Old Maple Methodist Chapel Cemetery, Hart Co., KY

Old Maple Methodist Chapel Cemetery

Hart County, Kentucky

Located off hwy 88 at the end of Macedonia Church Road is the site where the Old Maple Methodist Chapel stood (now gone). The Cemetery is now (2009) in the yard of Linda Childress. The land was donated by John Wesley Childress to build the Old Maple Methodist Chapel. George Madison Wilson (father of Joseph Stanford Wilson 1870-1955), was one of the many local residents who donated their logs and labor to build the Maple Methodist Church which was also used as a school until the school at Roseburg was built. Joseph Stanford Wilson was the last living member of the Maple Methodist Chapel. The cemetery is located directly behind where the Maple Methodist Chapel once stood. There are five tombstones (Ann Gonterman Bratcher, Elijah Childress, John W. Childress, Martha Childress West, Jacob West) in the cemetery today:

The information and photos were provided by Linda Childress, Leda & Garland Childress, Anderson Childress, Carolyn Olneyand Edith Bastin.

History of the Old Maple Methodist Chapel

Name	Birth Date	Death Date	Notes
Bratcher, Ann S. (Gonterman)	Jul 25 1856	Dec 07, 1876	md. James Wesley Bratcher on 06 Feb 1876 in Hart Co, KY m/o John Berry Bratcher b. 30 Nov 1876. has tombstone (1) Note below
Childress, Elijah	Dec 1837 or 1836	Feb 06, 1915	1 st wife: Mary Elizabeth Stinson 2 nd wife: Mary Shay s/o John W. Childress & Mary ‘Polly’ (Hare) Elijah’s death certificate lists birth as 1837 and tombstone lists birth as Dec 1836.
Childress, John Wesley	1799	Aug 08, 1876	md. Sarah Jordan on December 25, 1817 md. Mary ‘Polly’ Hare on January 28, 1831. *(2) Note below
Childress, Mary (Shay or Shea)	Jun 5, 1860	Feb 08, 1911	md Elijah Childress abt 1888 as md 12 yrs on 1900 Hart Co KY Census (3) Note below
Childress, Mary ‘Polly’ (Hare)	1802	1878	md. John Wesley Childress on 28 Jan 1831 Hardin Co, KY
Childress, Mary Elizabeth (Stinson)		Aft. 1880 census taken	1 st w/o Elijah Childress Has stone
Hare, Bartholomew	Abt. 1796	Aft. 1870	age 74 on 1870 census. Has field stone *(4) Note below
Logsdon, Hattie May (Childress)	May 05, 1891	Nov 02, 1918	d/o Elijah Childress & Mary Shea
Jacob and Martha West stones
West, Jacob	Mar 08, 1818	Nov 27, 1894	md. Martha Ann Childress on March 06, 1839 s/o Jonathan West & Nancy Rogers *Has tombstone
West, Martha Ann (Childress)	Sep 21, 1819	Jan 06, 1902	md. Jacob West on March 06, 1839 d/o John Wesley Childress & Sarah Jordan Has tombstone (5) Note below

*(1) KY Death Index:

Name: Ann S Brathcer

[Ann S Gonterman]

Death Date: 7 Dec 1876

Death Location: Hart

Residence Location: Hart

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: White

Birth Date:abt 1856

Birth Location: Hart

Father's Name: John K Gonterman

Mother's Name: Ann Gonterman

*(2) KY Death Records:

Name: John W Childress

Death Date:8 Aug 1876

Death Location: Hart

Residence Location: Hart

Age: 76

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: White

Birth Date: abt 1800

Father's Name:Phillip Childress

Mother's Name: Mary Childress

*(3) *Note by Garland Kenneth Childress:

Mary (Shay or Shea) Childress, the second wife of Elijah Childress, is buried about three-hundred yards

west of the Maple Cemetery, across the little valley & on a low ridge beside the old house where Thurman

Thompson lived until about sixty-one years ago. The grave when I last saw it about 10 years ago was within

a clump of small trees and marked with a field-stone. This information came to me through my mother,

Alice Jones, (1905- 1978). She as a child grew to adulthood on this little farm & had a vivid memory of Elijah

Childress when he lived & was present at his burial.

*(4) Note by Garland Kenneth Childress::

Bartholomew Hare is living in household of Mary ‘Polly’ & John W. Childress

Bartholomew Hare, the older brother of Mary, the second wife of John W. Childress, is buried to the foot

and to the left of the grave of John W. Childress and Mary. His grave once had a field-stone wall around it,

but is now marked with a plain field-stone. This grave was pointed out to my father and me by my grandfather

"Sim" Childress around 1944

*(5) Note by Garland Childress:

Martha Ann (Childress) West’s year of birth on her stone is wrong. It should be 1819, not 1820.

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