the excellent files of the Filson Club to search the genealogical records of the King and Callaway families. In the French family folder, I found a report of the grave of Elizabeth and some rather vague directions as to its location in Montgomery County between Winchester and Mr. Sterling off of US-60. We went to the area and located a farm owned by elderly Mr. James French of Winchester but no graveyard was to be found. We had to give up on the search.
In subsequent months I had some correspondence that led through several persons until I reached Mrs. Kenneth D. Singleton of Frankfort. She had an account of the location of the grave that had been given her by a lady in Maysville, which proved to be correct.
On May 22, 1978 I visited the French family graveyard located on US-60 on the farm now owned by Mr. J. B. McNabb, located in Montgomery County about 50 yards east of the Pruitt - Grassy Lick Road, on the south side of US-60, about 3/4 mile east of the Clark County line, between Winchester and Mt. Sterling. To reach the graveyard you must go through the farmyard, take a rough farm lane to the right at the tenant house, cross a brach of Somers creek. The cemetery is in a grove of cherry trees on top of the hill beyond the stream - about a half mile from US-60. The cemetery is marked with a cross symbol on the Montgomery County map of the Kentucky Department of Transportation.
The cemetery was in a deplorable state of destruction from vandalism, but it was a real thrill to find it. There are many graves but I was able to locate those of Elizabeth and her daughter Keziah French. Some of the stones were literally half buried in the dirt but, fortunately I had the foresight to take along a wire brush, tombstone rubbing paper and my camera. There are many graves there, but I concentrated on reconstructing thouse of Elizabeth and Keziah sufficiently to make a permanent record. After finding 10 of the 11 pieces of the Elizabeth Callaway stone, I started to play the jigsaw puzzle game to fit them together and clean them enough to get a rubbing and pictures.
Col. Richard Callaway had been killed by Indians on March 8, 1780. For the 33 years before Elizabeth died in 1813 she had been a widow and had gone to live with her daughter Keziah. Keziah had married Judge James French, a member of one of the leading families of that area. It is interesting to note that the unusual legend on Elizabeth's tombstone clearly ties her to the French family by identifying her as the mother of James French's wife. The markings on the two graves are:
ELIZABETH CALLAWAY Mother of James French's wife
KEZIA (sic) died Dec. 13th 1813 Aged 80 years
KEZIAH FRENCH Born In the Year 1769 In Va Died Sept. the 26, 1845
The epitaph on the balance of the stone has eroded and most of it cannot be read.
The grave of James French is adjacent to that of Keziah and the stone is broken into several pieces.
The above record has been placed in both the Callaway and French family folders at the Filson Club and the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Copyright © 2004 Callaway Family Association
posted by DFM | 7/03/2004
1 Comments:
This is a great find and for many of the Hoy family who are descended from John Hoy and Elizabeth Jones (Hoy/Callaway). Thank you!
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