|
Peake-Peek Cemetery of Little Creek
Little Creek, Yancey Co., North Carolina
Documented by
Beth Bradford-Pytel
updated on
01/03/16
|
HOME
|
|
|
Photo taken
August 2014 with the installation of the Peake sign crafted by Beth
Bradford and A. J. Fender |
|
|
|
|
|
"Peake-Peek Cemetery" (also referred to as the Peake &
Hensley Cemetery according to early death certificates) is most likely named after Rev. John
Willis Peake who was a Captain in the Civil War for the CSA and also served as a Baptist Preacher for 12 years.
Although not proven, I suspect William Bryson Hensley and wife Elizabeth
Cooper to be buried here. The
active cemetery is located deep in the woods on a hill, fenced in and
taken care of. To access the cemetery, it's recommended to
park the car at the designated lot and walk up the hill.
There are several unmarked graves.
DIRECTIONS: Proceed on 19W east towards Burnsville. At
the stop sign (Bee Log junction) you will make a right and cross the
Cane River. Guy General Store/Gas Station is on the left.
Continue on Little Creek Road for 3/10 of a mile and continue straight
on Phillips Road for 2/10 of a mile (Little Creek Road bends to
the left). Turn left on
Hensley Farm Road (private road) and
proceed 4/10 of a mile; immediately turn left after passing the Old
Marcus Hensley house on the right (the turn is almost a U-turn).
Cemetery is 5/10 of a mile up the hill from Hensley Farm Road.
Accessible by 4WD only.
This project was in partnership and collaboration with Julian Fender
whom I give special thanks for his time and effort. All
cemetery photos (unless otherwise noted) are courtesy of Julian Fender.
|
|
|
|
|
SURNAMES:
ADKINS
[#24-25],
BYRD
[#2],
CONLEY [#10], HENSLEY
[#6-7], MCNEILL
[#7],
PEAKE / PEEK
[#1-2; 5; 9-14; 29], PHILLIPS
[#8]
|
 1.
PEAKE, John Willis Rev.
b. October 2, 1810 -
d. July 13, 1890
"Age 79Y, 9 M, 11 D,
He Labored as a Baptist Minister 12 Years"
[s/o James Peake and
Mary West of Pittsylvania, VA; married Achsa Byrd]
NOTE: He was born in
Pittsylvania, VA and moved to western NC to acquire a large tract of
land. In 1834, he was noted in the Yancey Co. records serving
as a juror. During the Civil War, he served as Capt. Co.
G, 58th Regiment, CSA; after the war he became a Baptist preacher and
farmer. John was the Executor of his brother's
Will
(William A. Peake / Peek)
CIVIL WAR FILE: 11 Pages
|
|
|
2.
PEAKE, Achsa "Axie" M. BYRD
[suspected - unmarked]
b. December 17, 1817
- d. 1908
[d/o Samuel Byrd and Mary
Briggs buried Byrd Cem.; w/o John W. Peake;
children:
1) Mary "Polly-Ann" #29,
2) Samuel John - md.
Elizabeth Williams (d/o
Pittman Williams and Sarah Whitson)
3) Aldecca A. - md.
Clingman Letterman
4)
Hiram Rigney
- md. Laura Christine Ayers
1934 ARTICLE - "Couple Honored"
5)
James C.
6)
Nellie Ann
- md. William Issam Hensley buried
Hensley Cem, Little Creek
7) Ruth Dulcenia - md.
David A. Letterman
8) William Allan
(#9) - md. Margaret Conley (#10)
9) John Willis. Jr. - md.
Annie McIntosh
|
|
|
 3.
Unmarked
|
|
|
 4.
Unmarked
|
|
|
 5.
PEAKE, Charles R.
b. May 9, 1896 - d.
January 23, 1974
|
|
|
 6. HENSLEY,
William Martin
b. January 1,
1906 - d. June 28, 1996
[s/o Samuel Turner Hensley
and Millie Adkins]
7.
HENSLEY, Gladys Vida
MCNEILL
b. April 3, 1926 - d.
January 7, 2000
|
|
|
 8.
PHILLIPS, Bobbie
b. April 27, 1939 -
d. May 25, 1939
[s/o Arthur Phillips and
Edythe Hensley]
|
|
|
 9.
PEEK, "Dr." William Allen
b. 1854 - d. 1937
[b. October 17, 1855 - d.
January 4, 1937]
[s/o John Willis Peake and
Axie Byrd; married Margaret Conley on Sept. 21, 1876]
NOTE: Per Yancey Co.
DEATH CERT #438
died age 81 from "complication of
troubles; stomach catarrh, high blood pressure, senile, dementia."
Served as the county Coroner and also a local self taught physician for the
Ramsey-Bee Log areas of Yancey Co., According to an
Affidavit, he
attested that he never went to medical school. Also he was
mentioned in the book
"The Child that Toileth Not" where a local
resident referred to him as "Jack-Leg" doctor because her son died from
a blow to the head.
Affidavit of W.A. Peek
Info on Dr. W. A. Peake
|
|
|
 10.
PEEK, Margaret CONLEY
"1857 - d. 1931"
b. 1856 - d. April 14,
1930
"Wife of Dr. W.A. Peek"
[d/o John Conley and
Margaret Bailey; children: Mary D.
#12, Raleigh #13, Horice
#14, Hadley Smith, Belle,
Charles]
|
|
|
 11.
PEEK, Bessie F.
b. June 9, 1872 - d.
September 10, 1911
"Dear Mother of Glen
Higgins - Gone but Not Forgotten"
|
|
|
 12.
PEEK, Mary D.
b. July 20, 1877 - d.
January 28, 1881
"Suffer Little Children
and Come Unto Me"
13.
PEEK, Raleigh
b. April 16, 1879 - d.
October 1884
14. PEEK,
Horace
b. October 30, 1880 - d. ?
[children of William A. Peek and
Margaret Conley #9/10]
|
|
|
 15. Unmarked
|
|
|
 16.
Unmarked
|
|
|
 17.
Unmarked
|
|
|
 18.
Unmarked
|
|
|
 19.
HENSLEY, Jasper Daniel [Unmarked]
b. August 10, 1856 -
d. August 17, 1942
[s/o William Bryson
Hensley and Elizabeth "Betsie" Cooper; married 1st Lydia Ann
Crain on April 5, 1878 (d/o Andrew Jackson Crane and Mary Polly Wilson)
she died September 11, 1931 and is suspected to be buried at Sampson
Wilson Cem; married 2nd Mary --]
Children with Lydia Ann
Crain:
1. Arcemus Carter
2. Gilbert Bryson md.
Guy Lula Edney; he was killed by gunshot
buried Metcalf/Berry Hensley Cem.
3. Altha Jane
4. Susan Ann
5. Turner Melton
6. Samuel Monroe
7. Susan E.
8. Berry
9. Birdie E.
NOTE: Per the Yancey Co.
Death Cert #400-1942
; cause of death "cardio-vascular
disease"; his birth place was Flag Pond, Unicoi Co., TN; his parents are
noted in the record and buried "Hensley and Peek Cemetery" Ramsey
Township, NC. During the 1920 Census, Jasper and his new wife age
33 were living with his son-in-law and daughter Altha Hensley in
Asheville. Based on the death of Lydia Ann and the marriage to his
second wife 35 yrs his junior, it would appear they divorced.
|
|
|
 20. HENSLEY,
Elizabeth "Betsie" [COOPER]
[probable-
Unmarked]
b. May 1810* - d. abt.
1905
[married William Bryson
Hensley about 1835; children:
1) William Issam md.
1) Hannah Cooper-Bradford
buried SL Bradford Cem; 2) Nellie Ann Peake-Bailey
buried Hensley Cem.
2) James W. -served
as Pvt. Co. K, 13th Regiment -CSA; died in a military hospital
from dysentery; military records show he is buried at
Nashville Nat'l
Cemetery; noted as 5'-9", black hair, black eyes, dark complexion.
3) Lucinda
4) Samuel Turner
5) Joel Gilbert
Death
Cert #439 md. Carolina Shelton
buried Bald Mnt. Cem
6) Anne E.
7) Joshua E.
#22 md.
Lucretia Higgins
8) Jasper Daniel
#19 md. 1st Lydia Ann Crain; 2nd Mary of Flag
Pond, Tenn.
NOTE: Per the 1900 Yancey Co.
Census, Egypt Twp, HH #55, she was 90 yrs old living with first born
child, William Issam and family. She declared being born May 1810,
widow, born in NC and parents born in NC and had 9 children, 5 of whom
were alive in 1900. They lived next door to William Peake and
Margaret Conley family. Per William Issam Hensley's deposition for
his military pension, he explains that he was born at the mouth of
Cooper Branch in what is now Mitchell Co., NC. Therefore, I
suspect that his mother, Elizabeth Cooper was from that area and
descended from the Cooper line who resided in that area around 1830.
It is highly probable she is buried here based on her residency in 1900, her two son's
interred here and that the cemetery was called the
Hensley & Peake Cemetery noted in early death certificates.
|
|
|
 21.
HENSLEY, William Bryson [suspected - Unmarked]
b. abt. 1820 - d. before
1880?
[s/o Berry Hensley and
Elizabeth Littleton; married Elizabeth Cooper]
NOTE: I am still searching for the
burial of William Bryson and it is only suspected he may be here since his two
sons are buried here. The last census I could find for him was in
1870, Egypt Twp and noted with his wife and "Joel, Joshua, Jasper, Samuel and
Josiah." I could not find him in the 1880 Census and assume he died.
|
|
|
 22.
HENSLEY, Joshua E.
b. January 30, [1856*]
- d. June 4, 1909
[s/o William Bryson
Hensley and Elizabeth "Betsie" Cooper; he married Lucretia
Higgins on June 19, 1877 in Yancey Co., NC; had one daughter Margaret M.
Hensley who married CR Bailey, Jr.]
NOTE: Date is not correct in that
during the following censuses, he was noted as the following ages: 1860
Wash. Co., TN age 8; 1870 Yancey Co, NC age 15; 1880 Yancey Co., NC age
24; 1900 Yancey Co., NC b. May 1850 - age 40 and married for 22 yrs.
with one child. Per his marriage record, he was age 23 in 1877;
Lucretia was age 18. He also had a younger brother, Jasper Hensley
who was 4 years younger born in 1856.
The WILL of Joshua Hensley
|
|
|
 23. Unmarked
|
|
|
 24.
HENSLEY, Millie
ADKINS
b. 1870 - d. 1911
[w/o Samuel Turner
Hensley
buried W. I. Hensley Cem.; d/o Isaac Adkins and Polly Aletha Honeycutt
buried
Adkins Cem. Sioux
|
|
|
  25.
HENSLEY, Leah Lear
ADKINS
b. October 28, 1888
- d. December 18, 1925
"Faithful to Her Trust
Even Unto Death"
[d/o George Adkins and
Amanda C. Randolph;
w/o
Marcus Alonzo Hensley
(buried William I. Hensley Cem);
married of May 15, 1908. children:
Marie
(buried Edwards Cem) Edith, C. Issam, Hettie]
NOTE: Leah died of surgical
complications to remove a throat tumor performed by Dr. William A. Peake.
Marriage Cert
|
|
|
 26. Unmarked
|
|
|
 27.
HENSLEY, Rebecka
b/d. July 11, 1952
[d/o William Martin
Hensley and Gladys Vida McNeill]
|
|
|
 28. Unmarked
|
|
|
 29. PEEK,
Mary M.
b. February 11, 1841 - d.
June 5, 1928
"She Lived Alone but
Said She would not Die Alone"
[d/o Rev. John Willis
Peake and Achsa M. Byrd #1/2]
|
|
|
 30.
Unmarked grave - tombstone sitting in the stump. It appears the
tree was once planted at a plot and died, cut down.
Photo - bbpytel.
|
|
|
PHOTOS: left is a view of the Unaka mountains; right is the entrance
gate of the cemetery -courtesy of Julian Fender November 2011. |
All
rights reserved, B. Bradford-Pytel, 2011-present
