Marlar Cemetery, Sawyer, Kentucky

Recently I received a friend request on Facebook from a Marlar who lives in Kentucky just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. He had decided that he wanted to befriend as many Marlars on facebook as he could, and I am so glad that he did. He is my husband's fourth cousin and is descended from the one brother who stayed in Kentucky while the mother and other children moved to Mississippi in the middle 1800's. I had not been able to prove who the other was but he gave me access to his website which gave me lots of information and I am now in the process of adding it to my website on tribal pages. This was very exciting information but the strange part was that most of the deceased members of the family are buried at Marlar Cemetery near Sawyer, Ky, in the southern most part just north of Knoxville, Tennessee. This cemetery is located in the Cumberland Falls State Park and my husband has vacationed near there twice and did not know it was there. Several years ago we made a trip to Sterns with our friends, Bobby and Judy and last year we spent one night in Somerset, Ky, which is about ten miles from the cemetery!
When I found this out I immediately started planning a trip to go to this cemetery and another one near by. Two weeks ago Jim and I along with our daughter Michelle and her husband James made the trip, combining it with a trip to Gatlinburg.
While there we were able to make pictures at both cemeteries. I am sure we did not get pictures of all the Marlar graves as there were many unmarked graves. Some of the tombstones had deteriorated and some had been replaced with newer ones, leaving the old ones there also.
While we were there we also visited Cumberland Falls. This was the first trip there for Michelle and James. We had such a wonderful time. The leaves were beginning to turn, the weather was beautiful and we enjoyed being with family talking about older family members.
I make a lot of pictures for findagrave.com and I had noticed that there was a request for a picture of a grave that was not one of my husband's relatives. I made sure that I made a picture to post. I received the sweetest thank you. It was from a young man in the service and the grave was his father's. He was so happy to receive the picture and I was happy I could make it for him as he was protecting our freedom!
Hope you enjoy some of the pictures we made!!!

Vela Artesia Frederick Fell 3-25-1905 to 7-2-2001

Today is my mother's birthday. If she were alive she would be 105 years old. My mother was born March 25, 1905, the oldest of fourteen children born to William Penn and Lena Bell Davis Frederick. She was born in Prentiss County, Mississippi, to an 18 year old mother who had fourteen children and died of cancer at the age of forty-one. She was born at a time when there were no luxuries and very little money. Times were hard and it is hard for someone of my generation to imagine what a hard life she must have had. She herself had eight children but lived to be ninety-six!
I was the eighth of her children being born when she was thirty-seven years old. We had a special bond. My older brothers and sisters with the exception of one brother who was three years older than me, were married or gone from home when I was still a little girl. Most of the time we were home by ourselves and she would let me do most anything I wanted. I was so spoiled, she would cook and wait on me and everyday when I got off the school bus she had me a snack waiting. She loved her grandchildren with all her heart and they adored her. When she was ninety she broke her hip and although she had surgery she was unable to live alone and was in a nursing home for the rest of her life. After this surgery her mind began to get bad.
In 1998 I had a massive stroke and spent 3 months in the hospital learning to walk and take care of myself. We decided not to tell her and it was over six months before I was able to visit her. I would try to hide my cane and did not talk about it. I really thought I was being smart at hiding it until one day she just casually mentioned that I needed to take care of myself since I had been so sick. We had not fooled her at all!
After her mind begin to go bad, she would never call me by my name. I would say, "Mama, do you know who I am?", and she would pat me on the hand and say," Of course, I do, you're my baby!". To the end she aways knew best. I may have been fifty nine years old but she still knew I was and always would be her "baby".
I loved my mother so much. There is never a day that goes by that I don't think of her. She was the sweetest, kindest, person I have ever known and she will never be forgotten!