From: KyArchives [archives@genrecords.org] Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 7:00 PM To: Ky-Footsteps Subject: Owen.Cemetery.1982.Breckinridge.PHOTO-Document Owen Cemetery December 29, 1982 Breckinridge County KyArchives Photo - Document Source: Breckinridge County Herald-News Newspaper Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.org/ky/breckinridge/photos/documents/owenceme411nph.jpg Image file size: 169.7 Kb One of the oldest cemeteries in Breckinridge County, located on the farm of William R. Owen Sr. at Rt. 3, Hardinsburg, was cleared just before Christmas. Last names of people buried in the cemetery are Owens, Anderson, Britt, DeHaven, Dunn, Elliott, Frank, Green, Hunter, Kiper, Mattingly, Moorman, Murray, Pierce, Pool, Stevenson, Stone, and Monogue. There are also many unmarked graves. As was customary in olden times, pioneer families buried their loved ones nearby, and thus Major Thomas Owen is buried in a family, or neighborhood cemetery, near his original home site. Because of busy schedules, the cemetery was neglected in recent years. Bill Owen (W. R. Owen Jr.) hired Earl Wells and Victor Clouse to help him clear the grave sites, using axes and chain saws. Bill is a direct descendant of Major Thomas Owen, his great-great-great-great- grandson. The land has been in the family since Major Thomas Owen came to what later became Breckinridge County. The original Thomas Owen was born in Wales in 1664. He immigrated to America with two brothers, William and John. Settling in Virginia about 20 miles below Richmond, they arrived about 1682. Thomas died at age 80 in 1744. John, one of his four children, born in 1695, whose life spanned three centuries, died in 1804 at the age of 108 or 109. Marrying Mildred Grant, he had eight children and 52 grandchildren. One son came to Breckinridge County. Major Thomas Owen, a Revolutionary War soldier, was born in 1742 in Virginia. He came to Kentucky with a 5,000-acre land grant (a veteran's bonus of that time), the home site of which is still occupied by the William R. Owen Senior and Junior families. The original 5,000 acres is now -- acres, because many generations have passed and heirs divided the land, some selling portions and moving to Iowa, Virginia, and California. The site stretched from the Owen cemetery shown to the Leonard Houk/Hock farm, adjacent to the tailwater area of Rough River Dam, where another Owen cemetery is located near the log house there. Submitted by: Dana Brown http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00005.html#0001067 Additional Comments: This picture came from the Breckinridge County Herald-News newspaper. It tells of the clean up done to the cemetery back in the early 1980's. At present, the condition of the cemetery is unknown (5/28/2007). This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/kyfiles/