John Troxell Cemetery, McCreary County, KY This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Kenna Austin - KENNA@highland.net, Oct. 1999. ************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material,must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ********************************************************************* Robert Ernest Stephens "McCreary County, Kentucky Cemeteries" books would not have been possible without alot of hard work. Robert Ernest Stephens and Beatrice Lawson Stephens have helped make it possible for genealogists to work on their family trees without trapsing through the woods. Although on a beautiful day it's not too hard of work. If any errors are noted please email me and I will correct them. I look forward to reading Mr. Stephens history of McCreary County when it is finished. The book is entitled, "A Lost Heritage for a Changing People." I also would like to thank him again for the permission to copy their work. McCreary County Kentucky Cemeteries Vol. I published 1990 Author, Robert Ernest Stephens Copied as written with permission/Kenna Austin John Troxell Cemetery Nearby Town: Hilltop/Yamacraw Date(s) copied: 11Mar1986 Number of Graves identifiable by inscription: 0 Number of Graves Unidentifiable: 30 Location: From Yamacraw highway bridge across the Big South Fork on KY 92 take KY 1363 SW along Rock Creek past Oz and Paint Cliff to White Oak Junction, where you turn SSE to the Guy Kidd store and old home. You will travel 5 miles to the Guy Kidd store from Ky 92. At the Guy Kidd store turn left and take a trail ENE to the top of the mountain above White Oak Junction. The distance you must walk is about .6 mile going from the 760' contour to the 1300' contour level. The cemetery is to the NE in an old field now over grown in burr pines. TROXEL, John 1858* *According to George Troxell, Whitley City, Ky. 42653. He was alive on 7Apr1803 and old enough to prove the marriage bond between Jonathan Blevins and Katy Troxel, daughter of Jacob "Jake" Troxel and Princess Cornblossom. Princess Cornblossom was the daughter of Chief Doublehead. Consent of Jacob Troxel, father of the bride, was proven by John Troxel. Assuming he was of age, he would have been born about 1782. Jacob "Big Jake" Troxel was born 18Jan1758. The John Troxel we refer to here is the one buried at this location, according to George Troxell, a direct descendant of the John Troxel family. John Troxel is the greatgreatgrandfather of George Troxell. WINCHESTER, Jim Great Uncle to Fannie Whitehead as per Fannie Whitehead. He was a brother to William "Bud" Winchester, who was grandfather to Artie Winchester Troxell, who is wife of George Troxell. Artie Winchester Troxell's father was Rufus Winchester, who lived to be 101. TROXEL, Vadie 1922 This burial date is according to George Troxell, who also says she was his great Uncle's wife. SELLERS, Susie Jane Foster Mother of Fannie Whitehead. As per Fannie Whitehead and Mr. George Troxell. Susie Jane Foster Sellers was the wife of Louis Sellers who died 1Nov1915 and is interred at Fidelity or Winchester Cemetery farther up Rock Creek. The name on his stone is spelled, Lueis Sellears. WHITEHEAD, Infant of Robert Whitehead. As per Fannie Whitehead. WHITEHEAD, Infant of Robert Whitehead. As per Fannie Whitehead. KEITH, Infants Brothers to Ernest Keith. Their parents were Osborne and Nancy Phillips Keith, who came from Wayne County. Summary While trying to find out about this little cemetery, high on the mountain above Rock Creek, we visited with Bobbie E. And Fannie J. (Sellers)Whitehead. We found that the property is now owned by the Lester Watson heirs. The cemetery is located in an old field at the highest point on top of a 1320' mountain. Here we find mature pines growing where once subsistence farmers labored. Still we see the remains of ‘horse-apple' trees, now dead or dying, and the place where the house once stood can still be readily found. It was here that John Troxel came to live in the early 1800's and here above the sparkling pristine waters of Rock Creek, that he must have put down roots. Today the creek runs orange with mining minerals and the slopes erode and slide with mining debris to the valley below. Paint Cliff and Oz, once booming mining towns, have disappeared. Some of the people who worked there lived atop John Troxel mountain and farmed to augment their mining wages. All that remains of them can be found in this little cemetery North East of their old home place, where children played and their parents strived to make for them a new and better live. John Troxel was a relative of Jacob Troxel, our revolutionary war soldier, who came to Kentucky to fight for his country. We now find their descendants all across McCreary County. You'll find them at Otter Creek, Steele Hollow and the Winchester Cemetery on Rock Creek. They intermarried with the Winchesters, Fosters, Blevins and Sellers. The lady who knew about this cemetery was Fannie J. (Sellers) Whitehead. Jim Winchester was her great Uncle. Her mother, Susie Jane Foster Sellers, is buried at this location, along with Keith infants, who were brothers to Ernest Keith. Osborne and Nancy Phillips Keith, came from Wayne County to raise their family and as members of their family passed away, they were interred in the North East corner of the old field. Others buried were Whiteheads, but for the most part the graves were those of the children of these families. Mrs. Fannie J. (Sellers) Whitehead told me about others that lived nearby. Garfield Troxel lived on Trace Branch. About 1932 two deputies Claude Brady and Marion King were killed at a "beer-joint or Blind Jack" on White Oak Creek above where the Jewell Kidd store now stands. All along Rock Creek and it's tributaries there were shootings and wild antics after the days work was done. But now atop the mountain, not far from the old Guy Kidd store, in the silence of the pines, lies the earliest of these pioneers. Now all is quiet and most of the past has been forgotten. Only the rounded, eroded sand stone markers allude to the hardships and joys of living once experienced by these proud people. Today, not even a road goes to the old farm and the cemetery.