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The photographs of the cemetery follow the discussion, which you can read while they're loading. The Shiplet Cemetery is about halfway between Elkhorn and Dyer Branches of Line Creek, on the east side of the creek. There is now a sign marking the road near the cemetery as the "Shiplet-Mink Cemetery Road" (the Mink part comes from the current landowners). William Shiplet's stone is the only readable one in the cemetery, which is surprisingly large. Actually, Shiplet's stones are the only readable stones, plural, as he has two which survive, both pictured below. His older fieldstone marker was found a short distance away from his newer (but still old) head and foot stone. You can make out "W S, ar 9, 882" which can reasonably be interpreted as "William Shiplet, Mar 9, 1882." There is also an older footstone marker for him. The style, engraving, and material of his newer stone is almost identical to his wife Rebecca's at the Line Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, although her's is a bit smaller. She died in 1918 and the family evidently had a new stone made for William at that time. Why she was not buried with him is a mystery, but it may have been a matter of maintenance, since the church's cemetery was being maintained while this cemetery was probably not. Why William is buried where he is is an even greater mystery. In 1882 the property was owned by James Cooper who had bought it from Andrew Decker. At this stage of my land research it looks as if the land was originally sold to Amos Chaney by Holbert McClure in 1846. Decker purchased most or all of the Chaney land, then later sold it to Cooper. One interesting possibility is that this cemetery may mark the location of the original Line Creek Baptist Church, or at least a pre-1860 location. The reasons for this supposition center around William Shiplet being buried there, the cemetery's size, and its location. The primary question remains: Why is Shiplet buried there? We know that he wasnt a member of the church during the time when it may have been located there, as he didnt join until 1869. He also wasnt a member of the church at the time of his death, as he moved his membership to Pleasant Valley in 1875. So then, why was he buried were he is? Possible answers: 1. Just because. 2. He was buried near his first wife, Elizabeth Warren. William married Elizabeth Warren in 1852. They had at least two children before her death in 1856. She was the daughter of Mathew Warren, a former pastor at the church. In turn, the most logical place for Elizabeth to be buried is in the Warren family cemetery, as there were several Warrens who died on Line Creek in the early and mid 1800s, including Charles Warren (Mathews son) who was married to Williams sister Mary Ann Shiplet. But there is no known Warren family cemetery. One can make the case the most likely burial place for Mathew Warren and his family would have been in the church cemetery. 3. He was buried near his parents, Finch and Anna. Anna died in 1852, Finch in 1858. At the time of his death, he owned the land just south of the Warrens. There is no family cemetery known to exist on the property. Finch and Anna were members of the church until 1850 when they asked for their letters; Finchs second wife Lucretia joined the church in 1860. Its entirely possible Finch and Anna didnt join with another church and came back to Line Creek. If Finch and Anna are buried at this Shiplet Cemetery, then the most reasonable premise is that it was the church cemetery. 4. He was buried in the community cemetery. What would be the most common place for a community cemetery? A church. I'd love to hear other people's opinions, yea or nea, on this subject. Regardless of whether or not this cemetery was connected with the church, I believe this is the most likely burial location thus found for Amos and Temperance Chaney and some of the Isaacs and Warren familes. The boundaries of the cemetery are hard to ascertain, but there could easily be more than 50 graves within today's visible perimeter. It's in a grove of mainly oak trees on a secondary hill above Line Creek. With a church building on the property the scene would be reminiscent of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and cemetery off of Highway 461 near the Pulaski-Rockcastle County line.
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