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Sacred Ground: Ryan Cemetery
The Ryan Cemetery in the Gum Fork community east of Winfield dates all the way back to the first Ryans to settle in present-day Scott County: Joseph Ryan and his wife, Martha Holt.
Today, the Ryan Cemetery includes nearly 150 graves — some unmarked, some marked by unidentifiable field stones, but most marked by commercial stones. It remains active; there have been a number of burials here in recent years, and many of the graves are actively decorated.
The Ryan family
Joseph R. Ryan was born Sept. 7, 1787, in Virginia. His father was William Ryan (1755-1836), a Revolutionary War veteran who would later move to North Carolina, then Tennessee, and finally Alabama. He may have been married to Mary Chancellor. However, that has not been proven. As such, Joseph Ryan’s mother remains a source of speculation.
Joseph married Martha Evelyn Holt (1794-1852) in 1808. She was the daughter of Drury Holt (1759-1835) and Sara Elizabeth Rogers (1765-1852). The Holt family lived near Gum Fork, on the Kentucky side of the state line, in the area known as Little Rock Creek.
Did Joseph marry Martha before the move to the Cumberland Mountains? Did he meet her after both had moved to this area? The Holt family was also originally from Virginia.
Martha’s sister, Lucinda (1795-1872) married David Trammell, the son of Revolutionary War veteran Dennis Trammell. They settled on Capuchin Creek. The Trammell family moved to the area sometime around 1807.
Joseph and Martha’s children included David Ryan (1813-1850), Drewy Ryan (1816-1885), Joel Ryan (1822-1896), Malinda Ryan Strunk (1825-1903), Martin Ryan (1830-1894), Moses Ryan (1839-1901), and Cornelius Marion Ryan (1842-1923).
Most of the children scattered, though one — Moses — remained in Scott County. He married Sarah Smith (1844-1924) and served in the Union army during the Civil War. He was buried at Ryan Cemetery when he died in 1901. (Sarah was buried there in 1924.)
The cemetery begins
Martha Holt Ryan was probably buried at what would become the Ryan Cemetery when she died in 1852. Joseph was certainly buried there when he died in 1873. Martha’s grave is not identifiable, but there are several unmarked graves and graves marked only with field stones.
While Moses was the only one of Joseph and Martha’s children to be buried at the family cemetery at Gum Fork, several other of their descendants were buried there through the years.
Daisy Ryan was the first when she died in infancy in 1903. She was the newborn daughter of William Henry Ryan and Hannah Lay. William was one of Moses’s children, making Daisy Moses’s granddaughter and Joseph’s great-granddaughter.
Five years later, in 1918, six-year-old Octavia Ryan was buried at the cemetery. She was the daughter of Lee “Houk” Ryan and Lydia King. Lee was another of Moses’s children.
William Henry and Hannah were later buried at the cemetery, as was Houk, whose body was found inside his burned home in the Gum Fork community in 1953.
Elizabeth “Bettie” Ryan was another of Moses’s children, and was buried at the cemetery in 1918, at age 35. She married Mark Ryan, who was buried at the cemetery in 1946. (Their daughter, Goldie Maxey, was buried at the cemetery in 1990.)
Another of Moses’s children buried at the cemetery was Joseph Ryan, who died in 1919 at age 50. He was married twice; neither of his wives are buried at the cemetery. However, he had a son, Howard, who was buried at the cemetery in 1933. He also had a 14-year-old daughter, Georgie, who was buried at the cemetery in 1919.
Another child, an 11-month-old baby named Ernest Ryan, was buried at the cemetery in 1930. He was the son of T.E. and Goldie Ryan, according to his stone. He had a six-year-old sister, Shirley, buried at the cemetery in 1937.
And in 1933, baby Fay Ryan was buried at the cemetery. She was the daughter of Herman Ryan and Octava Thomas. Herman was another of the children of William Henry Ryan and Hannah Lay. He was buried at the cemetery in 1936 when he died of unknown causes at the young age of 32. His wife remarried and moved away from Scott County.
Mary Nicholas Hill Ryan was buried at the cemetery in 1938. She was the wife of Pleasant Ryan.
Many years later, Lawrence William Ryan was buried at the cemetery in 1976. He was another of the children of William Henry Ryan and Hannah Lay. His wife, Sadie Elizabeth Neal Ryan, was buried at the cemetery in 2005. They had two children buried at the cemetery: Evelyn Ann Ryan King in 2005, and John Earl Ryan, also in 2005.
Janet Ryan was buried at the cemetery in 2007. She was the wife of Jimmy Ray Ryan.
The Lay family
One of the earliest burials at Ryan Cemetery was Spencer Lay, who died in 1884 at age 24. According to his headstone, it was erected by his brother, L.P. Lay — Lewis P. Lay.
(There was a three-year-old Harvey Lay buried at the cemetery a year earlier. It isn’t clear who his parents were.)
Spencer was the son of Michael and Elizabeth Lay. The Lay family lived in the Jellico Creek area near Gum Fork at the time of Spencer’s death, before later moving to McCreary County.
These Lays were from the same branch of Lays who moved into the Rock House area of Scott County from Pioneer. Elizabeth was the granddaughter of “Missouri Jack” Lay. Other children included Lucinda, born in 1861, and Dauswell Mitchell, born in 1878.
The Lay graves at Ryan Cemetery are a story of tragedy. Most died young, beginning with 24-year-old Spencer.
The next year, 16-year-old Cenia Lay was buried at the cemetery. She was the daughter of William Paris Lay and Lucy Robinson. William was a brother to Michael Lay. William and Lucy were later buried at the cemetery in 1915 and 1916, respectively. Their other children included John Putteet, George Andrew, Jessie, James Harlan, David, Jincie, Bettie, Sarah, Berry, and Shrena. James Harlan was buried at the cemetery in 1969, and his wife, Martha, was buried there three years later.
A baby was buried at the cemetery in 1896 who was the son of T.L. and L. Lay, according to his stone. That was followed by a four-year-old Hilleary Lay in 1913, and a one-year-old Maurena Lay in 1921.
Pete Lay was buried at the cemetery in 1940.
The Childress family
A baby, Martha Childress, was buried at Ryan Cemetery in 1889. It isn’t clear who her parents were. However, another child — three-year-old Dilla Childress — was buried at the cemetery in 1897. She was the daughter of George Childress and Amanda Daugherty.
The Childress family lived at Gum Fork, and George and Amanda were buried at the cemetery when they died in 1922 and 1939, respectively.
George’s parents, Arthur Childress and Mary Ann Robinson, were buried at the cemetery in 1906 and 1902. Arthur was a Civil War veteran who fought in the Union army.
George’s siblings included Elizabeth Jane, James Lindsay, John, and Mary Jane.
There was also a 55-year-old Ethel Childress buried at the cemetery in 1901.
The Anderson family
Three-year-old Shelvey Anderson was buried at the cemetery in 1891. Unfortunately, no further information is available about this child. However, the Anderson family was another one that lived at Gum Fork in the late 1800s.
Another child, three-month-old Henry Anderson, was buried at the cemetery in 1916. His stone identifies him as the son of William and Maudy Anderson.
The Anderson family was connected to the Lay family. Cynthia Lay, the daughter of Lewis and Martha Lay (granddaughter of William Lay) married Calvin Rufus Anderson. They’re both buried at the Ryan Cemetery, as are two of their daughters, Nervia Anderson Jones and Martha Anderson Duncan and her husband, Tearl. Tearl and Martha have a son, Ortel Duncan, who is buried at the cemetery, along with his wife, Bertha Jeffers. Two of Ortel and Bertha’s children, Eva King and Shirley Maxey, are also buried at the cemetery, as is Shirley’s husband, Willard.
The Maxey family
Goldie Ryan, daughter of Mark and Elizabeth Ryan, married James Oscar Maxey, the son of John Maxey and Mary Childress.
John Maxey was buried at the cemetery in 1924, the same year that a baby, Edgar Maxey, was buried there.
James and Goldie had a young son, one-year-old Junior Ryan Maxey, who was buried at the cemetery in 1929. His siblings buried at the cemetery include Billie Lee Maxey, who died in 1953 at age 12; Jackie Maxey, who died in infancy in 1943; Mark Byrd Maxey; and Mary Maxey Hall.
James’ brother, Charley Maxey, married Minnie Bell Bond. After her death in 1933, he married Nora Bell Stephens. They’re all buried at the cemetery. Their youngest son was Willard Maxey, who married Shirley Duncan.
Their other children buried at the cemetery include Hazel Baker, who died at age 20 of tuberculosis; and Kenneth Maxey.
Another sibling, Crofford, was buried at the cemetery in 1934 at age 20.
The cemetery today
The most recent burial at Ryan Cemetery was in 2021, when Ledford Leo King died at age 71. The son of Charles Columbus King and Nora Mae Stephens, he had a sister, Ethel Baird, who was also buried there in 2021. Her husband, Leamon, had previously been buried at the cemetery in 2017.
Other burials at the cemetery in 2021 included David Grant, who was a nephew to Ledford and Ethel, and Eva Lou Duncan King, along with Patricia Williams Maxey.
Arthur Drayton Anderson, 1948-2017
Arthur Rufus Anderson, 1903-1979
Billy Samuel Anderson, 1941-2014
Calvin Rufus Anderson, 1861-1924
Cynthia Lay Anderson, 1861-1935
Eldred Anderson, 1927-1974
Henry E. Anderson, 1915-1916
Kathryn Byrd Anderson, 1917-2010
Nolamay Rosetta King Anderson, 1945-2008
Richard Earl Anderson, 1957-1957
Shelvey Anderson, 1887-1891
Stephanie Moriah Anderson, 1990-2007
Artie Angel, 1913-N/A
Thomas J. Angel, 1858-1921
William W. Angel, 1871-1941
Ethel Alice King Baird, 1935-2021
Hazel Maxey Baker, 1921-1941
James Barton, 1858-1927
Martha King Barton, 1850-1935
Alonzo Chambers, 1900-1915
Isabelle Almeda Baker Chambers, 1870-1916
Amanda Daugherty Childress, 1869-1939
Arthur Lindsay Childress, 1827-1906
Dilla Childress, 1893-1897
Ethel Childress, 1845-1901
George G. Childress, 1857-1922
Martha F. Childress, 1888-1889
Mary Ann Robinson Childress, 1822-1902
Linda Maxey Crabtree, 1959-2016
Shafter Cross, 1907-1948
William Estes Cross, 1930-1948
James Edward Davenport, 1945-1945
Columbus Davis, 1887-1904
Henry Davis, 1861-1927
Huffman Davis, 1891-1917
Kelley Davis, 1906-1922
Nancy Jane Chitwood Davis, 1868-1902
Nobia Ellis Davis, 1900-1901
Bertha Jeffers Duncan, 1920-2000
Betty A. Maxey Duncan, 1933-2007
Jackie Ray Duncan, 1957-1957
James Champ Duncan, 1890-1968
Linda Mae Fuston Duncan, 1896-1983
Martha Ethel Anderson Duncan, 1896-1978
Marvin C. Duncan, 1932-2009
Ortel Woodard Duncan, 1922-1994
Tearl Sidney Duncan, 1892-1982
William Ellis Duncan, 1918-1942
David Lenville Grant Sr., 1962-2021
Kathleen E. King Grant, 1937-2009
Larry Wayne Grant, 1960-2013
Mary Jewell Maxey Hail, 1951-2017
Rodney Joe Hail, 1972-2016
Harold David Hill, 1957-2014
Beecher Smith Jones, 1922-1990
Bertha Emma Duncan Jones, 1932-2009
Doris Jones, 1957-1957
Erskin Manuel Jones Sr., 1924-1997
Harold Jones, 1950-1950
Hayle Elizabeth Jones, 1990-1990
Lois Jones, 1957-1957
Nervia Anderson Jones, 1886-1966
Theodore Sherman Jones, 1920-1944
Charles Columbus King, 1900-1985
Charlotte King, 1844-1904
Delois Carol Stephens King, 1940-2006
Eva Lou Duncan King, 1949-2021
Evelyn Ann Ryan King, 1946-2005
Hunter Cole King, 2019-2020
James Alvis King, 1907-1930
James Frances King, 1876-1972
Ledford Leo King, 1950-2021
Nora Mae Stephens King, 1911-1994
William Donald King, 1931-2015
Cenia Lay, 1869-1885
Harvey Lay, 1880-1883
Hilleary Lay, 1909-1913
Infant Son Lay, 1896-1896
James Harlan Lay, 1874-1969
Lecy Clay Robinson Lay, 1856-1916
Martha Lay Lay, 1886-1972
Maurena Lay, 1919-1921
Nathaniel Lay, 1909-1912
Spencer F. Lay, 1860-1884
William Paris Lay, 1834-1915
Pryar Pete Laye, 1878-1940
Billie Lee Maxey, 1941-1953
Charley Maxey, 1894-1977
Crofford Maxey, 1914-1934
Denton Cleamon Maxey, 1926-1957
Edgar J. Maxey, 1924-1924
Goldie Ryan Maxey, 1909-1990
Jackie Maxey, 1943-1943
James Oscar Maxey, 1907-1969
John W. Maxey, 1861-1924
Junior Ryan Maxey, 1928-1929
Kenneth Walter Maxey, 1943-2011
Mark Byrd Maxey Sr., 1945-2004
Mary Childress Maxey, 1871-1949
Minnie Bell Bond Maxey, 1894-1933
Nora Bell Stephens Maxey, 1906-1980
Patricia Ann Williams Maxey, 1951-2021
Shirley Jo Duncan Maxey, 1950-2017
Teddy Joe Maxey, N/A-1966
Willard Maxey, 1948-2020
William Lindsey Maxey, 1901-1981
Octavia Ryan Meadors, 1871-1943
Edward Lee Meadows Sr., 1929-2011
Denton C. Moxey, 1926-1957
Cora Maxey Neal, 1889-1939
Oscar Neal, 1924-1991
Sary Partin, 1842-1889
Dudley Parton, 1897-1920
Janice Lee Smith Ross, 1944-1963
Daisy Ryan, 1903-1903
Elizabeth R. Ryan Ryan, 1883-1918
Ernest Ryan, 1929-1930
Fay Ryan, 1933-1933
Georgie Ryan, 1909-1923
Hannah Lay Ryan, 1880-1968
Herman Kendric Ryan, 1904-1936
Howard Ryan, 1895-1933
Janet Ryan, 1956-2007
John Earl Ryan, 1947-2005
Joseph R. Ryan, 1787-1873
Joseph R. Ryan, 1869-1919
Lawrence William Ryan, 1910-1976
Lee C. Ryan, 1885-1953
Mark Ryan, 1870-1946
Martha Evelyn Holt Ryan, 1794-1852
Mary Nicholas Hill Ryan, 1866-1938
Moses Swan Ryan, 1839-1901
Octavia Ryan, 1912-1918
Sadie Elizabeth Neal Ryan, 1924-2005
Sarah Smith Ryan, 1844-1924
Shirley Ryan, 1931-1937
William Henry Ryan, 1881-1958
Hilery Carson Strunk, 1907-1980
Ollie Crystal Maxey Strunk, 1911-1997
Ardol Orin Trammell, 1922-1925
Clarence E. Wilson, 1920-1964
Barbara Henry Wright, 1961-2011
Nadine Georgia Jones Wright, 1930-1993
Ronald Lee Wright, 1969-2000
Theodore R. Wright, 1917-2003
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