Family volunteers to clean up abandoned cemetery

J.D., front, Chrissy, Michelle and Kelly Beatty take a break from clearing a thicket of brush and weeds from around the headstone of Thomas Boone.

Neglected graveyards can be found everywhere, their headstones as forgotten as the lives they were set to remember.

When James “JD” Beatty discovered an abandoned burial ground in the town he once lived, he was shocked and saddened to see how the headstones had become covered with weeds and brush.

“When I saw how overgrown the old cemetery had become I was upset. I just felt like the people that were buried there had just been forgotten and to me that is really sad. My wife, Chrissy and I both thought that a graveyard as old as this one is important to preserve because it is the final resting place of some of the Boone descendants. So, I talked to the property owner to see if I could get permission to clean the burial ground up,” Beatty said.

With weed eaters and lawn mowers in hand, J.D. Beatty, his wife Chrissy along with several family members, made their way through the weeds and the over-grown thicket to restore the neglected cemetery.

The Beatty family spent an entire weekend to restore the final resting place of those buried in the old cemetery and are pleased with what they have been able to accomplish.

“The temple that graced the top of Thomas’ marker was knocked to the ground when a large tree was toppled by a summer storm. My wife Chrissy, Thomas, Mikey and Kelly Beatty got the heavy stone temple as close to the headstone as they could, but we need a fork life to put it back in its proper place,” J.D. Beatty said.

James and his wife believe the Boone family that are buried in the small plot are as happy about the clean up as they are.

“It’s a good feeling to bring back some dignity to the Boone’s final resting place,” Beatty said.

In addition to the headstone of Thomas Boone, the markers of Noah M. Boone April 8, 1850 - Oct. 9 1913, Squire G. Boone, 1850-1910 are the only graves Beatty said were visible but he was told there were at least six other graves on the property.

While talking to the current owner of the property Beatty learned a bit of history about the area.

“Mr. Myers told me that years and years and years ago there was an old church known as the Old Lulbegrud Church and it was located on the cemetery grounds,” Beatty said.

Based on an internet search the Lulbegrud church was founded on the banks of the Lulbegrud Creek in Montgomery County, Kentucky in March of 1793, today the area is known as Prewitt Road.

The only indication that the church existed is the engraving that appears on the marker of Thomas Boone that reads, In memory of Elder Thomas Boone, born in Madison County, Ky., Dec. 24, 1785, died in Clarke County, Ky., Sept. 22, 1855. This monument is erected by his many friends. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.

According to history, as of 1817, Jeremiah Vardaman was the preacher at Lulbegrud and other churches in the area. At his invitation, John Smith first visited the church the third Saturday and Sunday in May of 1817. In the fall of the year, the Smiths moved to the area to begin working with the churches of Montgomery County, Kentucky. For the next seventeen years, he preached in the area

James Beatty and his family plan to keep the cemetery maintained and it is their hope the Boone’s final resting place doesn’t become neglected in the future.

James Beatty and his family plan to keep the cemetery maintained and it is their hope the Boone’s final resting place doesn’t become neglected in the future.