Compiled by Teresa
Martin Klaiber 2023
Klaiber
Cemetery and the family often have given to those in need. Unlike “for profit” cemeteries that require a
huge amount per lot, the cemetery only asks for a donation or donations to help
with care. We are aware that when mourning it is difficult to come up with even a
donation at times. Thus Klaiber Cemetery
long ago stepped over the line of family to probably non-profit community in
the technical sense. Everyone is
connected by some relationship. (That said if you have a loved one in the
cemetery it is very expensive to maintain the grounds, fence and road to the
cemetery – donations are always welcome!)
Frederick
Harrison Durham, known by his friends as simply Fred, did not live in Boyd
County. But his daughter Pauline Eugenia
and husband Emmett Rufus Hatfield lived on this road and were
friends with everyone. When the need arose Klaiber Cemetery was there to help
lay Fred to rest.
Fred
H. Durham was born 7 June 1891 in Newcomb, Campbell County, Tennessee. Newcomb is in the Cumberland Mountains, just
a little southwest of Jellico and the Kentucky southern border. By the time Fred was eight his parents,
Thomas and Celista Lawson Durham had moved across the border to Rockcastle
County, Kentucky.
It
appears that the moment Fred H. Durham turned 18 he joined the 17th
Infantry out of Campbell County, Tennessee[i]
and served until 1911. Coming back to
Campbell County, he married Sarah Cordelia Taylor 27 April 1912, at the
courthouse. Sarah was the daughter of
Fernando and Nancy Barnes Taylor.
With permission of Cynthia
Crawford85 at Ancestry.com
Fred
and Sarah moved to Raleigh County, West Virginia where Fred worked for Wright
Coal and Coke Company. When he filed his
WWI Registration Card there is a note “have reasons to believe this man is not
a resident of Precinct 8.” He was
described as medium height and build with blue eyes and dark brown hair.
The
family grew and they eventually settled in Mingo County, West Virginia having
at least six children, the last (Doris Mae) being born in 1937. Prohibition laws were still active in the
1930’s and having faced the crash of 1929 Appalachians were hurting and hungry. Fred along with another man, Ralph Sterling
Spangle, faced a court hearing in March of 1933 for operating a still.[ii] In 1935 both Fred and his thirteen year old
son were involved in a altercation and eventually Fred was charged with
carrying a pistol without a state license, fined $50.00 and sentenced to six
months in jail.[iii] Sadly by 1942 until at least 1950 Fred H.
Durham was a prisoner at the Moundsville State Prison in West Virginia. At this writing this compiler has not located
the complete record.[iv][v]
Daughter
Pauline Eugenia Durham married Emmett Rufus Hatfield 13 August 1942 at
Pikeville, Kentucky and migrated to Boyd County, Kentucky. Emmett was also from Mingo County, West
Virginia. Another daughter Doris Mae
married Michael Edmond Horton and moved to Ashland, Boyd County.
The
other children migrated to Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. Sarah Cordelia
Taylor Durham was separated from Fred H. Durham for some time that ended with divorce
in Mingo County in 1953[vi].
At some point during the separation or
shortly after divorce Sarah moved to Boyd County, Kentucky. Neither remarried.
Fred
H. Durham died 5 February 1973 in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia. He
was living on Pacific Street.” The
article states that he had been a resident of Charleston for 50 years
(which is incorrect), a member of the Baptist Church and a retired miner. The article says “wife” Sarah survives
and resides in Ashland, Kentucky. Fred was first taken to Simpson Funeral Home
in Charleston and then moved to Kilgore-Collier in Catlettsburg, Kentucky.[vii] The obituary in the Ashland Daily
Independent says he died “following a
brief illness,” lists the children, but does not list Sarah. The children include Mrs. Emmett
Hatfield of Rush and Mrs. Doris Horton of Ashland.
Pauline
and Emmett Hatfield were living on Long Branch Road across from the cemetery
and adjoining the Klaiber property, to the west, at the time of Fred’s death. Daughter Doris Mae Durham Horton and husband Michael "Mick" Edmond Horton were living
on Chinn Street in Ashland and mother Sarah was living at the same address. Graveside services were conducted at Klaiber
Cemetery by the Rev. Ralph Hester.
Sarah
Cordelia Taylor Durham lived ten more years in Boyd County, born 4 December
1893 in Jellico, Campbell County, Tennessee, she died 4 December 1983. At her death, the family listed Sarah as the
wife of Frederick H. Durham[viii]. Sarah was a member of Skyline Church of
Christ. The family provided a beautiful stone with the sentiment “Precious Lord
Take Our Hands. Together Forever.”
.JPG)
[i]
NARA, WWI Draft Registration Card Raleigh Co, WV 1917
[ii]
Charleston Daily Mail 19 Mar 1933
[iii]
Charleston Daily Mail 16 June 1934; 18 Jun 1935
[iv]
NARA, WWII Draft Baisden, Mingo Co
[v]
Census, Federal, 1950, Marshall County, WV
[vi]
FHL 007616872 D-14 p 37 and 290
[vii]
Charleston Gazette 5 Feb 1973
[viii]
Ashland Daily Independent 8 Jul 1983
