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Betty Knifley, Mary Ann Hixt, at Union Cemetery 2017-05-28 - Union Cemetery, 174 Milltown Church Road, Columbia, KY. - Photo by Ed Waggener, Columbiamagazine.com(c) . When Betty Shirley Knifley, Bliss, KY; left, and her sisterMary Ann Shirley Hixt, Rockfield, Warren County, KY, agreed to oversee the affairs of Union Cemetery, it was out of love for the community, to carry on the work of their father, the late James Edwin Shirley (1922-2014), and of Bob Moss, of Gradyville, KY, out of love for their father and for the community. It wasn't so much because of family, they thought. Both James E Shirley and their mother, the late Jessie Caldwell Tupman Shirley (1929-2010), are buried at Haven Hill. But in their work mapping the cemetery the sisters are finding family ties, or at least suspected ones. The tall monument in the far background is to a Shirley, who may be an ancestor. As is often the case with work in cemetery care, never before known kinships are learned. The cemetery is a must see for anyone interested in Adair County History, and not just for the large number of final resting places for Gradyville Flood victims. There are also Revolutionary War soldiers' graves, the relocated Gilmer Cemetery, moved to make way for Columbia's Walmart Center, and family plots for many of the great families of Gradyville and Bliss. Mrs.Knifley and Mrs. Hixt will be releasing information about the work and the effort to put the cemetery on a sound financial footing will be publicized in local media soon. - EW Permalink | Comments?

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