On a hill south of the Collings/McMichael stone house is the old family cemetery of Benjamin and Sarah Collings. The area is overgrown but although most o of the stones have fallen they remain legible. The following print in bold type is the information as it appears on the stones.

Benja. Collings Born Feb. 8,1769 Died Aug.10, 1830

Benja. Collings Died Aug. 10, 1830, aged 61 years, 6 mos, 2 days

Benjamin is one of two people in the cemetery who each have two headstones. The stones are carved in different styles, have slightly different information, and were apparently set at different times. Benjamin was the son of Zebulon Collings and the builder of the now historic stone house on Kings Church Road. He was probably born in Pennsylvania but moved his family to Nelson County, Ky. when he was about twelve years of age. In 1788 he married Sarah McGrew.

Sarah Wife of Benja. Collings Born May 30, 1770 Died June 25, 1835 Taylorsville

Sarah McGrew was probably the daughter of Joseph McGrew Sr. who lived in Nelson County near the Collings family. If so then she was probably the sister of George and Joseph McGrew, brothers who settled before 1800 in the Waterford area. George was a miller whose partner in that business was William Collings, Benjamin?s brother.

Isaac Collings Died Sept. 27, 1838, aged 41 years, 11 mos. 18 days

Isaac was the son of Benjamin and Sarah who according to Collings? family history was born Oct. 9, 1796. He married Polly Newman in 1819 and they appear to have remained on the Collings?farm after his parents died.

Mary Ann wife of Isaac Collings Died June 5, 1838, aged 42 years

?Polly? Newman was probably related to the John Newman of Shelby County who, in 1819, took out a bond for her marriage to Isaac Collings.

Elisha Collings Died Dec. 2, 1844, Aged 50 years. 6 mos. 24 days

This appears to be another son of Benjamin and Sarah although family tradition has recorded his birth as 1791, making the age a little off. In 1818 Elisha purchased 78 acres on Plum Creek then spent his life farming in this vicinity.

John Eberle son of F.B. & A.E. Collings Born Nov 26, 1836 Died Dec. 27, 1839

John Eberle son of F.B. & A.E.Collings Died Dec. 27, 1838, aged 3 years 1 mo. 1 day

John Eberle Collings was the son of Dr. Felix Benjamin Collings and his wife Adelia Elizabeth LePage. He was undoubtedly born in the Collings stone house where his parents lived and where he died at the age of three.

After Benjamin Collings died in 1830 his son, Dr. Felix Ben, bought out the interest of his brothers and sisters in their father?s estate then spent his life here as a farmer and physician. He and his wife Adelia were longtime members of Plum creek Baptist Church where members of the Collings family appear in the records as early as 1812.

Adelia Collings died in 1866 and in 1868 Dr. Felix married Sally Jennings, daughter of Samuel and Rosann Jennings. Sally attended Plum Creek Church with Dr. Felix but when he died in 1883 she had him buried at Elk Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, where members of her family were buried. Adelia is also buried at Elk Creek, as is Sally, who died in 1913.

Clara Emma Daut. Of F.B. & A.E. Collings Born Dec. 24, 1825 Died Sept. 27, 1843

Clara was a daughter of Dr. Felix Ben and Adelia.

Catherine M. Wife of Thos. L. Collier Born Dec. 24, 1825 Died June 19, 1854

Catherine Hunter, the daughter of Thomas and Anna Hunter, was born in Nelson County and married Thomas L. Collier on Sept. 22, 1850. Thomas L., his second wife Nancy Jane Simpson, and his third wife, Elizabeth McKinley, are buried in the Collier-Goodwin Cemetery on Dale Lane about one mile off Highway 155. Thomas L. Collier was once part owner of the mill that became known as the Beauchamp Mill in Taylorsville. He purchased it in 1848 in partnership with Jacob Collier and Isaac Beauchamp. Earlier owners were Thomas Stone and Samuel Gilbert. Thomas Collier soon sold his interest in the mill and purchase land on Plumb Creek next to Dr. Felix B. Collings. Catherine must have died shortly after the move to Plum Creek and before the Collier Cemetery was established as the earliest marked grave there is dated 1860.

Elmira Shelburne Born 15 Jul 1844 Died 30 Nov. 1844

Elmira was the daughter of Bereman S. Shelburne and his wife Elizabeth R. LePage. Bereman was born in 1817 in Spencer County. He studied medicine under Dr. Felix B. Collings and in 1839 graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Louisville. He probably met his wife Elizabeth through Dr. Felix as she was also from Cincinnati and undoubtedly related to Adelia. Bereman practiced medicine in Taylorsville, Marion County, and Shelby County in Kentucky before moving his family to Texas in 1857. He and Elizabeth had five children before her death in 1862.

Special thanks to Lowell Griffin, John Belushi, George and Angie McMichael for their assistance in locating this cemetery and reading the stones.

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