Help Needed
In order to make this website more accurate and more complete I need help. These needs fall into two basic categories, broad general help and more focused help.
In general, I need help in finding information, photographs, maps, histories, locations and such relating to all of the Williams Creek Basin area. If you can directly help or know of sources that may provide help please let me know.
I also need focused help on specific subjects to finish ongoing articles or projects, or to instigate research on new subjects. These focused needs will change with time, and the list below will be revised, so check back from time to time.
I am currently looking for:
1) The dates of construction for the mining company houses in Rush called “Greasy Row” and “New Row”.
2) Photographs of the various communities in the Williams Creek Basin.
3) A human contact in the Star area intimate with the geography there.
4) A human contact in the Norton Branch, Swanson, Grant, Music area on Williams Creek in Carter County intimate with the geography there.
Lon, I just ran across your website. What an astonishing body of work! Your scholarship is obviously a labor of love. I’m mostly chagrined by my own lack of knowledge of our shared history. Keep up the great work.
Ray,
Thank you for such a kind endorsement. Enjoy! Lon
Thank You so much for the information on Adam Hoffman miner. I have been searching for him and his wife Maggie Harris since 1997 and have found nothing not a trace of them. this has made my week !
Lon,
I am trying to construct a family tree for my brother-in-law, James Harold Alexander II, whose forbears came from Music, Coalton, Star Furnace and Rush. I found your site when looking for information on the basis of the unusual name for this community. There is talk of an Alexander family reunion in late June and I will mention your site and the “needs” you list.
Rebecca C Wood
Rebecca,
Thank you. Please let me know about the reunion. If I am in the area I would like to attend.
Who were James Harold Alexander II grandparents and great grandparents?
Was Thompson Alexander (1820 – 1907) possibly part of the mix?
Enjoy! Lon
I’m researching my grandparents who were from this area
Is the Lon Coleman who was an engineer at Hasbro in the 1980s.
Hi Jenny,
Yes I am the very same “Lon Coleman”. But I never was an actual employee of Hasbro. I resigned in 1987 before Hasbro took over. I was an employee of Kenner Products. I did work as a consultant to Hasbro on a few occasions after that, but I was not a direct employee of Hasbro. Enjoy! Lon
Great site. And great job. I am looking for Lunsford Cemetery. The grave of Jake Lunsford. I think the cemetery may be on left as you go up Rush hill…from Rush. Jake married Sarah Stephens. Their son, James David “Davy” Lunsford was my husband’s grandfather. Thanks!
Hi Rose,
The Lunsford Cemetery is near the foot of Rush Hill on the left of SR 854 as you go up the hill on the Rush side. I have only been there once and there are only a few graves. I saw only a couple that were marked and they were Lucas graves. But note that I did NOT do an extensive search.
Now is a good time to go, it is warm and not all the foliage is out yet making things a bit easier. This GPS should get you close 38.309655,-82.779152.
This GPS location is at the red teardrop marker in the Google Maps Link below. Just click on the link.
Enjoy! Lon
https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%B018'34.8%22N+82%C2%B046'45.0%22W/@38.3100254,-82.7812763,820m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d38.309655!4d-82.779152
Thank you! I was there several years ago. There was an elderly man who lived in the mobile home across the road. He told me that the cemetery was just about 50 yards from the road. I was apprehensive about going on in. There were No Trespassing signs up. I was told that there are mine shafts in the area. I know not to go during the summer due to snakes…I am not sure if Jake is buried there. I think he lived in Coalton. Not sure. Thank you again for answering and for all that you do! Rose
Rose,
The info the local gave you is accurate. There are mining remnants there but they are not dangerous if you take any care as to where you walk. There are also rattlesnakes in the area but in all my experience in these areas I have only heard of people seeing rattlesnakes, I do not ever recall anyone actually being bit by one.
Unless there has been some change very recently you can access the cemetery, that land is not sequestered. If that cemetery sign is still there, do not let that fool you. The Lunsford Cemetery is up the hill a bit and off the road. The sign is NOT at the exact Lunsford Cemetery location. My cited GPS will get you either at the cemetery or very close.
Enjoy! Lon