Joseph Hite Family Cemetery at Mansfield

Joseph Hite Family Cemetery at Mansfield. . This small family cemetery is all that remains of what was once Joseph Hite's 1000 acre estate. Joseph's son and intended heir, Stephen Hite (1700-1828), is buried here. Stephen's wife, Martha (1798-1830), and daughter, Sarah (1824-1827), are also buried here. One of Joseph's other sons, John L, also has three children buried here: Courtney (1831-1831), Noel (1836-1837), and John (1838-1830). John's is the only legible headstone remaining. Joseph Hite (1757-1831) is not buried here. He is buried at the main family cemetery on the estate owned by his brother, Abraham Hite, located to the west of Jeffersontown, KY., The Hite family was intimately involved in early Kentucky and Jefferson County history. Family founder Hans Jost Heydt arrived in America in the 1710's. By 1732, he had obtained Virginia land grants for 94,000 acres and moved his family to Virginia. Hans Jost's fourth son, Abraham (1720-1790), was also a prominent landowner and became a member of the Virginia House of Burgess In 1776, Abraham was a member of the Virginia Convention, where his heroic efforts at raising money and supplies for the Revolutionary War earned him the rank of Colonel., Colonel Abraham Hite's three sons established the Hite family in the Jefferson County area. The oldest son, Isaac, arrived first in May of 1774 as a member of the Fincastle Survey exploring the Ohio River. The second son, Captain Abraham Jr., arrived in 1783. He had received his Captain's commission from George Washington while fighting in the Virginia Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Abraham Jr. became involved in local politics in 1790, when he was appointed a trustee of Louisville, and elected one of the first County Court Judges. He went on to the State Senate in 1800. In 1784, the third and youngest surviving son, Joseph, moved to the area with his father Abraham Sr. Soon after their arrival, the family formed a company to buy and sell large tracts of land. Joseph settled on 1000 acres in Jeffersontown and built a simple log cabin very near the location of this cemetery. A few years later, he constructed a much grander two-story home on the estate. The land and cemetery remained in the Hite family until 1873., The estate's ownership changed hands many times from 1873 until 1879 when Courier-Journal founder Henry Watterson purchased it and renamed the property Mansfield. It was probably Watterson who added the stone wall around the cemetery while renovating the home and property into a large Victorian mansion and estate. After Watterson's death in the 1920's, the estate ownership again changed hands several times and buildings fell into disrepair. In 1975, a fire destroyed the main house, burning it to the ground. Soon after, the remaining outbuildings, including the original log cabin, were removed from the grounds in preparation for development of the area. In 2000, the Watterson Woods Property Owners Association, funded by Jefferson County ‘A’ District Commissioner Russ Maple, the City of Jeffersontown, and Jeffersontown Mayor Daniel Ruckriegel St., began work to uncover and restore the badly neglected cemetery to as close to an original state as possible., Information provided by the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and the Jefferson County Department of Historic Preservation and Archives.