JOHN HARVILLE CEMETERY LOST This cemetery was quite plain in 1986. It was in a field just a few yards from Highway T. Highway T goes southeast from Highway 125 in Oldfield. About three miles on Highway T from Oldfield is Old Boston Cemetery. About six more miles on the right was the smaller John Harville Cemetery. From the cemetery, Highway DD where it meets Highway T was visible to the east. I was there in 1985. There were about 15 large fieldstones marking the graves The stones were large. Some had been in place since the Civil War. Mrs. Lela Hall lived nearby and was a local historian. She had ancestors buried there and sent me letters about the people buried there and also a map of the graves. I, too,
have people there and did a pamphlet for a reunion of the family. After 1990, my niece wanted to see the cemetery and we couldn’t find it. I thought the grass was just high and didn’t realize that the stones had been removed. In the middle of the grass was a huge wild cherry tree. It is about four feet in circumference, the tree IS there. A cousin and I were there this spring of 2003 and the stones are definitely removed. I am writing below a list of the people Mrs. Hall listed buried there. We are now trying to leave a paper trail of this cemetery for people that will want to know where these people were buried. There are many descendents in the community. There was a terrible burn area during the Civil War and there is a Confederate and a Federal Soldier buried there. One of the first settlers is buried there, Joseph Isaac Thompson. His stone was the first from the road. Joseph Isaac Thompson born 1800 Tennessee died 1896 – first Thompson to enter area.
Joseph Isaac Thompson’s daughter, Louise Hughes. Husband lost in Civil War.
Alice Hughes, daughter of Joe and Elizabeth Hughes. An Infant daughter of Joe and Elizabeth Hughes. A Boatright woman. A Mrs. Snooks. A little boy and a little girl of Granny Harville. They died during the Civil War and were buried at night. Jesse Adams, a Federal soldier killed by a Confederate scout on road that is now DD. Two Maggard Children. A Confederate soldier believed to be Claude Meadows who was last seen in this area. There were three unidentified stones. Contributed by Norma Stewart Maples