ground situated on the West side of my farm upon which I now reside, beginning at a stake in the line of the old burying ground North 30 feet to a stake, thence West 30 feet to a stake, thence South 30 feet to a stake in line of old burying ground, thence East 30 feet to the beginning. To have and to hold the same, with all the appurtenances thereon to the Grantee, his heirs and assigns forever, with covenant of General Warranty, Grantor relinquish all right of homestead and Grantor release all his contingent right of Dower therein. A lien is retained for unpaid purchase price. Witness hand of Grantor this 16 day of February, 1892. Jack McGuire, X Attest C.C. Simpson This legal instrument was recorded by the Clerk of Henderson County Court, J. H. Hart on 23 February 1894. 9 After examining the deed, I had more questions. Specifically, who were the McGuires, and how large is a thirty-foot by thirty-foot burial site. I discovered black farmer and landowner, John McGuire Sr., owned eighty acres below Green River in Section 63 of Precinct 8 in Spottsville, adjacent to Charles Green, where the McGuire family had set aside a small area for a cemetery just off old U.S. Highway 60. 10 After conversation with a local municipal cemetery informant in the Lansing, Michigan area, I learned a grave is four-feet by ten-inches; a lot is made up of several graves. A thirty-foot by thirtyfoot lot would accommodate about fourteen graves. Actually, a thirty-foot by thirty-foot lot can be compared to the size of a standard two-car garage, with ample storage space. 11 A deputy clerk at the Henderson County, <strong>Kentucky</strong>, clerk’s office “was unable to find a plat map for the deed” in question; further stating “not all property in Henderson County has a plat recorded.” 12 The 1910 Federal population census enumerated Lewis Smith as age eighty-five, living in Spottsville, Henderson County, <strong>Kentucky</strong>, with his third wife, Caroline, to whom he was joined in holy matrimony, 2 May 1882. 13 The 1921 death certificate of Mrs. 16 | <strong>Kentucky</strong> <strong>Ancestors</strong> Caroline Smith led me straight to the McGuire Cemetery where she was interred. 14 Is Mrs. Smith peacefully resting near the unmarked grave of her husband, Lewis? Also buried in the cemetery were the couple’s son-in-law and grandson. 15 I counted fifteen grave sites from the survey that county historian, James Blue, conducted, but Lewis Smith was not among them. Undoubtedly, Mr. Blue did not survey all of the unmarked graves. For example, John McGuire Sr.’s grave is not among Mr. Blue’s records; but he was buried in the McGuire Cemetery, 4 April 1916, according to his death certificate. 16 I will continue to look for a “burial permit or certificate of disposition of remains required before a body can be buried or cremated” 17 for my ancestor, Lewis Smith. ENDNOTES 1 Donn Devine, “What Do We Do When There’s No Answer?” Ancestry (January-February, 2009), 62. 2 Mrs. Caroline Smith, Survivor Pension Application #953689, Certificate #724049, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C. 3 Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, Your Guide to Cemetery Research (Cincinnati, 2002), 57. 4 Gregory F. Treverton, “Risks and Riddles,” Smithsonian (June, 2007): 98. 5 R. Darrell Meadows, exhibition catalog, Beyond the Log Cabin, <strong>Kentucky</strong>’s Abraham Lincoln, [Frankfort, 2009], [13]. 6 “Due Compensation?” Ancestry (November- December, 2008): 54. 7 “Growing Feeling for Enlistments and Compensated Emancipation,” New York Times, 13 March 1864. 8 Lewis Smith, Pension File #323908, NARA, Washington, D.C. 9 1892 Henderson County, <strong>Kentucky</strong>, Real Estate Conveyances, Book 21: 36, 37. 10 An Illustrated <strong>Historical</strong> Atlas of Henderson County <strong>Kentucky</strong> (Philadelphia, 1880), 18; Doris Chaney, 1890 Henderson County <strong>Kentucky</strong> Tax List (Henderson, 2002), 157; James Blue, Gone But Not Forgotten: Cemeteries of Henderson County <strong>Kentucky</strong> (Henderson, 1996), 105.
11 Administrator, Mt. Hope Cemetery, Lansing, Michigan. 12 Correspondence, 2 April 2009, Henderson County, <strong>Kentucky</strong>, clerk’s office. 13 Commonwealth of <strong>Kentucky</strong> Certificate of Marriage. 14 Commonwealth of <strong>Kentucky</strong> Certificate of Death #19533. 15 James Blue, Gone but Not Forgotten (Henderson, 1996), 106. 16 Commonwealth of <strong>Kentucky</strong> Certificate of Death #10527. 17 Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, Your Guide to Cemetery Research (Cincinnati, 2002), 13. Autumn 2010 | 17
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