McKay - Stites Cemetery Smyrna Township, Section 3, T4N, R9E History by Robert W. Scott, August 2001. Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church. (Lancaster Twp.) The will of Ross Sharp, written May 1, 1840, mentions the congregation of new Lower Big Creek (Secession Church.) The church changed its name to Mt. Pleasant, according to the deed in which John P. and Rachel Brown deeded one acre to the trustees on 28 June 1841. (Book T p. 38). The deed says the sale was made for the erection of the meeting house. The trustees were Samuel Thompson, William D. Kinnear, James Frances, James Cochran, John McKay, and Angus McKay. It is possible the McKay-Sites Cemetery in Smyrna Township was associated with this church. William D. Kinnear, 1817-1893, is buried here, as are members of John and Angus, and members of the Thompson and Frances families are buried in the cemetery. Sharp is buried here, along with his wife Margie, and their son William chose Angus McKay as his guardian, so the link appears convincing. Also buried here is Maggie Scott, 1871-1898, wife of the Rev. M.R. Scott. Photos and Partial Survey by Ruth Hoggatt, July 2001. Located on land owned by LMS Contracting. Take Hwy 7 north of Madison. Turn west on to 500N (first road past the Wirt Baptist Church). Continue on 500N for 3.2 miles. Cemetery is on the south side of the road, behind the buildings. Stop by the office before going to the cemetery. I started a resurvey of this cemetery on July 28th, 2001 and got rained out. Will try to finish it as soon as possible. The D.A.R. surveyed this cemetery in 1941. I compared their list against the tombstones. Bold print indicates stones not yet found by me. For single stones, I have used [ss]. Burton, Milford, 25 Apr 1883 - 03 Aug 1900 Burton, W.Y., Co. A. 32d Ind. Inf. [Wm Burton is listed in A. S. Chapman's 1908 Transcription of Jefferson County Soldiers under Co. A., 82nd Ind. Vols. Michael Peake also reports that there are no Burtons listed in the Indiana Adjutant Generals Report for the 32nd Ind. Inf. The D.A.R. has probably misread the stone inscription. See Michael Peake's web site on the 32nd Vol. Inf.] Corya, Eva, d/o J.S. & Harriet E., 1881 - 1905 Corya, Harriet E., 29 May 1846 - 25 Apr 1896 [Birth date may be 23rd] Culbertson, Charles McClay, 19 Oct 1787 - 20 Apr 1848, age 60y 6m 1d Culbertson, Elizabeth McKemmy, consort of Charles McClay Culbertson, 15 Aug 1782 - 04 Dec 1823, age 41 yrs 3 mo 19 days [Culbertson stones in the foreground.] Fewell, John H., 1830 - 1903 Fewell, Frances, w/o J.H., 23 Jul 1832 - 02 Mar 1894 Fisher, Eliza J., d. 16 Nov 1882, age 65y 7m? 9d [DAR gave death year as 1832] Fisher, Charley G., s/o J.H. & R.L., d. 13 Apr 1882, aged 5 days Ford, Edward, b. 1864 - 1942 [ss - Mary E.] Ford, Mary E., his wife, 1861 - 1919 [ss - Edward] Ford, Jacob, 11 May 1830 - 25 Nov 1906 Ford, Mary A., w/o Jacob, 01 Feb 1841 - 26 May 1894 Ford, Mary, dau Jacob, d. 24 Dec 1888, age 22 yrs Ford, Eva, d/o Jacob & Mary A., d. 24 Dec 1888?, 22y 2m 12d Ford, Zelma M., 1903 - 19__ Ford, R. Alma, 1898 - 1937 Ford, Bertha M., 28 May 1895 - 20 Aug 1895 [ss - John E.] Ford, John E., 18 Feb 1901 - 01 Feb 1902 [ss - Bertha M.] [Near the Ford stones, is a marker with only the name "Mary" visible. The rest is below ground level.] Francis, Margaret, 25 Sep 1792 - 22 Dec 1888 [Death date may be 1856. Per DAR 1888. There is a stone nearby which is difficult to read. Unable to read name, d. 17 Sep 1853] Goodnow, Samuel, 20 Mar 1799 - 16 Sep 1848 Hudson, J.F., Co. D. 13th Ind. Inf., 1 Nov 1841 - 23 Jul 1862 Kinnear, William D., 22 Aug 1817 - 15 Aug 1893 Kinnear, Barbara, w/o Wm. D., d. 19 Aug 1872, in her 54th yr Kinnear, Charles M., 29 Sep 1851 - 01 Aug 1916 Kinnear, Sarah O., 18 Oct 1849 - 18 Jan 1921 McKay: large stone with "McKay"; small stone with names: Mary McKay, James McKay, Alex McKay, Margaret McKay, Samuel McKay & Janet McKay [Image]. There are 3 stones with only the name McKay around a larger McKay family stone. No given names inscribed on the family stone or the smaller stones. Thomas Hall McKay's is the white stone.] McKay stone George McKay, died May 1835 Elizabeth, his wife, d. May 1849 Barbara, their daughter, Apr 1833 - 1855 John F. McKay, 1831 - 1910 Other side: "In Memory of Angus McKay" McKay, George, 01 Dec 1806 - 05 May 1843 [ss - George W.] [DOB may be 1808] McKay, George W., s/o G. & M., 10 Dec 1842 - 04 Dec 1843 [ss - George McKay] McKay, Thomas Hall, s/o George & Mary, 05 Nov 1838 - 25 Apr 1850 McKay, Thomas, native of Scotland, 1750 - 1835 [Stone broke into several pieces. DAR lists him as a Rev. Soldier] McKay, Alex, native of Scotland, 02 Feb 1752 - 31 Aug 1819 (Rev. Soldier) McKay, Barbara, native of Scotland, 1760 - 28 Dec 1831 McKay, William, 22 Mar 1835 - 17 Sep 1858 McKay, Mary, 01 Mar 1795 - 12 Apr 1854, age 59 yrs McKay, Janet, 05 Jul 1781 - 20 Jun 1849 Miles, Merritt, "Our Darling" 1903 - 1904 Mulligan, William S., "Husband" 1854 - 1947 Mulligan, America E., 1859 - 1939 Padgett, John Edward, d. 29 Sep 1920, age 3 yrs Rector, Samuel, 1852 - 1899 Rector, Nancy, 1836 - 1906 Rector, Nathaniel, 1803 - 1882 [ss - Agness] Rector, Agness, 1804 - 1857 [ss - Nathaniel] Scott, Maggie F., w/o Rev. M.R., 24 Feb 1871 - 10 Jan 1898 [ss - Infant] Scott, Infant Child of M.R. & M.F. [ss - Maggie F.] Sharpe, Margery M., consort of Ross, d. 26 Apr 1837, age 37 yrs Sharpe, Ross, d. 16 Jun 1840, age 58 yrs Sharpe, Barbara M., d. 09 Aug 1826, age 1 yr 4 mo 4 days Sharpe, Alexander, d. 19 Sep 1841, age 13 yrs Stites, Jonathan, 18 Nov 1774 - 26 Feb 1855 [Elizabeth's stone is on the right side] Stites, Elizabeth, w/o Jonathan, 25 Aug 1777 - 19 May 1864 Stites, Jonathan, 19 Dec 1808 - 16 Mar 1890 Stites, Mary, w/o Jonathan, Sr., 20 Sep 1811 - 22 Nov 1885 Stites, Samuel H., 30 Aug 1810 - 02 Sep 1869 Stites, Sarah A., w/o Samuel, 27 Sep 1810 - 18 Oct 1875 [First name is broke off.] Stites, Melisa J., d/o S. & Sarah A., 24 Dec 1852 - 01 May 1876 [Stone is broke off after mother's name. Another part of a stone found which is prob. the other part of Melisa's stone is difficult to read: 24 Dec 1853 - 01 Nov 1876] Stites, Angeline, d/o S.H. & S.A., d. 05 Apr 1871, age 22 yrs Stites, Sophronia, d/o same 19 Jan 1847 - 30 Sep 1869 Stites, Nancy E., d/o S.H. & S.A., 10 Jul 1835 - 22 Feb 1868 Stites, Jonathan N., 08 Jul 1857 - 19 Sep 1869 [ss - John T.] Stites, John T., 08 Jul 1857 - 20 Sep 1869, Children of S.H. & S.A. Stites [ss - Jonathan N.] Stites, Eliza E., d/o S.H. & S.A., d. 05 Jan 1852, age 15y 4m Thompson, Maggie E., no dates Thompson, Jane, w/o George, d. 03 Nov 1872, age 90 yrs 4 mo 27 days Thompson, George S., 27 Dec 1787 - 30 Apr 1856, age 68 yrs 4 mo 3 days Thompson, Margaret Jane, d/o John M. & Jane M., 04 Feb 1848 - 19 Oct 1855, aged 7y 8m 15d [Stone broke in two. "19 Oct" per DAR.] Thompson, William A., s/o A.M. & Harriet R., d. 04 May 1855, age 5 mo 18 days [Will recheck stone. I read stone as d/o A.M. & Harper. DAR's makes more sense.] Thompson, Samuel A., 25 Nov 1861 - 29 Nov 1867 Thompson, Martha E., 11 May 1857 - 04 Jan 1861 [Illegible stone near McKay & Thompson stones. Died Aug 30, 18_8? Stone is blackened and rough.] Victor, Mattie, w/o Wm., Jun 1852 - 23 Jun 1904 Remarks: Their are several footstones and markers which have been gathered and placed all together in areas around the cemetery. A fence surrounds the cemetery now to protect the stones from further damage. Some footstones have no inscriptions, a few have "Father," some I could not read initials. Some of the others are: G.W.M., A.M.K, A.R., W.E.M/or W__?, B.M., T.McK., Son. DAR Note: Copied from 1850 Census at Indpls: Janet McKay, died June 1849, age 65 yrs, married, born North Carolina Partial survey by Ruth Hoggatt, July 2001. History by Robert W. Scott, August 2001. Jefferson County Cemetery List Jefferson County INGenWeb. Copyright 1996 - 2001. All Rights Reserved. Web site by Ruth A. Hoggatt.