Beatrice Gallion Wooten: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

As the year winds down, so does this year’s series “Whispers from the Grave…”    These mini bio’s do not include everyone in the cemetery but highlight many.  Most can also be found on  find-a-grave.   Hopefully these blog posts help give a little more detail to newer researchers.    As a trustee of the cemetery for almost 30 years I have collected information on each person in Klaiber Cemetery.

If you have been a reader of our mini bio’s you will notice that each person has some tie, directly or indirectly with others in the cemetery.  Beatrice is a good example.  Beatrice is the daughter of Larkin and Rebecca Stamper Gallion.  She is a direct ancestor of Thomas Sexton who changed his surname to Gallion when he moved to Kentucky.  Thus she is related to both the Sexton’s and Gallion’s in the cemetery.

 

Beatrice was born 3 June 1897.  She married Everett Wooten 26 September 1914 in Boyd County at her parent’s house.   Their first son, Russell Warren Wooten was born 5 July 1915 in Boyd County, Kentucky. The family moved to Logan County, West Virginia where they had a son James Clifford Wooten 19 June  1918.  He did not thrive and died, “with stomach troubles” in Shamrock, West Virginia, 27 September 1920.  His death certificate simply states he was brought back to Kilgore, Kentucky for burial. The family supplied a sweet grave stone in the cemetery.

The family rented and Everett drove a truck for the coal company.  He was a evangelist minister of the Pilgrim Holiness Church and spoke at many church gatherings in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and later in Indiana where son Russell was also a minister.  Everett even worked as a garbage collector while still working hard as a coal miner to make ends meet in the 1950’s.  Beatrice died 1 April 1950 from heart issues and asthma in Logan County, West Virginia.   Her death certificate states burial was April 6^th in Sexton Cemetery.  This is an alias often used by those related to the Sexton’s for Klaiber Cemetery and should not be confused with Sexton Cemetery just a few miles away on Pigeon Roost. 

 

On 2 December 1950 Everett Wooten married, second, Corda Alice May, in Jackson County, West Virginia.  They moved to Gallia County, Ohio where Corda died 5 October 1965. 

Everett then settled in Waterloo, Lawrence County, Ohio.  He was in Terre Haute, Indiana when he died from cancer 19 December 1973 and was brought back to Klaiber Cemetery for burial.   The Terre Haute Tribune incorrectly stated he was from Waterloo, Iowa.  He died at the residence of son Rev. R. W. Wooten stating that Everett was a retired minister who had been a minister 30 years.

The Sparks Family: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber

David Sparks was born 12 March 1898 in Elliott County, Kentucky.  He was the son of Reuben and Dovie Whitt Sparks per his obit and marriage license. The 1900 for Little Fork of Elliott County says his mother is Lina born May 1872.

David married Nora Gallion 1 September 1917 in Carter County, Kentucky.  When they married David was working as a rail roader.  David farmed on Durbin for many years.

 Nora Gallion was born 20 July 1902 in Boyd County the daughter of Thomas Al and Belle Stanley Gallion.  David and Nora had fourteen children.  David died 10 April 196.  Nora died 2 November 1972.  Both David and Nora’s funeral service were held at Cyrus Chapel on Durbin.  Nora’s death date was never carved on her stone.

Son, Franklin Douglas Sparks was the youngest son of David and Nora.   Born 20 March 1942 on Durbin, he died in Frankfort 23 February 1969.  The funeral service was also conducted at Cyrus Chapel.

Son, William “Bill” Sparks was born 8 June 1936 in Cyrus Hollow of Boyd County.  He was a processor at Kraft Poultry Farm and was a member of Cyrus Chapel.   He lived with another brother on Durban at the time of his death.  The Durbin volunteer fire department donated money for his funeral.  A simple wooden cross was placed at his grave.  As trustees we later made a flat cement marker placed at the head of the grave.

Gallion Family. Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Hiram P. “Boss” Gallion was born 14 February 1827 in Floyd County, Kentucky, the son of Thomas alias Sexton Gallion and wife Ruth Watson. 

Thomas and Ruth were married 1 July 1820 in Floyd County.  Thomas was already utilizing the surname Gallion but did not change it legally until 11 January 1845[i] in Carter County, Kentucky.  Thomas sold fifty acres on the Licking in Floyd County in November 1831[ii].  He and the family were living on Lost Fork of Lawrence County, Kentucky in the 1830’s.  The family had nine children including Hiram.  By the 1850’s Thomas and family had settled on Williams Creek, Carter County, Kentucky.

Hiram married Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Sutton sometime prior to 1849, in their early twenties.  By 1850 Hiram and Elizabeth with baby Larkin were residing next to Mark (Marcus) Sexton and wife Catherine Sexton in what was then Carter County.  The 1860 census shows them next to Sarah Howe and son Philip which places them on Garner.  Both Hiram and a brother Jonathan appear on the Carter County Militia list for 1860.

In December 1865 the first court order, on Garner, of newly created Boyd County, ordered Hiram to develop a road following the creek into Carter County[iii].  This path is now known as Long Branch Road, and at one time was called Poor House Road. The road never became more than a mule path, after crossing the Carter County line to Denton. Today the road is a dead end.

Hiram and siblings were cited in a court action involving William L. Geiger, September 1877, concerning two tracts of land of Thomas Gallion, deceased and his 2^nd wife Amanda McGuire Gallion[iv]. Thomas and family had settled on Williams Creek, Carter County where he died in 1871.  Geiger, known for extending loans ended up with the land. 

Hiram P. Gallion died 2 November 1890 and was laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery.  At the time the property surrounding the cemetery was owned by first cousin Henry Powell Sexton, son of Marcus Sexton, mentioned above.   The grave of Hiram is south of Mark and Catherine Sexton’s graves and there is a field stone next that could possibly be his wife.

 

 

 

Hiram and Elizabeth Sutton Gallion’s son Thomas  “Allen” Gallion was born 17 March 1863 in Boyd County.  He married 24 January 1892 Bell Stanley the daughter of James R.  Stanley.  When Thomas died, 18 September 1911,  the death certificate calls him “Alfred” and says he is buried in Sexton Cemetery.  Most of the time he goes by Allen[v] and the certificate seems to be a recording error as Allen did have an uncle Alfred who died in 1918. Thomas A.  Gallion died from an accidental fall of slate in one of the local mines.[vi]    After extensive research in both cemeteries this compiler believes that Thomas Allen Gallion and Belle Stanley Gallion are both in unmarked or field stone markers in the Gallion area of Klaiber Cemetery.  After her husband died, Belle remarried to John Millard Jobe in 1914[vii].  She died 24 December 1923 and her death certificate states she was buried on Garner.[viii]

Thomas Allen and Belle were parents of six children.  Mary Mae Gallion married Leonard L. Enyart and died 4 November 1973 and is buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

Goldie Gallion daughter of Thomas Allen and Belle was born 28 March 1896, died 30 April 1896 and is buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

Nellie Florence, daughter of Thomas Allen and Belle married Henry Powell Sexton III 24 Dec 1913 in Boyd County. Nellie died 25 September 1962 and is buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

 

Nora daughter of Thomas Allen and Belle Stanley Gallion married Dave Sparks 1 September 1917 in Carter County.  Nora died 2 November 1972 and is buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

William Henry Gallion, son of Hiram and Elizabeth “Betty” Sutton Gallion was born 15 November 1855 in Carter County.  He married 24 October 1882 Elizabeth Pennington, in Carter County.  By 1920 William was residing on Williams Creek. William Henry Gallion died 17 August 1920 at Music, Carter County.  Informant was James Sexton and burial simply says “Garner, KY.”[ix]  He is buried in Klaiber Cemetery. Wife, Elizabeth Pennington Gallion died in May 1932 and was buried at Denton, Carter County, Kentucky.

There are three field stone infant graves that have been verbally said to be a Clarence, Emma, and unknown Gallion baby marked on the map as 11, 11A and 11b.  To date there is no indication or document to verify these infants. Gertrude “Gertie Gallion the daughter of Thomas Allen and Belle Stanley Gallion married George Washington Stapleton.  They had an infant son, stillborn Stapleton, 9 May 1922. The death certificate for this infant says “Sexton Cemetery.”  There are Stapleton’s and Sexton’s also in Sexton Cemetery on Pigeon Roost.  If any family members can shed light on any of the unidentified graves in Klaiber Cemetery please feel free to message the compiler.

 

 

 

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[i] KY, Legislative Act Chapter 45…section 2 that the name of Thomas Sexton of Carter County be and same is hereby changed to Thomas Gallion…act signed 20 Jan. 1852.

[ii] Floyd Dbk F p 28

[iii] KY Boyd Ct Order P 272

[iv] KY Carter dbk H p 40

[v] Thomas Allen had a  uncle Alfred who married Arminda McBrayer and died in 1918 and is buried in Hall Cemetery at Norton’s Branch. 

[vi] KY D cert 22612, 1911.

[vii] KY Carter M 26 Feb 1914

[viii] KY D cert 29604

[ix] KY D cert 19810

David Wayne Fugate. Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Catlettsburg has been dubbed with several nicknames including Gate City (because of flood walls) and Cow Town (because of the stock yard that was there for many years). The residents of Catlettsburg, Boyd County, Kentucky are a tight knit group of caring people.  Many folks already had Halloween decorations hanging outside and the weather was fair when tragedy struck Gate City, October 1966.

A terrible house fire occurred on the 26 October 1966 on Center Street [i]in Catlettsburg. The house was owned by Damron’s and rented to Ethmon and Juanita Sparks Fugate along with their eight children.  The local newspaper[ii]  published the tale the following morning, after the death of the youngest child David Wayne Fugate.

Eldest son, Simeon Thomas (age 20) had taken a gasoline can into the bathroom to clean (we assume to remove oil or paint), stepped into the tub, when another child knocked over the can which promptly ignited. He got out of the tub, grabbed the child and immediately ran from the house. All others, at home, including the owner, Damron, escaped but the home was gutted. 

David Wayne Fugute, the tiniest member of the family, was born 29 April 1965[iii] in Boyd County.  He was just eighteen months old.  A little angel.  There are several inconsistencies in the news article, including the various ages of the other children.  One blaring error is that Martha Klaiber Cox was a sister.  She was in fact a close friend and distant relative of David’s grandmother Nora Gallion Sparks.  At the time Cox was working in the county clerk’s office at the courthouse and was probably with her when the newspaper was trying to get an interview.  The Fugate family, did in fact have a little girl Martha (born 1948).

The article also states that David Wayne Fugate died from the burns he received.  But another sister, Darlene, then only four, wrote me in 2004 stating that he “hid and they could not find him.”  She goes on to say “I was only 4 when our house burnt and David was lost. David did not die from the burns, but his lungs gave out.”  No matter the circumstances, the little tyke, had been taken from them.

David Wayne Fugate was named for his grandfather Dave Sparks.  David born 12 March 1898 in Elliott County, Kentucky had married Nora Gallion[iv] in 1917.  Dave had died 10 April 1966, after a two-day illness, and was buried in Klaiber Cemetery where Gallion and Sexton’s  also were laid to rest. Little David Wayne Fugate was buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

 

Mother, Juanita Sparks Fugate[v] moved to George County, Mississippi and was living with daughter Darlene when she died 19 January 2016.  She was brought back to Kentucky and is buried next to her forever baby, David Wayne Fugate.

 

 

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[i] 2213 Center Street

[ii] Ashland Daily 27 Oct 1966 front page

[iii] KY Birth cert vol 0336 certificate 17672

[iv] Nora d/p Thomas Allen Gallion and Belle Stanley; gg of Thomas Alias Sexton Gallion

[v] Mississippi State Dept of Health cert 2016 04123

Leonard and Mary “Mae” Gallion Enyart. Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

Leonard L. Enyart was born 7 July 1888 near the Falls of Blaine in Lawrence County, Kentucky.  He was the son of William Frank Enyart (1855-1935) and Sarah E. Lett Enyart (1859-1917). 

Leonard usually left a smile and had a story to tell to those around him.  Luckily the late local historian, Evelyn S. Jackson, captured some of those stories in her writings.

When Leonard was 21 he married Mary “Mae” Gallion  13 February 1910, in Boyd County, Kentucky[i].  Mary would turn 16, the month after they wed so her father signed consent on the 12^th of February.  They were married in the presence of her father Thomas “Allen” Gallion and, her uncle by marriage, Mont Clay.[ii]  Mary’s mother was Belle Stanley.  Belle and Thomas Allen Gallion had married in 1892 and Mary was one of seven children.  Leonard came from large family of ten.

Sixty years later, when they celebrated their anniversary the Ashland Daily Independent carried the story[iii]. The article stated that at that time they had fifty-nine grandchildren and 76 great grandchildren.  Together, the couple had thirteen children and ten were still living to help them celebrate.

Leonard was a farmer in Boyd County. You don’t retire from farming so at age 80 a picture of Leonard and his “Texas size pumpkin” appeared in the Ashland Daily after a torrential downpour in August[iv].  I smile at the title of the article “Bear Creek Gullywasher Uproots Giant Pumpkins.”  I still hear the locals (including yours truly) using the word gullywasher when our creeks swell and overflow.  One of Leonard’s sixty pound pumpkins was located wedged under a house trailer almost a mile from his garden. 

I think my favorite story was written by Evelyn Jackson in the Press Observer[v]  when Leonard  told  stories “that made his blood run cold…” Among his several encounters is the tale of haunts on the adjoining property that we own where Klaiber Cemetery is located. “I heard this thing coming in behind me when I got up pretty close to the old Mrs. Dowdy place…she lived in the old log house there beside the road…the moon was kind of shining and it come… icicles all over it rattle, rattle, rattling. I looked around at it and seen it plain. It just flipped right by me and took straight up that road…I never did find out what it was.”  Let me assure my readers that the haunts and souls in Klaiber Cemetery are gentle and kind.

Mary Gallion Enyart died 4 November 1973, at the home of their daughter, where they were living.  Her funeral was conducted at Mavity Freewill Baptist Church and she was laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery.  Leonard died 6 January 1975. His funeral service was conducted at Grassland United Methodist Church and burial was beside his wife, in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

 

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[i] KY Boyd Mbk 31A p 21

[ii] Montville Clay 1861-1943 married Nancy Jane Stanley

[iii] Ashland Daily Independent 22 Feb 1970

[iv] Ashland Daily Independent 25 Aug 1968

[v] Jackson, Evelyn S. Press Observer 30 Oct 1975 Boyd County, Ancestors