To: The Sasser list From: Glenn E. Perry I am finally getting around to reporting on my visit--on November 28, 1997 with my brother Michael and with Lisle, Faye, and Hawk Hale--to what is now called the Sasser-Glass Cemetery at Blackwater. This is part of the farm of Jesse Sasser and is about two fifths of a mile from the Sasser-Dixon Cemetery, where his father, Henry Sasser, is buried. I wonder why the patriarch's children buried their dead in two different graveyards that were so close to each other. I was a bit surprised to hear the"road" that goes up the hollow at the Jesse Sasser place called "Sled Road," for I had always thought of that as the name of a hollow on the Knox County (Mt. Ararat) side, but this is the trail--probably no longer passable-- that connects Blackwater with Sled Road Branch just across the hill. From this visit, I gained a sense of place that I previously lacked (odd considering that my grandfather lived there until the late 1920s, that my mother was born there, and that one of her sisters owned some land there--presumably part of the Henry Sasser place--until fairly recently). If one is going along the Hale-Robinson Creek Road in the direction of Robinson (i.e., toward Highway 229), both graveyards are on the hill to the left. This is the hill that divides two counties--Laurel and Knox. The Sasser-Glass Cemetery is up on the hill behind the site of Jesse's house, where his widow Nancy continued to live after his death in the Civil War (and where their daughter Evelyn "Eb" Glass resided in later years). I could see little sign of a house having been there--in a place now taken over by small trees and bushes. But Lisle told us that until only a few years ago Grandmother Nancy's pear tree was still alive and was filled with fruit each year. I was told that Jesse's farm straddled the county line, that is, was parly in Laurel and partly in Knox County. The way to Adin's farm, I was told, was up the hollow--and apparently across the hill--on the Knox County side. (The various documents pertaining to Adin that I have seen seem to indicate that he lived in Laurel County, but I also remember one account that puts some of his children on Sled Road in Knox County.) Although this may in part be redundant for those who have copies of "Cemeteries of Laurel County," here is some of what I found at the graveyard: Nancy A. N.J. Gilbert Gilbert Feb. 6 1844 Feb. 3, 1838 Dec. 2, 1926 Aug. 21, 1902 [These are the daughter and son-in-law of Keziah Sasser and Peter Tuttle; see the top of p. 1 of "Sassers of Laurel County, Ky." Next to them is:] Samuel Lee Sasser July 31, 1937 September 27, 1995 [According to Lisle, this is also the site of Grandmother Nancy's grave; since none of us had put up a marker, I suppose there was no way of knowing that somebody was already buried there. Next to Grandmother Nancy--and with a broken stone--is her and Jesse's unmarried daughter (sister of Wallace, Susan, etc.):] Lucy J. Sasser born July 31, 1854 died April 24, 1898 Beautiful lovely She was but given a fair bud to earth to blossom in heaven Clarence Daere "Poppy" Sasser Feb. 7, 1910 Mar. 25, 1987 [The following is Uncle Wallace's first wife:] Eliza Williams Wife of Wallace Sasser Born Oct. 6, 1852 Died Jan 14 1901 God gave He took He will restore [It was very hard to read the epitaph, but this is what I finally decided it said. As for the name, I find it odd that the maiden name was used. Or did I copy it wrong? I will check next time.] I am told that originally a stone with Wallace's name, on which somebody mistakenly carved his wife's death date, was put next to hers but that he was eventually buried further over in the same graveyard in a spot that is no longer marked at all. There are some other stories that I will refrain from repeating at this point. There are two other stones--for people I cannot identify: Corpl. Sallie Muncy Jas. Murray Apr. 14, 1844 40 Ky. Inf Mar. 7, 1917 Otherwise, there are crude stones without names. And there are many other likely locations of graves that lack any sort of markers. . Although I do not recall the place being badly grown up, the conditions are deplorable. I was told--and this is something that Sue Lynn may know more about--that some of Campbell's descendants in Oklahama collected $5,000 a few years ago to have the graveyard fixed up but that the person the money was given to went to Los Vegas and spent most of it. As I heard the story, he finally came back and had some work done but did a lot of damage, cutting the old cedar tree down and putting up a fence that was supposed to enclose the graveyard but actually left a lot of graves on the outside of the enclosed area, where they are now completely lost in the woods. The people who were supposed to fix the graveyard up--who happen to be descendants of N[athan] J. and Nancy A. Gilbert--are said to have done more damage than the loggers that Rhoda Glass's sister's children--who inherited the adjacent land after her death--sold the timber to. I am only relating what I was told--and as I remember it ***************************************** Glenn E. Perry Department of Political Science Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN 47809 USA E-Mail: psperrg@scifac.indstate.edu (812)237-2505 (office) (812)234-5661 (home) **************************************** ==== SASSER Mailing List ==== post a query to the list:� SASSER-l@rootsweb.com Questions or comments about the list: dlsasser@email.msn.com