Submitted by Tony Belcher, Irvine, KY, Nov. 2006

Email: [email protected]

A.

There is a single tombstone located on a hillside at Meshack Creek, near Center Point,

Monroe County, KY. Going west from Burkesville on Hwy 90, go 6 miles.

Turn left on highway 100 and go 11 miles. Go past Hwy 212 (Center Point) on the left. The next road on the

right is Meshack Creek Road. Go less than one mile, take the left fork of the road.

Tombstone is about one mile on the right. Note: If you come from Tomkinsville, take Hwy

100 east to Meshack Creek, which is about 11 miles that way. The lone tombstone

contains the following information:

1. On the front: “JOHN BELCHER (1788-1869) AND PERMELIA BELCHER (1786-

1877).” The last line on the tombstone reads, “DAUGHTER MARY ELIZABETH

GRIDER.”

2. The back side of the tombstone says, “NAMES OF PEOPLE BURIED IN THIS

CEMETERY: BETSY ELIZABETH B. GRIDER AND BABY, MARGARET

ANDERSON BELCHER AND BABY, JOE WALDEN’S BABY BOY, MARY

AUTRY.”

B. A larger Belcher cemetery is located closer to Tompkinsville. Take Hwy 100 west from Tomkinsville about 1.5 miles. Turn right on Hwy 1366 (County House Road). Go 6 miles, pass Freetown/Emberton Road on the left. Cemetery is on the right just before Freetown Church of Christ. The cemetery contains over 60 grave sites, some of them with simple stone markers with no readable information. Following is some of the information from the tombstones.

1. Left side, first through third rows: Hazel and Irene Adams, Pearl G. Ford, Dorothy M.

Ford, Porter and Donie Fawbush, Winford Fawbush, Ester Fawbush, William and Sarah

Fawbush, Numerous Fawbush.

2. Left side, fourth row are two infant sons of A.P. and L.L. Belcher: Guy Belcher (1904)

and Infant Belcher (1900).

3. Left side, fifth row: Berton Belcher, April 2, 1878 to July 18, 1929; Henry F. Belcher,

May 1, 1844 to Sep. 6, 1919; Martha E. Belcher, wife of H.F. Belcher, Nov. 18, 1858 to

Mar. 18, 1910; Preston Belcher, April 14, 1819 (?) to Sep. 26, 1892; Margaret Belcher,

wife of Preston Belcher, Feb. 19, 1829 (?) to Mar. 28, 1908. (Note: Birth year for Preston

or Margaret might be incorrect. Compare census notes below.)

4. Left side, sixth row: Frances E. Belcher (wife), Aug. 20, 1858 to Oct. 19, 1891; John W. Belcher (husband), Sep. 10, 1848 to April 22, 1918; plus several unmarked stones.

5. Left side, seventh through tenth rows: Mary, wife of D. N. Richard, 1821-1907; Hettie P, daughter of N & M Richard, 1852-1875; Permelia E, daughter of N & M Richard, 1843-1866; plus several unmarked stones and a few stones with Riggs.

6. Right side, first row: Mancell Rex Belcher, Oct. 17, 1927 to Oct. 10, 1987, U.S. Army

Plaque; Raymond Belcher, Mar. 26, 1915 to Oct. 5, 1929 (son of Hulet and Belle); Hulet

Belcher, Jan. 1, 1880 to Dec. 2, 1955; Belle Belcher, Feb. 24, 1892 to April 6, 1970.

7. Right side, second row: Dewey Fultz (1904-1966); John S. Fultz (1851-1928);

Nelgena, wife of J. S. Fultz, (1859-1918); Hascal J. Fultz (1877-1915); Joe Cephus Fultz

(1896-1936); Charlie Bedford Fultz (1919-1937).

8. Right side, third row: Ray S. Belcher (husband), May 23, 1912 to May 25, 1998;

Stanford F. Belcher (wife), Mar. 26, 1924 to Dec. 25, 2003; there is also a plaque to “Ray

Smith Belcher, Cpl. U.S. Army, WW2, Purple Heart.” Nelson Belcher (husband), Mar. 28,1862 to April 5, 1928; Lou Belcher (wife), Sep. 24, 1889 to Aug. 20, 1966; Stanley W. Belcher (son of N & L Belcher), Oct. 26, 1916 to Feb. 22, 1921; Missouri A. Belcher, wife of M. N Belcher, Sep. 6, 1856 to Sep. 7, 1903; Hurchell J. Belcher, son of M. N. Belcher, June 9, 1894 to Oct. 27, 1918, also a plaque “Pvt. U. S. Army, WWI, 357th Inf, Died for His Country.”

C. Notes on Belcher families of Monroe County, KY.

1. John Belcher, born 1788 in VA, was possibly son of William, son of Isham Belcher.
2.  

2. Another son of Isham Belcher was George. Both George and John Belcher (uncle and

nephew) are found in the 1810 census of Floyd County, KY. In the 1820 census, George

is listed in Floyd, but John in Cumberland County. In the 1830 census, George is no longer listed, but John is listed in Monroe County. John is also found on the 1830 tax list ofMonroe County. Note Monroe was formed from Cumberland in 1820.

3. David Belcher is found in the 1830 census of Cumberland County. Zachariah Belshe of

Lincoln County had land transactions in Cumberland as early as 1809 and into the 1820’s.Peter and Robert Belshe are also mentioned in the 1820 land deals. Their lineage is unknown to this researcher.

The 1850 census of Monroe County lists families of John, Preston, and Hopkins Belcher.

i.                    John Belcher (62), Permelia (65),

Elizabeth (22), Cynthia (21), John (20), George (16).

ii. Preston Belcher (31), Amanda (21), Henry (5), Elizabeth (4), John (2).

iii. Hopkins Belcher (33), Harriett (26), Mary (6), John (3), Lucy (1).

5. Preston and Hopkins were probably sons of John and Permelia; all four were listed as

being born in Virginia, while all the other children were born in Kentucky. Note some of

these names and dates from the census records match those found in the cemetaries listed

above. It seems John and Permelia lived in the Meshack Creek area of Monroe County,

while Preston and Hopkins lived closer to Tompkinsville, near Emberton. Note John named one of his sons George. The researcher who submits this data descends from John's uncle, George, who settled in Floyd/Pike Counties, KY.