The Secret Cemetery

In the summer of 2023, a cemetery was discovered in Coonskin Park by a fellow looking for mushrooms.  What he found were 4 headstones with writing on them, and  about 20 or more graves with nothing more than a rock  at the head of each one. This was typical for graves  far out on the country where the people  didn't have the means to have a headstone professionally done.  This family cemetery was off the beaten path. The trail that runs somewhat close by was one of the main trails that people use to hike.  But the cemetery was well out of sight of that trail, and there would never be a reason for anyone to stumble upon that cemetery unless they were doing something more than hiking.... like picking mushrooms.  There is no doubt that SOMEONE knew about the cemetery.   When I discover a cemetery that is practically unknown, I become obsessed with researching it.  This page is not so about these people's family tree's as it's to discover who was buried in this one cemetery and what is the connection to each other.  So let's get started....

We first discovered these Headstones in the cemetery.... but....

It turns out that those stones were placed there by the Coonskin Park police when they discovered the headstones in another cemetery close by.  Some no good Bum had torn them out of the ground and used them to make a fire pit.  When the police discovered them, they had no idea that there was the Hanson family cemetery just up the hill in the woods.  They somehow assumed that the headstones came from the Coonskin Park cemetery a mile away, so they transported them over there. That's when we found them.  A couple of weeks later, the police found out that the stones they removed actually belonged back to where they found them, which turned out to be the King Cemetery.  So now they have to carry them back.  I met up with them at that time. While there, we ran into the surveyors who were hired by the airport authority to map out the cemetery.

MEANWHILE... BACK TO THE SPRADLING CEMETERY.

Now, these are the only Markers in the Spradling cemetery with writing on them. All the rest are just rough stone Markers.

This cemetery is located in Coonskin Park.

These folks lived on a farm in this area called (naturally) the Spradling Farm.

And here are just a few of the stones marking the graves:

(These stones were placed together just for this photo.  They are actually graves apart.)

This is an overlay of the current Coonskin Park on top of the original map of the area.  While it's not perfect, you can see that what is now Coonskin Park was owned by 4 people in the 1800's.  One of those people was Charles King.  He owned the property close to the Spradling cemetery, and owned one abput 700 feet away called the King Cemetery  One of the Hanson women married one of the Kings, so this is why there are Hanson's buried in the King Cemetery.   As we research more, we will have more answers to update this page.

BELOW YOU WILL FIND MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ON  THE KNOWN FAMILIES BURIED
IN THE KING CEMETERY WHICH IS LOCATED 700 FEET TO THE EAST OF THE SPRADLING CEMETERY

STARTING WITH THE HANSON'S

Hezekiah Hanson's death certificate states he's buried in the King Cemetery,
but his headstone was found in the Hanson Cemetery miles away?

Martha Hanson - Mother of Hezekiah Hanson.  Martha's mother married a King.

MARTHA'S WILL




THE KING'S.



The King Family - Charles King owned the property where the cemetery is located.
He is not listed here, and this is all we have on the King's right now.

And that's it for the Kings... for now.

The Young's

There are no Markers for any Young's in the King cemetery. And we don't know the exact connection of the Young's,  Hanson's and King's.  But it's usually a marriage somewhere.  Also, notice that the location of the "King Cemetery" in these two Obits are different.  One says "Elk Two Mile, while the other says "Mill Creek".  Back in the day, Elk Two Mile covered the Charleston city limits all the way to Mill Creek, so there's a possibility of simply a writer for the newspaper getting the information from someone who didn't know exactly what the location for the cemetery actually was.

Spradling's

Unfortunately, after searching for hours, this was the only article that I could find on ANY Spradlin's.  There are many "Spradling's in the area, but I've never heard the name "Spradlin" before.  This is very odd because there are two Markers in the cemetery with the Spradlin name, and one of them mentioned in the article below.

In the beginning,  Calvin and Cleopatra Bocock Spradling, came to Kanawha County Virginia soon after their marriage in Bedford County, Virginia in 1837. Life in the woods was difficult, and it is likely that many of their children and grandchildren died young. It is also likely that Cleopatra's parents, Samuel and Mourning Bocock, are buried there. There are about 40 sandstone headstones in the cemetery.

THIS PAGE IS NOT FINISHED This is all the information we have on the people of the King Cemetery. We will continue to research and try to uncover more interesting information. Will I have an interest in ALL cemeteries, this one is special to me due to it's location and lack of information on a cemetery in a well known county park.  Stay tuned for updates.