The Walnut Grove Cemetery

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The Walnut Grove Cemetery is arguably the most important cemetery in the southern Skeggs Creek area. By my count, there are 332 graves in the cemetery; 67 of which have readable names on the stones. Of these 67, at least 13 belong to young children.

As one would expect many, perhaps most, of the individuals buried at Walnut Grove have ties to the Cromer and Renner families.

Like almost all of the other area cemeteries, Walnut Grove was neglected for a time.

Below is a diagram of the cemetery. It’s not exactly to scale and I’ll not promise it’s exactly right. There are many completely unmarked graves that are identifiable only as very slight depressions in the ground. Some are more obvious than others, so I may have missed a few or added a few where none should be. The area that’s the most suspect contains the dozen graves below #33.

The red numbers correspond with the list of persons buried following the diagram. A “U” denotes a completely unmarked grave; “FS” denotes a fieldstone with no intelligible writing on it. This list is slightly different from that in Rockcastle County Cemetery Book. There are three marked graves presented here that aren’t listed in the book; there are 10 hard-to-read markers listed that I simply couldn’t find.

The green-shaded area on the diagram represents the oldest section of the cemetery. The oldest dated stone, 1852, is #34; #36 has a date of 1867. Most of the graves in this area are oriented differently from the rest—they are rotated roughly 45 degrees counterclockwise. Some are oriented in roughly an east-west direction, this may or may not be intentional. The top thirds of the three rows immediately to the right of the green area look to be, generally, the next oldest.

Only two of the graves in the oldest section are marked. #34 is inscribed with “M A B” and a date of 1852.

The other marked grave, #36, is Sarah Doan, a child who was born and died in 1867. She was most likely the daughter of George W. Doan and Rachel Storm, #37. Numbers 38 and 39 are probably also children of George and Rachel; George is probably the fieldstone below #39.

1. Joseph William Cromer, 1875-1957
2. Valinchia C. (Pitman)Cromer, 1880-1948
3. S. D. Mink, 1900-1925
4. Joe W. Mink, 1921-1944
5. R. Hester Logsdon, 1897-1946
6. Jonas Pitman, 1841-1937
7. Rachel W. (McQueen) Pitman, 1841-1913
8. Martha E. Hammock, 1865-1928
9. Carie Cromer, 1904-1905
10. Myrtle Mink, 1929-1930
11. Ophia Hammock, 1903-1928
12. Maggie Kirby, 1879-1940
13. Winnie Kirby, 1907-1910
14. Barbara Ann (Renner) Kirby, 1852-1934
15. James William Kirby, 1854-1945
16. Carter Lee Doan, 1938-1940
17. Mahala N. (Doan) Cromer, 1876-1914
18. Herman Cromer, 1903-1907
19. Samantha J. (Renner) Cromer, 1846-1918
20. Jarvis Jackson Cromer, 1836-1901
21. Johnny B. Crowder, 1939-1941
22. Rosa Lee Crowder, 1908-1941
23. Benjamin Franklin Cromer, 1868-1950
24. Rebecca (French) Cromer, 1874-1918
25. Delia Cromer
26. Armilda J. (Doan) Cromer, 1858-1916
27. William Bramblet Cromer, 1862-1932
28. Nancy Mink, 1881 only date
29. A R D M H, 1880 only date
30. Lessie Jane Cromer, 1919-1921
31. Samie McClure, 1893-1917
32. Elizabeth Caroline (Cromer) McClure, 1870-1928
33. Green A. McClure, 1870-1933
34. M A B, 1852 only date
35. Calvin Cromer, 1924-1925

36. Sarah Doan, born and died 1867
37. Rachel (Storm) Doan, 1831-1903
38. Margaret C. Doan, 1871-1875
39. S[?] F or P [?] D, no dates
40. Steve W. Kirby, 1897-1925
41. Nathan Doan, 1879-1936
42. Sammy L. Doan, 1918-1919
43. Martha A. (Rowe) Kirby, 1873-1949
44. William M. Kirby, 1873-1972
45. Burgess L. Kirby, 1911-1972
46. Rosa Kirby, 1910-1990
47. John Jones, 1846-1895
48. Infant son of John Jones, 1873-1874
49. Charity Helen Renner, 1882-1900
50. Rebecca Jane Renner, 1877-1900
51. Mary Ann (Linville) Renner, 1844-1935
52. Elisha Renner, 1842-1925
53. Martha M. (Renner) Boone, 1866-1925
54. Louella Renner, 1875-1941
55. Henry Wilson Renner, 1880-1949
56. John Logan Renner, 1873-1954
57. Lucy Ann Renner, 1871-1958
58. Sarah Angeline Renner, 1887-1970
59. Sarah M. (Cromer) Doan, 1867-1963
60. Isaac W. Doan, 1864-1926
61. Hattie L. Swinney, 1886-1916
62. Johnnie B. Doan, born and died 1899
63. William French, 1879-1908
64. Mary J. French, 1879-1905
65. Andrew J. Doan, 1851-1925
66. Martha J. (Perciful) Doan, 1855-1916
67. Lula Doan Marlow, died 1920
68. Homer Doan, no dates
69. Miranda (McClure) Sowder, 1853-1931
70. Luley May Sams, 1894-1895

We also know the following people are buried at Walnut Grove, but either don’t have stones or were missed in the previous inventory:
1. Joseph M. Doan
2. Nathan Doan (has a stone but is not listed in the cemetery book)
3. Sammy L. Doan (has a stone but is not listed in the cemetery book)
4. Elizabeth Ann Renner Cromer
5. Myrtle Mink (has a stone but is not listed in the cemetery book)
6. Homer Doan (has a stone but is not listed in the cemetery book)
7. Jacob H. Renner, died 26 April 1921. The newspaper account of his funeral says he was "laid to rest in the family burying ground near the Walnut Grove Church." His father was William Smith Renner; grandfather was Jacob Renner Jr.

We can make some intelligent guesses about who else might be buried in those older unmarked graves by taking a look at which families lived nearby who have members buried in the cemetery, and using 1870 as the upper limit for the date of death.

While it has proven very difficult to determine exactly who owned the cemetery property in the 1850s and 1860s, we know that Joseph Cromer’s, Jacob Renner’s, and Holbert McClure Sr’s land met near the mouth of Long Branch in 1865. The mouth of Long Branch is about 700 feet from the cemetery. Several Renner, Cromer, Linville, Doan, and McClure families were nearby at various times before 1870, so I’ll concentrate on them, although it appears the nearby Whitaker-McClure Cemetery was the family cemetery for the bulk of Holbert McClure Sr’s family. Here’s the list, with the approximate death dates:

• Joseph Cromer, between 1864 and 1869
• Lucy Cromer, 1845 (daughter of Joseph and Mary Linville Cromer)
• Samuel Cromer, between 1850 and 1860 (son of Joseph and Mary Linville Cromer)
• Joseph Doan, between 1860 and 1870
• Malachi Jones, 1852*
• Pauline Jones, 1857*
• Solomon Jones, 1852*
• Unnamed Jones, 1852*
• William Linville, 1840
• Louisa Renner Linville, 1842
• Emily Linville McClure, between 1850 and 1852
• Ermina Jane Renner McClure, 1858
• Abigail Parsons Renner, between 1850 and 1860
• Henry Logan D. Renner, between 1864 and 1866
• Levi Renner, between 1850 and 1860 (son of Jacob and Abigail Parsons Renner)
• Sarah Renner, between 1854 and 1860 (daughter of Vincent and Charity Storm Renner)
• Unnamed Renner, 1858 (daughter of Vincent and Charity Storm Renner)
• Vincent Renner, 1858

*These four Jones children were of Malen Jones and Sarah Linville. Another son, John, who died in 1895, and one of his children are buried in the cemetery (#47 and #48).

That’s 19 people who we know died before 1870 and who lived in the general area of the cemetery at the time of their deaths. There are about 27 unknown burials in the older section of the cemetery.

I feel fairly certain that at least two of the older graves belong to Joseph Cromer and Vincent Renner.

It’s hard to say with any certainty at all who the first person buried here may have been, but I personally believe (no hard proof, just supposition) that the cemetery was started by the Cromer/Linville clan as a family cemetery. Both Joseph Cromer and his in-laws, William and Louisa Renner Linville, lived in Laurel County for a time in the late 1820s and early 1830s. They were back in Rockcastle by 1834. I think it’s likely that Joseph bought the land near or including the cemetery from Holbert McClure when they moved back and that the Linvilles lived on the property with him. In the 1840 census Joseph and Louisa are listed next door to each other in this general vicinity. In 1850 Joseph is almost certainly within shouting distance, at the very least, of the cemetery. From the census and tax list information, it appears William died in the spring of 1840. I think he is a likely candidate for the first burial in the cemetery, followed by Louisa a couple of years later and then by Joseph and Mary Linville Cromer’s young daughter Lucy in 1845.

Considering the familial connections and proximity of the Cromers, Linvilles, and Renners, it’s not hard to understand how it could became much more than a simple family burying ground.

There are many candidates for the remaining 239 unmarked graves. A large percentage of them probably descend in some way from the Jacob Renner Jr and Joseph Cromer families. There’s no reason to think Jacob himself isn’t buried there, too, along with his brother Adam and many other friends and relatives.