Person:Temperance Walker (1)

Wednesday, May 20, 1998, Record-Herald, Greensburg, KY

              HISTORY OF THE PERKINS CEMETERY
                   Submitted by Carolyn M. Scott

The Perkins Cemetery, located in Green County on Hwy 569 or Hudgins Hwy.,
approximately two miles from Bloyd’s Crossing, is one of the oldest
cemeteries that is still being used today.
   In trying to establish the date the cemetery may have been started, the
following information was obtained from the Green County Clerk’s Office.
There is a reservation for this graveyard in Deed Book 44 page 419 which
says: “This deed of conveyance made July 22, 1907 between Royal S. Perkins
and his wife Cynthia R. Perkins of Summersville, Green County, KY., parties
of the first part to Moses Akin, party of the second part; a tract of land
containing 134 acres. Parties of the first part conveys to party of the
second part a certain tract of land lying and being in Green County and
lying between the waters of the two Brush Creeks. The parties of the first
part RESERVES one acre at the Old Bloyd Graveyard for that purpose which the
party of the first part reserves the Northwest corner running from the head
of the old Bro J. Bloyd’s grave West, thence North and then East and then
South to the beginning for his own and his father and brother’s people and
there is also reserved a road from the Lee’s Ferry Road to the graveyard for
wagons and vehicles to pass in and out of said graveyard.
   In tracing the deeds of the landowners surrounding the cemetery all of them
mention the old Stephen Bloyd survey. I searched the records at the local
Courthouse and unfortunately was not able to find this survey.
   There are several unmarked field stones.  The earliest marked stone I find
of the Perkins family is James Perkins who died Dec. 19, 1861, and the
largest stone in the graveyard is W. F. Perkins and Eliza, his wife. W. F.
Perkins was a very prominent and wealthy citizen of the community.
   This cemetery is also known as the Bloyd Cemetery. The earliest marked stone
I could find was for Temperence Bloyd, wife of William who died Dec. 13,
1863.  There are several field stones in the row of the Bloyds that are  unmarked.
According to a book written on the Bloyd descendants, it states that William
Bloyd, a native of Scotland, came to America settling on the Eastern shore
of Maryland with his wife Barsheba moved from Maryland to the Carolinas and
finally to Green County, Kentucky, in the fall of 1805. William purchased
land on the waters of Brush Creek and they raised nine children. William
died in the spring of 1809 and his will was probated in April, 1809, in
Green County, Kentucky.  Nothing states where William Bloyd is buried but it
is possible his grave is one of the graves marked with a field stone.
   William and Barsheba Lord Bloyd’s oldest son was Stephen Bloyd who was
probably born about 1775 in Maryland. He married Nancy W. McCubbins in North
Carolina in 1805. Stephen died prior to Feb 17, 1848, and Nancy died in
1849. They were the parents of nine children:   John, William, Malethe,
Malinda, Mary Elizabeth, Leonra, Nancy, James Franklin and George.
According to family history, John, William, Malinda, James Franklin and
George are all buried in the Bloyd Cemetery.
   Whether or not the cemetery is the Bloyd or Perkins Cemetery, it is very
well kept.  Among the names you can find on the tombstones, besides the
Bloyds and Perkins are as follows:   Akin, Bale, Burrues, Cantrell, Close,
DeSpain, Dobston, Durrett, Elmore, Estes, Gardner, Graham, Jones, Larimore,
Lewis, Logan, Marcum, Milby, Morgan, McCubbins, Parker, Price, Rattliff,
Stearman, Scott, Thompson, Underwood and Warren.  Most of these families are
connected through blood or marriage and they came to Kentucky very early.
These people were the pioneers who struggled and endured the hardships to
settle Green County.  They were mostly very hard-working, religious people
who helped settle and establish the Brush Creek area.