The Pauper Cemetery

This Cemetery, called the Pauper Cemetery has burials going as far back as 1849 contains stone markers with records of 263 burials at least 60 of which were children. These records indicate that not only people from the Poor Farm were buried here but was the county burial site for unknown vagrants, murder victims, people killed in the nearby coal mine, abandoned and deceased children. “Colored” and Caucasian were buried side by side from the very beginning, death being the only criteria for a place. The custom of the time was for those not having a funeral were buried the same day which brought about the following justifications in the burial notes: “run over by train at Wasson,” “gun shot wound,” “unknown baby girl found in sewer,” “gunshot wound administered by chief of police,” “Shot by Charlie Birger at Ledford,” “Daddy,” “Lithuania-wife still in Europe,” “found dead in ditch,” “carnival worker,” “murdered,” “left leg of Charlie Yates-O’Gara #3 coal mine accident.”