Rockbridge Cemetery

The records of the graves below are a compilation of the records from Phyllis and Ritchey Brown and their work on Kentucky Kindred Genealogy and from church records.

Rockbridge Cemetery Graves

The cemetery at Rockbridge captures many stories of life in colonial and early America.  The earliest birth is William Scruggs born in 1772 Cumberland County Virginia.  William died in 1858 and was buried at Rockbridge.  Benjamin F Keeling died in 1854 and is likely the first person to be interred at Rockbridge.

The cemetery reflects life in the early frontier of Kentucky where the infant and childhood mortality was very high.  There are recorded 462 persons officially interred at Rockbridge of this number 51 are children who died in their first year, 67 died in their first five years.  There are 165 graves of young people less than 20 years old.

The church has been committed to the care and preservation of the cemetery for the last 208 years and is visited by many people searching for family and genealogical connections.  The church has like many churches in the last two decades been in decline and the cemetery funds to maintain the cemetery have been depleted.  Because of the importance of the cemetery to the community and the sacred duty the church has been given to care for the graves of the saints until the day of resurrection and the coming of the Lord.

As part of this effort to continue this sacred effort a plan is being put in place to establish a cemetery board of trustees and to begin a capital fundraising campaign for the next 5 years with a  goal of raising 3,000 dollars per year to establish a trust fund that can continue to provide perpetual care for the cemetery well into the future.  The church is seeking restoration grants from the state government and other historical groups to repair and reset many of the stones in the cemetery.

Would you please consider supporting the cemetery restoration project by becoming a donor either with a one time donation or by pledging a yearly contribution for the next five years.

Please contact the Pastor Terry McIlvoy for more information on the fundraiser or download the a pledge form and mail it to>>>