CABGENE@aol.com wrote: >When was the first cemetery established in Mt. Sterling? Before that were >they buried on there property? I do not know if it was the first, but it seems that the Presbyterian Church may have established one of the first cemeteries in Mt. Sterling. At least many interments were made there. Some time around 1904/1905, the Presbyterian Church deeded the property between Montgomery and High Streets adjoining Willow Street to the city. Maps of the time and certainly the Beers and Lanagan 1879 map show this as "the old cemetery". The City notes in its Council Minutes that the property was used for grazing of the "city mule". Families were encouraged to move the remains of family members to other cemeteries and burial places. Many of these were moved to the present Machpelah Cemetery although there is no records as to which were moved where. It is not known who was actually buried in the "old cemetery" and it may safely be assumed that not all graves were exhumed and moved. In the late 1930s, the City School District made an agreement to lease the property for $1 per year from the City for use as a Football field. At that time, a concerted effort was made to "clean up" the property and remove all the graves. That some were missed is probable based on the fact that a number of the football players of the 1940s tell that during rainy weather it was not unusual to find bones protruding up from the ground. Players often took breaks by sitting on stacks of old gravestones. Personally I doubt that there were many bones found there as just one or two would be enough to get the stories going. That would also get the public up in arms as there were some citizens of the time that thought such a use of the property was not right. My grandfather was on the City School Board at the time and related that not a few persons were against the school using the property for football. By the late 1940s, the "old cemetery" was almost forgotten, a fieldhouse had been erected and named after the City School coach, Bain "Tiny" Jones who led the school to many victories. The only other large cemetery of about the time, St. Thomas (Catholic) Cemetery is still being used. Other than these, most burials were in local family-owned graveyards and there are many in the county -- something over 220. Hazel Boyd, a few others helped by a number of high school students recorded most of the cemeteries in Montgomery County in the 1950s and 1960s. Kendal Culbertson has verified and updated this effort in the last few years. Unfortunately many graves are not marked or only marked by fieldstones. These fieldstones either have completely worn away or had no engraving but were only know to the families of the time. Hope this helps - Lee Hoffman/KY TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com> My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman> A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)