Hill/Smith Cemetery, Rapides Parish Louisiana Submitted by Jane Parker McManus ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** HILL / SMITH CEMETERY - Rapides Parish The original listing of burials at Hill Cemetery was published in Volume I of the Cemetery Inscriptions of Rapides Parish series. As we believed the cemetery totally inaccessible, records of Annie Parker (deceased) were used (with permission) as she had visited the site and researched the information years earlier. We have since discovered that in 1983, a descendant of the Hill family, Sonya W. Kirkham [SWK], visited the cemetery with her grandmother [Mary C. Smith Watkins Nichols, age 91] and uncle [Roy Smith, age 77]. Using the personal knowledge of her grandmother and uncle, Sonya drew a plot of the burials and identified each of the unmarked graves by name. On 5 August 1993, the author, Mary Parker Partain, in the company of Roy Franks (as guide) revisited the cemetery and again verified the burials. Information submitted by Jane Parker McManus (mcmanus@linknet.net). To reach the cemetery, go North on Interstate Hwy. 49 for three miles past the town of Boyce, and exit at LA Hwy. 8 (Flatwoods). Turn left onto LA Hwy. 8 and go 8.0 miles. Just before reaching Flatwoods, turn left on Dough Hills Road (no sign on the road). Go 4.0 miles to a "Y" and continue straight (left fork goes to Campbell Creek Cemetery, but bridge is out on that road prohibiting access to Hill-Smith Cemetery from that way. About .8 miles from the fork is another fork. Bear left at this point (right fork goes to Seiper Creek and is called Blackland Road). This section of Dough Hills Road was originally the old Stagecoach road from Alexandria to Leesville. From the fork, go 2.6 miles to the next fork and keep straight for about .3 miles (left fork goes to Odom Creek). Turn left at "Cemetery Road" sign. If sign is missing, the road bears off like a "Y" (not a right angle). Go about .5 mile on this road and park. Deep ruts prevent anything except 4-wheel drive traffic, therefore, you must walk from this point. At the next "Y" turn left about 150 yards. Cemetery is at the end of this fork and has a good hurricane fence around it. The area is about 50 feet across the front by 100 feet. There appears to have been six rows in this cemetery, but only six graves are marked. The others were identified by family members. The total distance from LA Hwy. 8 is about eight miles with all the various turns actually going around the creeks as there are no bridges. Permission to enter and access to roads must be obtained from the T. L. James work station, or from Jack Dewitt, president of the hunting club which leases the land (1993). There are at least three locked gates from the highway. CAUTION: Never travel this road after a rain, or with impending rain as the road gets "dough-y" (hence the name) and is impassable. * * * History * * * Henry Hill moved with his family and a host of relatives from Mississippi to this area of Louisiana about 1881-82. When three of his children died of the "fever," Henry buried them in this location. He felt the area would continue to grow as the stage line ran near by, however, according to Mary (Smith) Watkins, the growth actually moved toward "Castoff" (Castor Community). These three burials marked the beginning of Hill -Smith Cemetery. In a letter dated 16 April 1883 to his sister Rebecca, Henry Hill mentioned that of the five children by his present wife [Nancy Phillips McCullough], only two were living [Nancy Catherine (Kate) and Robert (Bob) Hill]. [Bob Hill is buried in the old Paul Cemetery at Elmer; Kate Hill Smith is buried here.] History of the family cemetery and additional genealogical information shown in brackets in this listing was provided by Sonya Kirkham and Roy Smith. Mitchum, Alex - [unmarked grave in corner of cemetery] [this is not a member of Smith or Hill families, but thought to have been a boarder who died while in the area] Row 1: Smith, Addie - [concrete brick] [three year old daughter of W. S. & Nancy Smith] Smith, Infant - [unmarked grave] [unnamed child of W.S. & Nancy Smith] Hill, Mandy - [unmarked burial] [Mandy E. Hill born ca 1867 Leake Co. MS, daughter of Henry Hill] Smith, W. S. [William Salathus] - 15 Oct 1861 / 31 May 1908 [son of William Henry Smith & Catherine Paul; he married on 21 Dec 1887 to Nancy Catherine Hill; was father of Roy Smith; was called "Liss" all his life.] Smith, William H. - 29 Oct 1888 / 13 Oct 1918 [brother of Roy Smith who stated William died of pneumonia during WW1 from complications of the "great flu epidemic" of 1918. SWK] Smith, Carl Guy - [14 Sep] 1896 / 14 Jan 1919 [brother of Roy Smith, married to Ella Eznack.] Row 2: Smith, Nancy H. [Nancy Catherine Hill] - 7 Oct 1867 / 10 Mar 1942 "Kate" [daughter of Henry Hill and Nancy Elizabeth Phillips McCullough; she was born in Leake County, MS, married to William Salathus Smith.] Hill, Henry - [concrete brick, no dates] [Born 19 Jan 1817 Warren Co., GA, son of Fielding Hill and Isabella Gibson; married 1st in 1838 to Sarah J. (?), and second to Nancy Elizabeth Phillips McCullough.] Hill, Beulis - [concrete brick, no dates] [born ca 1839 GA, son of Henry & Sarah Hill; served in the Leake Rovers during Civil War.] Hill, Billy - [concrete brick, no dates] [William F. Hill born ca 1863 Leake Co., MS, son of Henry Hill] Hill, Feelon [Fielding] - [concrete brick, no dates] [born ca 1865 Leake Co. MS, son of Henry Hill] Hill, Booker [Joseph Booker] - [concrete brick, no dates] [born ca 1858 in MS, son of Henry & Sarah Hill.] McCullough, Reuben - 1859 / 1934 [son of (?) McCullough and Nancy Elizabeth Phillips; married on 30 Jan 1906 to Ida Ward, and had one son, George McCullough.] Row 3: Crowder, Mack - [16" picket marks grave, near left fence] Walker, Florence Crowder - [unreadable funeral marker, located in far back of cemetery] [wife of Joseph Walker, daughter of Mack Crowder & Amanda Phillips] Crowder, Amanda Phillips - [unreadable Grant Funeral Home marker] [born ca 1847 MS, sister of Nancy Elizabeth Phillips; the family came to LA with Henry & Nancy Hill, and lived on top of Dough Hill. She was wife of Mack Crowder.] Killen, Baby [Claudine] - [b&d January 1918] [daughter of Guthrie Kenton Killen and Ada Cordell Smith] Smith, Mandy - 1894 / 1895