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| Chalybeate Cemetery, Webster Co., KY (with photos) |
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| Chalybeate Cemetery, Webster Co., KY (with photos) |
Old Chalybeate (pronounced Klee-bet) Springs Methodist Cemetery is located on the Webster County side of the Union County - Webster County boundary between Kentucky highways 983 and 857. Access to the cemetery is by way of a county maintained road which connects to Kentucky highway 983. The road is located four tenths of a mile from the Union County line and is marked by a street sign which says "Chalybeate Cemetery Road".
Legend says that Deborah French opened Chalybeate Springs with a chopping axe in the early 1800's. Before drilled wells, people hauled its water for miles during draughts. The spring is located on the headwaters of the Caney Fork of Craborchard Creek of the Tradewater River which flows into the Ohio River downstream from the junction of the Ohio River and the Wabash River. On December 2, 1830, Jacob Sigler purchased 200 acres of land on the Caney Fork of the Tradewater for $535 from his sister, Hannah, and her husband, Philip Holeman. (Union County, Kentucky, Book "D" Page 285) A church was built on the land and a cemetery followed. Both took the name of the Old Chalybeate Springs.
A fund to help finance the cleanup and restoration of the cemetery at Old Chalybeate Springs was established at the 2002 Sigler Family Reunion. If you are interested in contributing to the fund or if you are willing to donate your time, labor, materials, etc., contact Dorothy Lauver in Henderson, Kentucky. Email her at Mdotbl@aol.com for details.
Todd Shelton attended the reunion and took several photos of Old Chalybeate Springs Cemetery on June 20, 21, and 22, 2002. Some of Todd's photos are on his web site. http://sheltonmotorsports.com/chalybea.htm
Much of this info was taken from the Chaylbeate Springs website, located at http://personal.lig.bellsouth.net/lig/w/j/wjtjd/old_chalybeate_springs.htm. I would like to thank Willie Joe Sigler for allowing me to 'borrow' from his website. We are distantly related, as my great grandmother was a Sigler before marriage. If it wasn't for him contacting me about adding a link to his cemetery site, I would have never found this cemetery, or not for many years. Please check out his website, as you'll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of info he has online about this area and the descendants.
For info on this page, please send additions or corrections to Maria Troutman. Remember, the dates listed below are FROM the tombstones, which sometimes can be deceiving with the old stones if they are aging badly. If anyone has any old cemetery or church photos, I would like to add them to this site.
I visited this cemetery on June 22, 2002. Upon finally finding the cemetery, my first reaction was WOW, finally found it. After getting out of the car and walking up to the "new" section, I realized there were stones all through the woods, then my reaction became oh my goodness due to the overgrown state. I hesitated, but finally decided to venture into the 'woods' and started stumbling upon stones. I spent nearly 90 minutes there, working my way through the overgrowth to get to stones. I paused a few times as I heard something moving quickly away.. was it a snake, or a lizard, or a small critter... I didn't want to know. I was disappointed to not stumble across Jacob & Malinda Sigler's stones, but after viewing photos taken by Willie Joe Sigler, I know I was all around them, and maybe even walked between them, just barely missing them. If you ever decide to visit, insect repellant is a must, due to the ticks that love this wooded area, and be prepared to have a few spider webs in your hair. Poison Ivy is thick in here too, so be careful of it.
The Oldest BIRTH on a readable tombstone is for John Russell (1811-1866). The Oldest BURIAL on a readable tombstone is for John P. Lynn (1812-1847). The Newest BIRTH on a readable tombstone is for Elmer Powell (1897-1897). The Newest BURIAL on a readable tombstone is for Ida Gibson (1876-1960). Below you will find links for photos that have tombstones, and I will also list other burials that are suppose to be in this cemetery. If you have any info on any burials, please let us know.
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Contributed by Maria Troutman
Date 29 June 2002
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