Hi Clark, Thanks for letting me know. I think I have a general idea of where this cemetery is located and will try to get over there the next time I'm in Randolph County. Nathaniel Rice actually died in 1853, but he was neighbors with the Alexander and Lynch families who also lived in the area. In 1829, my ggg grandfather James Alexander purchased 160 acres from Henry Williams -- the land was located in the northeast quarter of Section 34 in Township 53N and Range 16W. When James Alexander died in 1845, one-half of the land was give to daughter Elizabeth Serilda Alexander (who married Neptune Lynch on Nov. 13, 1845) while the other half was to be sold with proceeds divided equally among the other children including my gg grandfather John Alexander (who married Patsy Rice, daughter of Nathaniel Rice) as well as Sally Hubbard, Hugh Alexander, James Rice Alexander, Mary Goodman, and Samantha Lobban. The 80 acres of land given to the other six children was sold to William Rice (son of Nathaniel) in the late 1840's or early 1850's (need to look up this date, sorry). Clark, as you probably already know, Neptune Lynch's biography from Montana mentions that he was trained by a Dr. Blake who was a neighbor. I'm not sure if Rice Patterson would be connected...he could be. I originally thought the Pattersons could be connected more to the Alexanders, but doesn't look like it now based on your other message you sent to me that shows the Pattersons were not from Garrard County. Thanks again! David P.S. I think the name "Rice" was a popular given name too and was in honor of the 1700's Presbyterian Minister David Rice who actually founded (or helped establish) a college in Kentucky called, I think, Transylvania University. Clark Blake <[email protected]> wrote: >Hi Clark, > > Thanks for your message. Do you remember where this cemetery is >located in relation to Roanoke? Also, do you happen to remember if >there were any Rice family members buried there? I'm looking for >the burial location for Nathaniel Rice, whom I think was a neighbor >to your Blake ancestors in southwestern Randolph County. > > Thanks! > > David > Dear David: There are no Rice headstones in the Blake Cemetery. To get there, drive 1.6 miles north of Roanoke on Co. Rd. 2080 to intersection with Hickory Rd. Go left here for about 0.3 miles and park in front of gate on right hand side of road, near a shed. The cemetery is in a grove of trees about 200 yards north of gate. This was the old Henry Blake farm, now owned by Eddie Meissen. I don't see Nathaniel Rice's name on 1876 land ownership map for Randolph Co. He probably was just west of Henry's property in Howard Co. Rice Patterson, as you probably know, was another landowner near here and he was adm. of Henry Blake's estate. I wonder if he was named for a Rice relative? Clark Blake -- ==== MORANDOL Mailing List ==== Questions for the List Administrator? Send them to Leslie at [email protected]