Conservative Republican News for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC

 

BillJames.org   

 
 

 
    
1988 Hazard (Perry County) Kentucky - Graveyard Hill (1988 video)
 
Click here for article from Hazard Herald about Graveyard Hill
 
My ancestors founded Hazard. My great-grandmother (Clara Belle Eversole Cornett) and my grandmother (Juanita Nell Cornett Mainous) would take me up to Hazard and visit the graves of my ancestors growing up.
 
 
The Founder of Hazard was "General" Elijah Combs who came to Hazard in 1792 with his new wife. See link for statement. According to my great grandmother, General 'lige' had a wedding feast on what became known as "Graveyard Hill".
 
 
When he died, this hill and the side of it leading to the street became the graveyard in town where the founders were buried. There were large monuments erected to them. General Elijah's son, Jesse (who was the Clerk of Court for many years) also had a monument.
 
 
During the 1930's many of the old timers left Hazard, Kentucky for other areas. According to my great-grandmother, the graveyard was left untended for a number of years and a African-American (consolidated Baptist) church built on top of the graves.
 
 
My great-grandmother and grandmother said that the graves of General Elijah and Jesse and others were bulldozed and lie underneath the parking lot. Other graves reside on the top of graveyard hill where houses were built on top of the graves without moving them.
 
My great-grandmother and her family came back and saw how the graves had been desecrated and put up a chain link fence to protect her immediate family including those of Judge Josiah Combs (son of Jesse, grandson of Elijah), Polly Ann Mattingly Combs, Joseph C. Eversole (leader of the Eversoles during the French-Eversole Feud) and his wife, Susan Combs Eversole (daughter of Judge Josiah). Other graves are also within the enclosure.
 
I have tried to contact the Hazard City government to confirm the essentially facts as my great-grandmother and grandmother have outlined them and to ask to have the graves restored (removal of the parking lot and the ramshackle homes at least).
 
No comment has been forthcoming.  Given the amount of money that the "Combs reunions" bring into this area you would think that they would have more interest in preserving their heritage or debunking the stories passed down by many.  You can see the graves along the homes and see the general outline of the graveyard from the street to the top of the hill so I believe my great-grandmother and grandmother knew what they were talking about.
 
The video below is about 4 minutes long. You SHOULD HAVE BROADBAND TO VIEW. Click play. You computer must be enabled to view video or you will see a box with an "x" below.
 
MPEG4 - 256K Video Standard

Back to top

Mecklenburg County Government
600 East Fourth Street 11th Floor
Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: 704-336-2472
Fax: 704-846-6538 Bill@billjames.org

Copyright © 2005 Commissioner Bill James

http://billjames.org  contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, genealogical and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on my site is distributed without profit. The fair use of a copyrighted work under this Section for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors normally considered and listed in the law include:

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
 
If you wish to use copyrighted material from http://billjames.org  for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
 
 Bill James Biography | Bill James Photos | Bill James Political Cartoons | County Commissioners
Private Schools | Church links | Family Tree | Latest Political News | 1963 Eldorado