A lot of information, not copied from the cemetery, has been added by
the individual furnishing the records and my main source of information. The name(s)
of the individual(s) and the date copied are noted at the beginning of each cemetery.
This added information should be of great help for the researcher in genealogy.
I have discovered many cemeteries have been copied at different times
by more than one individual(s). Many times two or more families will work as a team
on one cemetery. To conserve space, I have not included all the names at the
beginning of each cemetery. Many cemeteries are known by two or more names.
This is especially true with many small cemeteries. I have received readings
from two individuals of the same cemetery, each having a different name for that cemetery.
This is one of the reasons it is important to have an exact pin-point location
marked on a map.
There are 110 cemeteries listed in this book with well over 11,000
names or grave sites. Mistakes and errors in spelling of some names and the dates
must be expected. It is exceedingly difficult to read many of the older hand carved
sandstones, expecially when eroded by weather and age. Human error must also be
expected because of the number of times this data has been handled by the many processors
of this information. It is also possible a name or names may be omitted from a
cemetery. Underbrush, briars, tall grass and weeks contributes to the difficulty of
recording every burial site in each cemetery. I would like to apologize at this time
for any mistakes or omission of names in this book.
To achieve my goal of recording every cemetery in Whitley County, I
would appreciate hearing from anyone knowing of a small and/or almost forgotten cemetery.
I will be most grateful to receive a list of names, dates, and other known
information along with exact location and directions of how to locate this burial site.
Many years ago I became interested in my ancestors and where they
migrated from. They were among the first settlers and pioneers of Whitley County,
KY. A number of times I heard of someone compiling information on these families.
I would try to get this information from the individual, only to be told they were
going to publish a book and could not share the information at that time. Lather I
would find the person was deceased and the information they had colected was either
destroyed or lost. In 1977 I met Mr. Edgar M. Egner and Mr. Johnny Cox. They
had a wealth of information and had no plans of publishing the matierial. At that
time, with their permission, I began to make plans to publish this information before it
also became lost or destroyed. With copies of over 200 cemeteries in my possession,
I set a goal to copy every cemetery and publish them in two or three volumes.
symbol appearing after the birth dates, indicates a double
headstone - usually husband and wife. Note of interest to the researcher in genealogy. A custom seems to have developed in recent years. When a wife survives her husband, oftentime she will use the initial of her maiden name on the headstone and not the initial of her second given name. When questioned by me, more than one person answered, the initial was of her maiden name - which is now the custom. This could be a clue when the maiden name of a wife is unknown by the researcher.