Meet the Kilgores - my neighbors 200 years ago

[fstopMike]

I went for a long run outside my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and took a little different route. I happened by a place I'd driven by many times. It was a little grove of woods and I saw a path leading into the grove. I looked up the path and saw a cemetery. Nikki Sue Nikon doesn't do running, so I had to come back another time to get some pictures. It is quite old and has become overgrown. There were some impressive headstones, some headstones that were obviously carved by the family, and some gravesites that were marked only by stones.



If you were to ask me where I live, I would have to say Bold Springs, GA, an unincorporated community in Walton County, GA. My run took me across Bold Springs road and onto Tanner's Bridge Road (where there's an old decayed bridge that goes across the Apalachee River), to the place where I spotted the cemetery. I googled John H Kilgore, Bold Springs, Ga and began to find out a lot about the Kilgore family. I also discovered the name of the cemetery was Kilgore Cemetery.

When I look at an old cemetery like this one, I'm impressed by how lucky we are to live in this day and age where life expectancy is up to the later 70's. At the turn of the century (1900) it was around 47. John Kilgore lived to be 49, WJ Kilgore lived to be 26. Here is the grave of one of John and Mary Kilgore's daughter. She lived to be 17 months old. Here's a picture of her gravestone. It's almost covered by a tree that has grown up in the cemetery.



On the other side of the tree is another daughter of John and Mary. She lived to be 6. I was getting kinda bummed out, thinking how did anybody ever have a chance to leave a mark, if they died so young? I kept researching and found out some more about the Kilgore family. William Kilgore married Mary Sorrels. William was Mary's second husband. She was previously married to James Austin. Mary and James had a child named Elizabeth. She married David Thompson. Remember this for later on. Just down Bold Springs Road from the cemetery is this church: Sorrells' Springs Primitive Baptist Church (Constituted 1838), which is where I'm sure John and Mary went to church.



I found out the Kilgore's owned a grist mill and sawmill located on the Apalachee River, not far from the cemetery. The Kilgore's owned the mill from 1833 until 1889. The Briscoe family owned the mill from 1924 until 1940. There was a covered bridge at the site. It was known as the Kilgore Mill Covered Bridge. It was destroyed by vandals on April 23, 1993. This was the third bridge at the site. It was built in 1874 and cost $250, which was what David Thompson, Mary Sorrels' son-in-law, who built the bridge, billed the Walton County Board of Commissioners. I tried to get to the site today, but I would have had to have gone around a gate, and I decided I might better do that on a day when I wasn't wearing a bright orange shirt. Camoflauge anyone? Here are some links regarding the bridge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cigar858/241056747/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cigar858/241056668/

http://wwwb.dot.ga.gov/specialsubjec...d/kgmarker.gif

http://wwwb.dot.ga.gov/specialsubjec...veyd/kgend.jpg

and a link to this set of pictures on my flicker site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3337924...7616567150088/

I hope you've enjoyed meeting my neighbors.

[Fred flyfisher]

Interesting photos and a great history lesson. It's always an interesting lesson finding out about ancestors and neighbor's ancestor. Thanks Mike.

[eugenem]

wow.thanks for the pics and the fascinating bit of local history.

[dakwegmo]

Hey we're practically neighbors, I live in Loganville. The location in my profile used to be "West of Between", but I didn't think many people would get the joke.

[Hayward Taylor]

Mike - what a find!!! .. very intriguing .. and thank you for doing the extensive research .. maybe it will stir up some interest and have this site cleaned up a little .. you have a special gift in explaining history .. that's very nice

[mechanic1300]

Thanks for the history lesson loved your photo set on flickr and the old bridge shots. Reminds me of the movie with Clint Eastwood. was it the bridges of Maddison county or something.

[fstopMike]

Originally Posted by Fred flyfisher

Interesting photos and a great history lesson. It's always an interesting lesson finding out about ancestors and neighbor's ancestor. Thanks Mike.

We made a short move out to an area that's more rural (but changing and developing) and it seems like we're breaking ground, but nothing could be further from the truth. There is so much history within just a few miles of my house. I could bore everybody with pictures of churches and graveyards from the early 1800's...and maybe I will!

Originally Posted by eugenem

wow.thanks for the pics and the fascinating bit of local history.

I found the connections between all these people to be quite interesting. The last gravestone in the cemetery was from the 1950's, but I found a connection right back to the Kilgore's

Originally Posted by dakwegmo

Hey we're practically neighbors, I live in Loganville. The location in my profile used to be "West of Between", but I didn't think many people would get the joke.

Howdy neighbor! You have to live near here to appreciate "West of Between". For the benefit of my DPS friends, Between got its name from a postmaster because it is halfway between Loganville and Monroe.

Originally Posted by Hayward Taylor

Mike - what a find!!! .. very intriguing .. and thank you for doing the extensive research .. maybe it will stir up some interest and have this site cleaned up a little .. you have a special gift in explaining history .. that's very nice

Thanks Hayward! It's interesting to find out that even though these people are gone and their resting place is in decay, they've left tracks from their voyage through life.

Originally Posted by mechanic1300

Thanks for the history lesson loved your photo set on flickr and the old bridge shots. Reminds me of the movie with Clint Eastwood. was it the bridges of Maddison county or something.

I'm glad I was able to find shots that someone took of the bridge. I wish it was still there today so I could see it and appreciate it.

[SusanH1970]

What a wonderful story and lesson in history...with amazing images to illustrate it! I just love old cemetaries, and you've got some really great shots here. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this with us!

[fstopMike]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

What a wonderful story and lesson in history...with amazing images to illustrate it! I just love old cemetaries, and you've got some really great shots here. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this with us!

Hi, Susan. Thanks for looking. Once I got going, it was hard to stop. Across a field from the grove, just on the other side of Bold Springs Road are two chimneys. I just wonder if that might have been the Kilgore's house and if they chose that spot so they could sit on the front porch and see the resting place of their loved ones.