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I currently have records of at least 161 burials in the cemetery from 1842
until 1960. The oldest grave about which I have information is that of
Margaret Holeman Mason (Hanna, John, Jacob) who died in May, 1842. The
newest grave about which I have information is that of Ida M. Gibson, wife of W.
E. Gibson, who died on 2-12-1960. About 25% of the people buried in the
cemetery are the descendents of Jacob and Margaret Sigler of Virginia and North
Carolina. At least 55 or over one third of the people buried in the cemetery are
either descendents or spouses of descendents of Jacob and Margaret Sigler. Many
others are their parents and other relatives.
Life was difficult during the 100 plus years of the Old Chalybeate Springs Community. About 38% of those buried in the cemetery died
before their seventeenth birthday. Of those 38%, over half died during
their first year. About 10% died in their 20's and about 10% died in their
40's. About 5% died in each of the following age groups: 30's, 50's, 60's, 70's,
and 80's.
At the present time, I have the dates of death for a little over 80% of the
people buried at Old Chalybeate Springs Cemetery. About
88% of those for which I have dates of death died during the six decades from
the 1850's to the first decade of the 1900's. During the six decades from
the 1910's to the 1960's, each decade except the 1950's had at least one person
buried at the cemetery. I have the dates of death of six people who died
during the 1840's. From the information which I currently have, the decade
of the 1880's was the peak of activities for the cemetery with at least 26
burials during that time period. There are several people buried in the
Turner plot in a corner of the cemetery for whom I have very little information except
that they are there. Indications would be that the Old Chalybeate Springs
community was strongest during the eighty years from about 1830 to 1910.
That time period would involve several generations.
After 1930, the only burials may have been those of spouses of those already
buried in the cemetery. The last child to be buried in the cemetery may
have been buried there in 1906. The last couples to be buried in the
cemetery were Willie (1921) and Ida (1960) Gibson, Steve (1942) and Sarah (1926)
Stone, John (1939) and Sarah (1930) Gibson, Benjamin (1912) and Elizabeth (1925)
Shelton, William and Mahaley (1914) Hall, and James (1914) and Dicey
Gibson.
Keep in mind that the cemetery information which I have placed on this web
site has been taken from a variety of sources. If you visit the cemetery,
you may not find the stones for all of the people that I mention. Over the
years, some of the stones have been lost, stolen, or become unreadable due to
weathering, vandalism, or the stones being removed from the cemetery by family
members or passers by looking for souvenirs. Among other sources, I have
used materials printed by local groups in Union and Webster counties and
information collected by the descendents of Jacob and Margaret Sigler of
Virginia and North Carolina, the grandparents of the Jacob Sigler whose heirs owned the
meeting house lot when it was sold to the Methodist Church for one dollar. Much of the information
was collected by my parents, Robert Henry Sigler and Rubye Louise Collins.
I inherited their research materials when my father died in January, 1996.
My line is.....Willie, Robert, Rufus, William, David,
Jacob, John, Jacob. My first trip to the cemetery was in the early 80's.
It was cleared and someone was mowing it. Today it resembles a
woodlot.
From: "Vince Vawter" <vince@evansville.net>
To: "'Willie and Jeanne Sigler'" <wjtjd@bellsouth.net>
Cc: "Coomer, Mark" <CoomerM@courierpress.com>
Subject: RE: Article dated 12-6-1983
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 08:34:15 -0600
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0)
Importance: Normal
This e-mail reply grants you permission to use the article mentioned as long
as full credit is given to The Evansville Courier (now the Evansville Courier
& Press. Additionally, I am forwarding your e-mail to a staff member who
might have an answer to your second question.
Vince Vawter
THE EVANSVILLE COURIER --- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1983
Cemetery mystery has open plots
By BOB MATYI, Courier staff writer
BOXVILLE, Ky.
In an all-but-forgotten cemetery in Webster County, someone is digging up
graves.
Two were found open recently at Old Chalybeate (pronounced Klee-bet) Cemetery
in northwestern Webster County, less than two miles from this Union County
community. Police don’t know who did it but they think they know why --- greed.
"Old-timers say some of those people (in the 1800’s) were buried with
jewelry and other valuables," says Webster County Sheriff’s Deputy Lester
Sager.
The incident, which apparently occurred less than three months ago, surprised
area residents. "I wouldn’t touch a grave for nothing in the world. You
couldn’t pay me to dig one up," says Sandy Dorris of Dixon, a member of
the local historical society.
But someone did. And that saddens Ken Carsten, an archeologist at Murray
State University.
"From what I’ve seen in grave robbing, that doesn’t surprise me in
the least," he says. "It’s widespread because of public ignorance .
. . the public just doesn’t care. There is a very active illegal market in
antiquities."
Chalybeate is one of the oldest cemeteries in the 123-year-old county. It
also is among the most remote. You get there by traveling northwest from Dixon
on Kentucky 983 for about eight miles, then turning left onto a one-lane gravel
road that winds for about another half mile.
The graveyard sits atop a little hill surrounded by fields of corn and
soybeans. Once a popular burial ground, it suffers from years of neglect. It is
overgrown with trees and weeds. Wild rosebushes call it home. Many graves have
lost their markers - - some people say the stones are being used as sidewalks.
At two graves there are gaping holes 4- to 5-feet deep. Red clay is piled
around the rims. Stone markers propped against trees identify the deceased as
Elizabeth Morehead, the wife of 19th century Webster County physician
James Morehead, and the Rev. J. M. McIntyre, a Methodist minister. Both
apparently died in the 1860’s.
But that may only deepen the mystery.
Inez Turner and her late husband, Joe, used to drive five miles from their
rural Dixon home to Chalybeate every two weeks, mowing grass and pulling weeds
around the Turner family plot.
"I never knowed but one family to go and that was us," says Mrs
Turner. "People won’t go back there and do anything abut their people, it’s
a shame."
Then, several years ago, a man from nearby Clay brought his bushhog to the
cemetery. Before cutting a path through the brush, he lifted the headstones out
of his way. Mrs. Turner was told he failed to put them back in their proper
place.
"It could be anybody," she says of the dug-up graves. "You
really don’t know for sure."
On Sept 5, the Turners took their lawnmower to Chalybeate for the final time.
"There was nothing wrong with it then," she says. Two weeks later, her
husband died of a heart attack and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery near Dixon.
Despite Mrs. Turner’s story, police still assume the disturbed graves were
those of Mrs. Morehead and McIntyre. The graves are about 50 yards apart,
separated by a briar patch and a scattering of saplings. Both appear to be
empty.
"That’s what really got us stumped ---there were no bones in any of
the graves," says Sager.
The empty graves also puzzle Webster County Sheriff Raymond Ray. He wonders
if the robbers carried the coffins away. If not, he asks, why were no bones
found in the holes?
That’s a fair question, agrees Carstens, who says several factors influence
the answer: soil conditions, acidity, moisture, and rodent activity. Without
examining the graves first-hand, he wouldn’t say if the bones had been
removed.
Not much is known about Mrs. Morehead and McIntyre. Restructuring their lives
is even more difficult because Webster County’s historical records are
incomplete. Both, however, lived at about the same time in Webster County.
Neither person appears to have been particularly wealthy, though Mrs. Morehead
more so than McIntyre.
Nancy Morehead Fust of Louisville is a great-granddaughter of Dr. Morehead.
She is a schoolteacher who dabbles in genealogy. Lately, her thoughts have
turned to Old Chalybeate Cemetery.
She was shocked when a friend in Webster County told her about the apparent
grave robbery. "I can’t imagine who might have been tampering with the
graves," she says.
She too believes the robbers were searching for valuables. But if so, she
says, they may have come up empty-handed.
Morehead "was better off than anyone else in the family, but I don’t
get the impression that he was a terribly wealthy person," she says.
Elizabeth was the doctor’s third wife. It’s possible the doctor may have
buried a valuable ring or broach with his wife, Ms. Fust says, but she just
doesn’t know.
Mystery also shrouds Morehead’s death. Although she was supposedly interred
in Chalybeate, no records verify the claim. And the family has been unable to
pinpoint his final resting place.
Barring a break in the case, police doubt they’ll make an arrest. Even if
they know something, most folks around here are "scared to say anything
about it," the sheriff says.
That’s the way it is with most grave robberies, notes Carstens. Enforcement
is difficult because many states don’t consider it a major crime. When it
comes to disturbing the dead, Kentucky is noticeably lax in enforcement, he
contends.
The penalty --- a maximum fine of $400 and 10 days in jail --- amounts to a
"mild slap on the hands."
Carstens adds, "There will always be the almost perverted
entrepreneurship … ‘Hey, this is a way to make an easy buck..’ As long as
public ignorance and personal gain are present, we’re going to have the
problem."
From: "Vince Vawter" <vince@evansville.net>
To: "'Willie and Jeanne Sigler'" <wjtjd@bellsouth.net>
Cc: "Coomer, Mark" <CoomerM@courierpress.com>
Subject: RE: Article dated 12-6-1983
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 08:34:15 -0600
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0)
Importance: Normal
This e-mail reply grants you permission to use the article mentioned as long
as full credit is given to The Evansville Courier (now the Evansville Courier
& Press. Additionally, I am forwarding your e-mail to a staff member who
might have an answer to your second question.
Vince Vawter
