Chapter 2
The Community
Chalybeate Community History-----Tour of Chalybeate Community by Dr. Ishmael Oakley-----
, Robert Henry Sigler's Additional Chalybeate Community Points of
Interest-----(Original
Text) Dr. Ishmael Oakley's Tour----- Cousin Todd Shelton's excellent description about his trip to
Chalybeate during the 2002 Sigler Family Reunion-----Before The Woodlot - This section contains
stories from people who saw the cemetery when it was being mowed and was a
grassy field of cemetery stones. Clinton Mulcahy and Nancy Morehead Fust
have contributed to this section so far. Hopefully there will be more
contributions.
Photo by John and Ada Sigler
Legend says that Deborah French opened Chalybeate Springs with a chopping axe
in the early 1800's. Before drilled wells, people hauled
its water for miles during draughts. There were so many Siglers in this area
that it became known locally as Siglerville. Source: Dr. Ishmael
Oakley, D.M.D. (Carrie, Elijah, Elizabeth, Amos, John, Jacob) (Carrie,
Elijah, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Margaret, Jacob)
The spring is located on the headwaters of the Caney Fork of Craborchard
Creek of the Tradewater River which flows into the Ohio River downstream from
the junction of the Ohio River and the Wabash River.
On December 2, 1830, Jacob Sigler purchased 200 acres of land on the Caney
Fork of the Tradewater for $535 from his sister, Hannah, and her husband, Philip
Holeman. (Union County, Kentucky, Book "D" Page 285).
A deed exists for the meeting house lot only. The cemetery
is a separate entity. The dimensions of the parcel of land on this deed
are approximate. They are stated in terms of "about" and
"more or less". The exact location of the boundaries of the
meeting house lot are currently unknown to me. I have been unable to
locate a 330 foot side for the cemetery or meeting house lot as stated in the deed. "Thence nearly east with said fence about 20 poles to another corner of said
plank fence in Jenkins' line." A pole is another name for a rod which
is 16.5 feet.
However, the current boundaries of the combination cemetery
and meeting house lot are enclosed by
a fence on three sides and the county public road right
of way on the fourth (north) side. The property is basically a rectangle
with its long axis almost exactly north northeast. The approximate lengths
of the sides are 251 feet (south), 445 feet (east), 475 feet (west) and 242 feet
(north). The north boundary deviates from the rectangular pattern because it
follows the route of the old public road.
The approximate area of the cemetery and meeting house lot should be somewhere around 2.64
acres. However, the cemetery and church property has not been surveyed by a
licensed surveyor and this description is not intended for legal purposes.
This survey was done by an Eagle Scout with a compass, a 300 foot tape measure
and a 100 foot tape measure. The date of the survey was December 15, 2001.
The cemetery is on the southern two-thirds of the property. The county
maintains an access road to the northeast corner of the property.
Indications are that one group of the Chalybeate Springs Methodist Community was a group
of people whose views were opposite from those around them. My
analysis is that that
part of the community supported the Republican Party and the North during the Civil War and
was a part of the Methodist Church group that remained after the Methodist
Episcopal Church - South split away from the original Methodist Episcopal Church
over the question of slavery during the early 1840's. Kentucky west of the Green River predominately supported the
Democratic Party and the South during the Civil War. After the war, the
returning soldiers of the Confederacy were the heroes in the region and that
part of the Chalybeate Community did not stand a chance of continuing or
prospering.
It is becoming more and more evident from my research that another part of
the community may have been General Baptist and may have supported the South
during the Civil War. If this was the case then this community may have
been split during the Civil War. While I was growing up my father used to
tell me a story that his father had told him about the Civil War. It seems
that a man had two sons. One went off to fight for the North and the other
one went off to fight for the South. One day one of the sons came home on
furlough. The father and son were sitting on the front porch and in the
distance the father saw the other son coming down the road. The father
told the first son to leave the house through the back door and leave in the
other direction in order to keep the two sons from killing each other at
home. I had always thought this to be a general story about the Civil War
but it may have actually happened in or around Chalybeate.
After the
Civil War, the children went other places to raise their families. A
generation or so later, no one was left to take care of the church or the
cemetery. Sometime during the first part of the 1900's regular services
ceased to be held. The Chalybeate Church meeting house lot and building was then used as a
community worship center and was open to all denominations. One of
the ministers who used the building during the 1930's was the Pentecostal
minister Forrest Watson. Hulda (Gibson) Hill was the last known person to collect
money for use in the maintenance of the church and the cemetery. For the
most part, the meeting house was neglected and by the early 1950's the building had deteriorated
and was no longer usable. The remains of the building were removed from
the property during the early 1950's by a person that I interviewed on June 18,
2002. My source stated that the building was empty when he removed the
remains of the building from the property. The church records were
supposed to have been stored in the pulpit of the church. It is unknown
where they exist today. The only records that remain may be the ones in the family bibles
which may have survived with the descendents of the community.
Chalybeate Community Tour
And Additional Points of Interest
The Chalybeate Community was a community with people, stores,
and schools. Read the passages below and meet some of the people.
The tour material is taken from a letter
to my father, Robert Henry Sigler, from Dr. Ishmael Oakley in 1976.
Present tense references refer to the year 1976. I have modified Dr.
Ishmael Oakley's words for clarity and have added current day references.
Following Dr. Ishmael Oakley's tour is a list of points of interest in the
Chalybete Community which my father, Robert Henry Sigler, plotted on a map which
I inherited.
Drive along the black top road (Take Kentucky Route 56 to
Kentucky Route 983) that leads from
Boxville to Dixon and goes by the road (Chalybeate Cemetery Road) that goes off to Chalybeate
church.
Start at the intersection of the road that goes to Chalybeate
Cemetery and Kentucky Route 983.
Continue on towards Dixon a short
distance and on the left is a white house with a road going straight. The
blacktop road bears to the right and in the angle of those two roads is where Sigler
school stood.
Continue on toward Dixon. The very next house on the right, still on
the blacktop (Kentucky Route 983), has J. B. Leslie on the mail box or it did the
last time that Dr. Ishmael Oakley was there. It is also known as the Will Nelson place.
This is where David Sigler lived and ran a store. (Phillip Sigler lived a few
hundred feet on down the road on the left. RHS Map) There were so many Siglers in
this area that it was called Sigler Town.
Return to the black top (Kentucky 983) and take the dirt road
(Chalybeate Cemetery Road) to
Chalybeate cemetery. That is the old Morganfield-Dixon road. On the right
the land
was owned by Jesse Sigler and on the left was part of the holdings of Jacob Sigler
that the was sold to Samuel V. Jenkins.
Return to the blacktop road (Kentucky 983) and turn left
toward Boxville. Go to where the road makes a sharp turn to the left and another road
goes straight ahead. Helborn Tapp lives there now. This is where Jesse Sigler
lived.
Continue towards Boxville. The next white house on left is where
Mrs. Jenkins lives now. That was where Jim Allen Sigler lived. He was a son of Francis Jett
(Squire) Sigler. Just west of that house down in a small valley by a spring is
where Francis J. Sigler lived. Up on the ridge from there is where Jacob
Sigler lived. This is still in a westerly direction. There used to be a
road that ran from the present day blacktop by Francis Jett Sigler and then by Jacob
Sigler on down
to the Old Morganfield - Dixon road. Dr. Ishmael Oakley's mother owned the
area where Jacob Sigler had lived and she also owned what was the part of the
land owned by three children of Francis Jett Sigler. Her
house was on the old Morganfield - Dixon road. John Pell Sigler, a son of
Francis Jett Sigler, dug the well there and Dr. Ishmael
Oakley's mother sold that land to
Mrs. Jenkins.
Continue on the blacktop road (Kentucky 983) toward Boxville from Mrs.
Jenkins. The next house on the left is where Drew Whitledge lives.
Up on the
ridge from this house in a big log house is where Jesse McClendon and his wife
Malinda Sigler lived. She was the only daughter of Jacob Sigler. In fact, the
Whitledges heired that property and it is still in possession of the family.
Go on around this black top road (Kentucky Route 983). When you get to where the road divides,
instead of going toward Boxville, go to Walnut Grove Church. (turn
left on Young
Road/ Springer Hill Road to Kentucky Route 857/Persimmon Ridge - Shelton Road
and turn left)
When you get
to Walnut Grove Church, start down a gravel road (Walnut Grove Church Road). That was the old
Madisonville - Morganfield road before there was a Webster County or a
Dixon. It is also the old Morganfield - Dixon road after there was a
Dixon. The only house that remains on the left will be as far as you can drive.
If you were to continue down this old road there would be a small hill and then a
larger hill at the bottom of that hill. Up on the smaller hill to your left would
be where Dr. Ishmael Oakley was raised and shortly after you crossed the creek you would see the
remains of an old road. That is also the road that ran straight up that creek to
where Jacob Sigler lived which is up on a small ridge in what is now a locust
thicket.
Continue down this old roadway and you will come to where
another creek empties into the main creek.
Continue on and cross the creek again. This
time the bed will be solid rock. Then, in a very short distance, you will find
another creek that empties into the main creek. That is the Union-Webster
County line.
On the right will be a big Hickory tree and you will be able to see where the
old Madisonville Road took off straight up the hill with the creek coming down and
the road going up. That was the end of Dr. Ishmael Oakley's mother's property.
The Madisonville -
Morganfield road came out at what was referred to as Polly store, but on old maps
it was called Shelton (located at an intersection of Kentucky Route 857 and a
road which connects with Kentucky Route 983).
From the county line where the hickory is located, the Morganfield
- Dixon
road continued around the hill and you can see the remains of road after you get
around the hill. It continued up by Chalybeate Springs and up to Chalybeate
Church where you were before. The distance from Walnut Grove to Chalybeate
is probably less than 2 miles by this route. The Siglers gave and built that
section of the Morganfield - Dixon Road as well as the ground for Chalybeate
Church. When Dr. Ishmael Oakley was a small boy that was still the main road from Morganfield
to Dixon but they deserted it for the other two roads could be taken from
Morganfield to Dixon. Dr. Ishmael Oakley could remember chain gangs working on that road
and beating up rock to repair that road.
Dr. Ishmael Oakley did not believe in bragging but felt that he
knew
more about that little section than anyone alive and was probably the only one that
knew where some of the old roads were located.
A map left to me by my father, Robert Henry Sigler, has the
following Chalybeate Community points of interest plotted on it. The
numbers after the names are minutes and seconds of latitude and longitude.
All degrees of latitude are 37 North and all degrees of longitude are 87
West. The best hard copy map to use is the USGS Bordley, Kentucky, 7.5
minute quadrangle. The best online map to use is http://www.topozone.com
Select Name - Shelton and State - KY.
Shelton should be the only choice that appears in the selection window.
Select the 1:25,000 option at the top of the map
window. Select the D/M/S coordinates option under
the map window. As you move your cursor over the map window the latitude
and longitude of the cursor will appear at the bottom of your screen after the
words "cursor is".
1)
Phillip Sigler 34' 37" 46' 55", 2) David
Sigler 34' 41" 46' 58", 3) Sigler School 34'
48" 46' 52", 4) Jacob
Sigler's Farm 34' 57" 47' 19", 5) Chalybeate Church and
Cemetery 35' 00" 47' 30", 6) Chalybeate
Springs 35' 02" 47' 46", 7) Jesse Sigler 35'
28" 47' 12", 8) Jim Allen Sigler 35' 29"
47' 31", 9) Francis Jett Sigler 35' 27" 47'
42", 10) Jacob Sigler's Home 35' 24" 47' 50', 11) John Pell
Sigler 35' 19" 48' 06", 12)
John Lynn 35' 11" 48' 28", 13) Elison Shelton
35' 22" 48' 19", 14) Malinda Sigler McClendon 35'
38",
15) Robert Hearin 36' 07" 47' 39", 16) Persimonville - an old village long
ago 35' 47" 49' 19", 17)
1st Oak Grove School 35' 34" 50' 13", 18) 2nd Oak Grove
School 35' 39" 49' 16", 19) Goben School 34'
39" 48' 46", 20) Oldest Elijah Shelton 34'
42" 47' 57", 21) A. M. Shelton - Bowels Hill 34'
29" 48' 27", 22) Ben Shelton 34' 09" 47'
54", 23) Polly School 34' 08" 47' 44", 24) Elijah
Shelton 34' 18" 47' 15", 25) J. P. (Pink) Griggs - A. S.
Griggs 33' 23" 48' 20", 26) Billy Hall 34'
05" 47' 20", 27) John Lynn 36' 32" 47'
46", 28) Marc Lynn36' 21" 47' 47", 29) Snow Hill
School 33' 15" 47' 55", 30) Old-Old Cemetery, 31) Boxville (extinct)
37' 41" 49' 40"
Chalybeate Community Tour
Correspondence from Dr. Ishmael D Oakley to
Robert Henry Sigler
This is an exact copy of a portion of a letter to my father,
Robert Henry Sigler, from Dr. Ishmalel Oakley, a dentist at Western State
Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The letter has the date 9 June
1976. Dr. Oakley was born in 1918 and died in 1989. He was
fifty-eight years old when he wrote this letter.
If you were driving along a black top road that leads from
Boxville to Dixon that goes by the road that goes off to Chalybeate church,
start at the road that goes to Chalybeate continue on towards Dixon a short
distance and on the left is a white house with a road going straight and the
blacktop bears to the right in the angle of those two roads is where Sigler
school stood continue on toward Dixon the very next house on the right still on
blacktop, the house on the right has J B Leslie on the mail box or it did the
last time I was there also known as the Will Nelson place if you have to ask
this is where David Sigler lived and ran a store, there were so many Siglers in
this area it was called Sigler Town.
Come back and take off the black top taking the dirt road to
Chalybeate cemetey you are on the old Morganfield-Dixon road on the right land
was owned by Jesse Sigler and on the left part of the holdings of Jacob Sigler
that the sold to Samuel V Jenkins. Go back to the Black top turn left
toward Boxville go to where road makes a sharp turn to the left and another road
goes straight ahead (Helborn Tapp lives there now) this is where Jesse Sigler
lived, continue toward Boxville next white house on left (Mrs Jenkins lives
there now) was where Jim Allen Sigler lived he was a son of Francis J (Jet) or
Squire) Sigler, just west of that house down in a small valley by a spring is
where Francis J. Sigler lived and up on the ridge from that is where Jacob
Sigler lived this is still in a westerly direction. There used to be a
road that run from present day black top by Francis J and then by Jacob on down
to the Old Morganfield Dixon road. My mother owned the part where Jacob
lived and she owned what was the part of three children of Francis J and our
house set on the old Morganfield Dixon road and John Pell Sigler a son of
Francis J dug the well there and not long ago my mother sold this land to
Mrs Jenkins. Continue on the black top road toward Boxville from Mrs
Jenkins and the next house on the left is where Drew Whitledge lives up on the
ridge from this house in a big log house is where Jesse McClendon and his wife
Malinda Sigler lived she was the only daughter of Jacob Sigler, in fact the
Whitledges heired that property and is still in possesion of the family.
Go on around this black top road but when you get to where the road divides
instead of going toward Boxville go to Walnut grove church. When you get
to Walnut grove church start down a gravel road you are now on the old
Madisonville - Morganfield road before there was a Webster county or a
Dixon, you are also on the old Morganfield Dixon road after there was a Dixon,
the only house that remains on the left will be as far as you can drive.
If you were to continue down this old road there would be a small hill then a
larger hill at the bottom of this hill up on the smaller hill to your left would
be where I was raised and shortly after you crossed the creek you would see the
remains of an old road this is also the road that ran straight up that creek to
where Jacob Sigler lived up on a small ridge in what is now a locust
thicket. Continue down this old road way and you will come to where
another creek empties into main creek continue on and cross the creek again this
time the bed will be solid rock then in a very short distance you will find
another creek empties into the Main creek, this is the Union-Webster county line
on the right will be a big Hickory tree and you will be able to see where the
old Madisonville, Road took off straight up the hill the creek coming down and
the road going up was the end of my mothers property. The Madisonville -
Morganfield road came out at what we refered to as Polly store but on old maps
it was called (Shelton)
From the county line where the hickory is the Morganfield Dixon
road continued around the hill and you can see the remains of road after you get
around the hill it continued up by Chalybeate springs and up to Chalybeate
church where you were before. The distance from Walnut grove to Chalybeate
probably less than 2 miles by this route, the Siglers gave and built that
section of the Morganfield and Dixon road as well as the ground for Chalybeate
church and when I was a small boy that was still the main road from Morganfield
to Dixon but they deserted it for the other two roads you could take from
Morganfield to Dixon. I can remember chain gangs working on that road
beating up rock to repair that road. I believe not bragging that I know
more about that little section than any one alive and probably the only one that
knows where some of the old roads were.
Observations of Todd Shelton During a Visit in
2002
The following are excerpts from Cousin Todd Shelton's email to
me about his trip to Chalybeate during the 2002 Sigler Family Reunion.
20 June:
Utilizing the Mappopolis program loaded with the appropriate county map on my
PDA, and excellent directions and descriptions from Cousin Willie Joe Sigler, I
was able to successfully navigate to the cemetery on my first attempt. Lesson
learned form part one of the tour; do your homework before you go.
First impression of the cemetery: "spooky". Most of the cemetery is
covered by the dense foliage of trees, so very little sunlight gets through.
Also most of the visible headstones are from around the mid to late 1800's and
the vines and weeds currently run rampant. This combination equated to
"spooky".
It is unfortunate that this cemetery is in this shape, but it is also
understandable due to it's location and accessibility. Fortunately there are
efforts underway to rectify this situation.
I wandered around the cemetery for a little while. It was interesting to see
so many familiar names from my research. I also briefly met the owner of the
property (adjacent to the cemetery - WJS), McGuiness Adair.
From there I went on a tour of the Chalybeate community. The tour was
originally written by Dr. Ishmael Oakley (3rd cousin 2 times removed, also a
descendent of Elijah Franklin Shelton) and updated and provided by Willie Joe
Sigler (6th cousin once removed). This tour circled around the cemetery and
pointed out where many of the old family members lived and other points of
interest. My highlight was finding the Shelton area, which was surrounded by
land that once belonged to Elijah Franklin Shelton (4th Great Grandfather).
But daylight was running out, so it was time to roll on to Henderson. I did
not want to get caught in the middle of nowhere, no idea where I was, and on
unfamiliar dark roads.
21 June:
After a quick lunch, back out to Chalybeate to continue the tour.
Unfortunately, by the time I got out there, it was very hot and miserable. So I
looked around in the cemetery for awhile, reading headstones and talking to the
ticks and the snake that were keeping me company.
Eventually I located where Jesse Sigler was buried. (Jesse is important
because he was the recipient of the letters from Thomas Jefferson Shelton Jr.
and led me to this area).
Shortly thereafter I also found Francis Jett Sigler's headstone. Francis
married Lucy Shelton, aunt of Thomas and daughter of Elijah Franklin, is
important because after Thomas' father and grandfather died in 1866, Francis was
appointed Thomas' guardian, and this also allowed for the short lived marriage
of Thomas to Elizabeth Ellen Melton.
Next we (that would be me and the few bugs that decided to come along for the
ride) headed to the now extinct Boxville, a few miles down the road. Back down
to Shelton to say hi to the dogs, walked down a few dirt and gravel roads and
possibly peaked the curiosity of every local person in the area. That was enough
for the day.
22June:
How do you describe a family reunion where you only know one person there,
and you only know them through correspondence? Fun and interesting would be the
answer.
I finally met Cousin Willie Joe Sigler. Willie Joe maintains a wonderful and
informative site on the Sigler history, and has tons of information on the
Chalybeate area.
Then there was John and Ada Sigler of Evansville Indiana. John is a
descendant of Jesse Sigler. John received copies of the letters T.J. Shelton Jr.
wrote to Jesse, and I explained the history of the letters and how Jesse had
used them to help Elizabeth Ellen Melton Shelton get a divorce from T.J. Jr. I
repeatedly told the story of T.J. Jr and the story of his descendents and how we
arrived in Florida and met the descendents of Homer B. Jones who also lived in
the area for awhile.
We also discussed "The Shelton Gang" of southern Illinois. Cousin
Carl Shelton (3rd cousin 4 times removed) instigated the first civil aerial
bombing in U.S. history and the first road duel utilizing armored vehicles (you
got to love that Shelton innovation).
After the reunion, another trip out to Chalybeate Cemetery with some other
cousins. The weather wasn't to bad this time, so I rambled around and attempted
to get deeper into what once was Elijah's land near Chalybeate. Not being
equipped with the proper geological maps and a GPS unit, I was able to get
close, but was not able to find anything I could say with any certainty.
Before The Woodlot
This section contains stories from people who remember
Chalybeate before the cemetery became a woodlot. The contributors are
being given credit for their contributions and their stories are being used with
permission.
Clinton Mulcahy's Memories
You have my permission to use my information in any matter
for our relatives to have free access to their ancestry. This has been a
revealing experience for me. I hope others may enjoy it as much. I don't know
how well you know the area although I will try to explain to the best of my
ability.
The last time I remember going to Chalybeate Cemetery with
my dad must have been 65 or 70 years ago. I was a small child the church was
standing but dad said the Holy Rollers were the only ones using it ??? We
walked across the field which was a road then. Grandpa Mulcahy's farm wasn't
too far from there. We went by the spring and cleaned the leaves out and
got a drink. That is about all I remember. I am sure he told me a whole lot but I
was too young to remember or care.
At Walnut Church the road use to "T".
If you went
straight it went to Chalybeate. That road has been closed. Union County kept it
up to the county line and from there on it has grown over.
Follow the road around to the right and down the road on the right is an old
style house in good repair. On down-up? the road there was an old school house.
Across the road was grandpa's farm. I believe the road tees in that area and
straight ahead goes to Bordley.
The other road is Airline which turns right. In this general area was a road that
turned left and went to the cemetery. That is the road we walked down to get
there.
I was told by the man living in the house mentioned above that they had bought
all the land on that side of the road and they got permission to close the road.
Anyway we came up from the back of the cemetery. The spring wasn't too far from
there, down under a hill.
I am sorry I can't remember more but it took 2 years and Mamie Tate for me to find the
cemetery. All the ways in that I knew had been closed.
There are some more churches around the hills in that area.
I don't know what they were. I saw two or three when I was on my wild
goose chase looking for Chalybeate.
By the way, the people in the well kept house are relatives.
They knew dad. They
are relatives I believe on Mothers side of the family. Kelleys???
If there is any way I can help let me know. I try to go back every year. I am
going to send you another picture. You may have seen the stone I laid it out next
to G.W.'s. I think it may be Alvins or Calvins mentioned in your list.
Well that is enough guessing and remembering. Hope You had a nice Christmas.
Cuz Clint
Nancy Morehead Fust's
Memories
Willie, you asked for stories about visiting Chalybeate
cemetery in the past. I have nothing really noteworthy to add but I do
recall my parents taking me there as a child about 65 years ago. (note:
current year is 2003)
I remember seeing a small white wooden church and I'm quite certain it was
Methodist. I was under the impression that it had an active congregation at that
time.
The grounds were well taken care of and we walked among the
grave sites where my Dad, Tom Morehead, pointed out where some relatives were
interred.
If you think it worthy you may add my comments to your study.
Cousin Nancy Morehead Fust
My comments in your website are O.K. I do wish I could
recall more about that day I was at the cemetery but a 10 year old doesn't
look beyond what one can see or hear by parents at that age. I have to add that
I'm glad that I had the experience of visiting the area since it did leave me
with a sense that I had a family background.
Cousin Nancy
