Barnett Burial Ground

Barnett Burial Ground. . , The Cemetery , This cemetery holds the remains of some of the Barnett family, who settled this land sometime before 1804, and their servants. While most of these markers are inscribed, there are also at least three unidentified field-stone grave markers. The proximity of these markers to the Barnett graves and their high-style craftsmanship suggests that the servants were an important part of the Barnett family's daily life. One servant marker, that of Joshua, even identifies his cause of death as "by a stroke of lightning.", Restoration , Over the years, the Barnett Burial Ground had fallen into disrepair. In the spring of 2003, Mike A. Riegert, architectural conservator/restorer, undertook restoration of this important example of early Kentucky burial practices. The project was sponsored by the Madison County Historical Society and funded by grants from the Department of Local Government and the Kentucky Historical Society., During the eight month restoration, the sunken stone bases on which the ledger tablets rested were rebuilt. Broken ledger tablets were repaired and placed in their original positions. Gravestones that had broken or fallen were repaired and reset. During the excavations small amounts of uncured lime mortar were found as much as three feet below the ground. This mortar was still in the same putty-like condition as when the last person touched in nearly 200 years ago!, Meticulous recording insured that the original location and orientation of the grave markers was maintained. Every care was taken to recover and reuse as many of the original materials as possible. Any new materials were matched as closely as possible to the originals., Captions: , The grave markers and box-tombs in this cemetery are rather unique for Settlement Period Kentucky. The coffin-shaped ledger tablets, some of which are inscribed in a rather unique cursive script, have their antecedents in the British Isles. The large box-tomb markers were all constructed on dry-laid stone bases as much as two feet thick., Barnett Burial Ground Before Restoration , Years of neglect and weathering took their toll on this 220-year-old burial ground. Gravestones had fallen and broken. The dry-stone box-tomb bases had sunk and the ledger tablets on top were barely visible., After the broken stones were cleaned, holes were drilled in each half. The base of the stone was reset and the fiberglass rods used to stabilize the marker were inserted into the holes. The top half of the stone was then put into position and readhered with a special epoxy., Just south of this cemetery along the trail stands a single stone. The stone is that of Betsy Herd. She and her husband owned the property after the Civil War. Mr. Herd is buried elsewhere.