Lewis Littleton "Lit" Creekmur was an extremely colorful and sometimes highly volatile personality. He was a tobacco farmer, as was his father, John Creekmore of Norfolk County VA. prior to moving his family to Hopkins County KY. He was, however, a fairly generous person and in the summer of 1895 Lewis (Also known as "Lit" Creekmur) donated a portion of his land (in Caldwell County) to be used as a cemetery.

The Virginia tobacco growers were called 'planters', while the same family members in Kentucky were referred to as 'farmers'. Though 'farmers' grew the same product as the 'planter', they were not offered the same price for their tobacco leaves as were their own cousins, uncles and neighbors in Virginia. This sparked many feuds among the families and finally in 1895 became a full fledged war in which barns and drying sheds were burned, crops trampled in the fields before they could be harvested.

As the summer of 1895 progressed, more than a few murders were committed, plus the theft or disappearance of farm animals, such as favored riding horses and draft animals. It was not uncommon for many farmers to find the spokes of the wheels broken or sawed partially through on wagons and buck boards.

Although no accusations were ever made nor actual proof found, 'Lit' Creekmur must have been active in this band of warring brethren and may have even instigated a good portion of it.

In any event, "Lits" conscience must have bothered him and he began to feel that he was a "marked man". Two weeks after he donated the land for the cemetery, he began to dig his own grave in the cemetery he had donated and built a fence around it. Upon completion of this, he then heard persons approaching his house through the brush and undergrowth. Figuring it was the 'law' come to get him, he took his shot gun and crawled under his house to await them. He had no intention of being charged with any of these crimes which he obviously had more than just a little knowledge of and especially not to hang for them.

Soon he heard heavy foot steps in the house right above him. Since there were so many of them, he figured he didn’t stand a chance of getting out, so he shot himself.

His death was both untimely and unnecessary, as the persons in his house were only his own field workers who had come in out of the rain. His son, David was also present.

Thus he was the first person to be buried in his donated graveyard.

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I heard this story all my life, but had no idea of it's validity until it was confirmed by Sanford Etheridge a year or so ago. A photo of Lewis Littleton Creekmur's headstone will be found in the photo survey of Creekmur Cemetery in row 6. A photo of his brother Nathans family will be found in the Days Gone By Netta Jaynes Collection.