Thursday, July 12, 2012

Leeper Cemetery - Mary Smith

Recently I visited Leeper Cemetery in Livingston County, Kentucky. It is easy to find. From U.S. Hwy 60 at Smithland, turn onto Hwy. 70 (Tiline Road) and go 7.6 miles to Sugar Creek Road. Turn right onto Sugar Creek Road and go .4 miles to the cemetery on the left side of the road. The cemetery is well maintained, but there are a number of broken and fallen tombstones. The purpose of my visit was to find the tombstone of Mary Jenkins Perkins Smith. A Perkins descendant told me that some years ago he had located her tombstone under a layer of dirt and leaves. I wanted to see it for myself.

Mary Jenkins was the daughter of Bartholomew Jenkins of Caldwell County, Kentucky. Shortly before her marriage to John D. Perkins on 9 January 1827 in Livingston County, John Miller was appointed her guardian. A parent or guardian had to give consent for minors to marry in Kentucky. Miller was likely appointed guardian so that he could give consent for the marriage. Consent for John D. Perkins to marry was given by his brother and guardian, Brooks Perkins.

John D. Perkins died before 17 October 1841, when Mrs. Mary Perkins, widow, married John Smith in Livingston County.

According to the Perkins descendant, the dates of the tombstone of Mary Smith show she was born 5 September 1807 and died 19 September 1869. The broken stone is in such bad shape that it is almost impossible read anything but her name today. The stone is next to that of her husband, John Smith. No dates are visible on his tombstone.



Tombstone of Mary Smith




Tombstone of John Smith


Tombstones photographed 25 May 2012.

4 comments:

Larry Johnson said...

THANK YOU so much for this post!

I have wondered for some time about the Smith-Perkins connection and this finally explains it.

Do you have any information about the children of John Perkins and Mary Jenkins?

Brenda Joyce Jerome said...

I'm glad it helped. I don't think I have any info on John Perkins and Mary Jenkins, but will check. You can contact me at bjjerome@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I have been searching for an earlier connection between SMITH and PERKINS and believe there is one -- there is a Samuel Smith who lived next to Solomon Perkins in Pendleton District, SC on the 1790 Census, and a Samuel Smith who is found in Livingston Co. KY on Skinframe Creek in the early 1800s. Solomon Perkins sold land in Livingston Co. KY to Samuel Smith when the family left for Illinois around 1808.

There is a BROOKS family in Wilkes County, GA who intermarried with SMITHs. I've wondered where the name Brooks Perkins comes from -- Solomon Perkins' son Isaac named a son Brooks Perkins in Illinois.

Brenda Joyce Jerome said...

I would not be surprised if there were an earlier connection in Pendleton Dist. So many early settlers in this part of KY came from that area of SC. Skinframe Creek would fall into Caldwell County in 1809.