Sacred Ground: Laxton Cemetery

Of the hundreds of cemeteries in Scott County, none are as intricately linked to the law enforcement past of this community as Laxton Cemetery, the family burial ground located in the old Laxton stomping grounds of the Buffalo community east of Huntsville.

Two sheriffs and multiple other lawmen are counted among the Laxton family, which descended from Thomas Laxton. Both of those sheriffs are among the just over 200 people buried at Laxton Cemetery. It is a meticulously-maintained cemetery at the base of Shug Mountain, the ridge that separates Buffalo Creek from Brushy Branch just off Sugar Grove. Shug Mountain itself is named for one of the Laxtons: Shug Laxton, who died in 1955, though he is not buried at the cemetery there.

The Goad family

The Laxton Cemetery may not have started with the Laxton family, but with the Goad family.

Among the many graves at Laxton Cemetery that are marked with modern, commercial stones, there are dozens of graves marked with uninscribed field stones. Some of these graves are identified by metal funeral home markers that were placed many years after the fact.

Many of the graves that are identified with funeral home markers are Goads. Among them: Berry Goad, Arlena Goad, Cindy Goad, Emily Goad, Flora Goad, John Goad, Mary Goad, Tilmon Goad, Virginia Goad and Wilma Goad.

None of these graves include dates of birth or death. In his 1994 book, Cemeteries of Scott County, Tennessee, cemetery historian Robert Bailey includes the names but does not note birth and death dates.

Let’s focus first on the grave of John Goad, which is marked by an uninscribed field stone with a metal funeral home marker. Several genealogy websites — which, by their very nature, are prone to errors — identify John Goad as being the brother of Abraham Goad, the Revolutionary War veteran who settled on what became known as the Vanderpool Farm south of Huntsville. This John Goad is believed to have died about 1795.

It’s not clear where this report initiated, though it shows up on several websites. Several other websites, it should be noted, report that the John Goad who is Abraham Goad’s brother died in Sullivan County in upper East Tennessee.

There is no evidence to corroborate the idea that this John Goad who died in 1795 is buried at Laxton Cemetery. At the same time, there is no evidence to disprove the idea — although there is some circumstantial evidence to hint at it (more on that later).

If the report of John Goad, brother of Abraham, being buried at Laxton Cemetery could be corroborated, Laxton Cemetery would likely be the oldest known cemetery in Scott County. When Bailey compiled his exhaustive inventory of Scott County cemeteries in 1994, the oldest stone he documented was a broken stone dating to 1812, and was located at the Davis Cemetery in Winfield. The oldest intact stone noted by Bailey dated to 1826 and was located at Angel-Wright Cemetery at Angel Valley.

The Goad family was originally from Virginia. It is well-established that Abraham Goad moved to present-day Scott County at some point prior to his death in 1816. He is said to be buried at Vanderpool Cemetery. He was the uncle of John Sevier, the famous Indian fighter who was the first governor of Tennessee. Sevier was one of 12 children born to Joannah Goad, Abraham Goad’s sister who married Valentine Sevier.

While Abraham Goad’s move to present-day Scott County is fairly well-established, the move of his brother, John Goad, to Sullivan County in upper East Tennessee is also well-established. This move occurred in the early 1780s. John Goad was granted 33 acres by North Carolina in 1782, and in 1787 he signed a petition requesting statehood for the State of Franklin.

It was at this location in 1790 that one of John Goad’s children, Agnes, and two of his grandchildren were killed in an Indian massacre.

Did John Goad move to Buffalo Creek in present-day Scott County between that point in 1790 and his death in 1795? Again, there’s no evidence to either corroborate or disprove the report.

There were very few white settlers on the Cumberland Plateau before the year 1800, and the exact dates of their arrival have not been pinpointed by historians. Prior to the signing of the Third Treaty of Tellico in 1805, the Cumberland Plateau was considered to be Indian territory. Even the first Treaty of Tellico, which saw the Cherokee relinquish their claims on lands between the Clinch River and the base of the Cumberland Plateau, wasn’t signed until 1798. Nevertheless, a few white settlers had begun to move into the region even before the Indians gave up the land. One of those may have been Mikel Low of Smokey Creek. He has historically been regarded as the first white settler of present-day Scott County. We don’t know for sure when Mikel Low arrived at Smokey Creek, but it was after 1794, when he married his wife, Maria Bortner, in Pennsylvania.

What seems most likely, based on established research, is that John Goad died in Sullivan County, Tenn., and some of his children moved to western Kentucky.

The Goad-Laxton connection

Whether or not the Goad family at Buffalo Creek was connected to the Goad family at New River, and whether or not they descended from John Goad, the brother of Abraham Goad, one thing is very clear: the connection between the Goads and the Laxtons occurred with Elizabeth Goad, who married Thomas Laxton and became the matriarch of Scott County’s large Laxton family.

As you might expect, given the murkiness of the known history of Buffalo Creek’s Goad family, it is not clear who Elizabeth Goad’s parents were. If John Goad, the brother of Abraham Goad, did truly move from Sullivan County to present-day Scott County, Elizabeth Goad may have been his granddaughter.

The Laxton family

In her book, County Scott and Its Mountain Folk, historian Esther Sharp Sanderson wrote: “Thomas Laxton, with all his worldly possessions on his back, trudged on foot carrying two hound pups and some fruit trees to Smoky, from North Carolina. He later moved to Buffalo, where he married and reared a large family…

“These Laxtons were excellent farmers and good citizens. They owned extensive farms on Paint Rock and Buffalo Creeks. They all liked to hunt, and they usually kept four or five hounds that were well trained for hunting small game, such as raccoons and groundhogs, and for the fox chases.”

Thomas Laxton was born in South Carolina in 1795. Exactly when he moved to Buffalo Creek isn’t clear, but he served in the East Tennessee Militia during the War of 1812. He entered the war at Knoxville in 1814. The earliest court records place him in Campbell County — which included Buffalo Creek prior to Scott County’s formation in 1849 — in 1836. More court records place him in Campbell County in 1838, and he appeared in the Campbell County census in 1840.

(It’s worth noting that there is a James Laxton buried at Laxton Cemetery with an uninscribed field stone and a funeral home marker that identifies him. The aforementioned online genealogy websites list his dates of birth and death as being 1750-1825. If that’s accurate, he would have been the first Laxton buried at Laxton Cemetery, and would have been a generation older than Thomas Laxton — perhaps an uncle.)

If Sanderson’s writings are correct, and Laxton married after he made the move to Buffalo Creek, that would obviously help substantiate the idea that the Goad family predated the Laxton family there.

In any event, it was with Thomas and Elizabeth Goad Laxton that the large Laxton family of Buffalo Creek took root.

More on Thomas and Elizabeth Laxton

The burial location of both Thomas and Elizabeth Laxton is unclear. It stands to reason that they might be buried in two of the graves at Laxton Cemetery that are marked with uninscribed field stones.

The identity of Elizabeth Laxton’s parents is also unclear. However, she may have told a census enumerator in 1880 that her father was born in Ireland. That is the interpretation of transcribers, though the cursive handwriting on the original document is hard to make out. It’s easy to see how the transcribers interpreted the enumerator’s original text as being Ireland, but it is inconclusive. (For context on how these things sometimes get mixed up, the same transcriber concluded that Elizabeth Laxton told the census enumerator that her mother was born in “Penn.”, short for Pennsylvania. But it appears that the abbreviation on the original document was actually “Tenn.” for Tennessee.

If Elizabeth Laxton’s father was indeed born in Ireland, it would mean she wasn’t descended from the same family as Abraham Goad of New River, and would almost certainly shatter the narrative that the John Goad buried at Laxton Cemetery is Abraham Goad’s brother who died in 1795. But, again, the interpretation of that 1880 census is hardly conclusive.

That same 1880 census helps unravel some of the mystery of the Goad family. Elizabeth Laxton was by that point a widow and living with her son, Thomas Laxton Jr. (1840-1923). Also living in the home was Thomas Laxton Jr.’s mother-in-law, Sarah Goad. Her age was listed as 57, which would place her birth sometime around 1827.

In the 1860 census, Sarah Goad had five children living at home: Johnson, Phoebe, Tilmon, Nancy Jane and John, ranging in age from 17 to five.

It was Nancy Jane Goad who married Thomas Laxton Jr. It’s not clear when she died, though it was apparently between 1870 and 1880, based on census records. Her burial location isn’t known, but it isn’t unreasonable to assume that she’s buried in one of the unidentified graves at Laxton Cemetery.

We already know that Tilmon Goad was one of the Goads buried at Laxton Cemetery whose grave is marked with an uninscribed field stone that had a funeral home marker added years later. Based on census records, it seems that he also died sometime between 1870 and 1880.

This information begs the question: if Tilmon Goad, who died in the 1870s, was buried in a grave marked with an uninscribed field stone marked with a funeral home marker placed years later, might the John Goad who is buried in the exact same fashion at the cemetery be his brother who appears in the 1860 census, rather than the John Goad who died almost a century before? It certainly seems plausible.

Adding to the “circumstantial evidence” that the 1795 death date for Laxton Cemetery’s John Goad might be incorrect is that other dates added to online sites for Goads born at Laxton Cemetery are incorrect. For example, Berry Goad is listed as born 1833 and died 1901. This is probably incorrect; these are the same birth and death dates for Little Berry Goad who is buried at Goad Cemetery near Skull Creek.

Meanwhile, Sarah Goad died in 1905. She is the only Goad buried at the Laxton Cemetery with a commercial, inscribed stone. Her relation to Thomas Laxton’s mother, Elizabeth Goad Laxton, isn’t clear.

It should be pointed out that there is some conflicting information. In his book, Scott County in the Civil War, Paul Roy cited Sarah Goad’s application for a mother’s Civil War pension after her son, Johnson, died of illness late in the war. In the pension, according to Roy, Goad said that she was a single mother living on Buffalo Creek who never wed, and that Johnson was her only son. Roy also wrote that the pension was stopped in 1893 due to Goad’s death. The reason for the discrepancies isn’t clear. Obviously further research is needed to clear up the history of the Goad family at Buffalo Creek. However, what is perfectly clear is that one of those Goads: Elizabeth, married the pioneer Thomas Laxton and is an ancestor to all the Laxtons living in Scott County today.

The Laxtons Through the Years

Esau Laxton, the great-grandson of Thomas Laxton, twice served as Scott County Sheriff in the 1900s. He was first elected in 1928, replacing another Buffalo lawman, Isham Chambers, who died of flu in 1928 and is buried at Chambers Cemetery a few miles away. Esau Laxton was Isham Chambers’ brother-in-law; Chambers married Laxton’s sister, Nancy Jane.

Laxton was re-elected in 1930 and 1932. He could not serve a fourth term due to term limits at the time, and was replaced in 1934 by Herbert Bilbrey. He then returned to office in 1936, serving another term before being replaced by Frank Butler.

Esau Laxton’s son, Jack Laxton, later served as sheriff for most of the 1960s and from 1986 to 1994. Like his father, Jack Laxton served three terms in the ‘60s before having to leave office due to term limits.

Another of Esau Laxton’s sons, William Esau “Bill” Laxton Jr., served as chief of police in Oneida before moving to Texas. And Esau Laxton’s grandson, Darryl Laxton — Jack Laxton’s son — has served as Oneida’s chief of police since 2010. 

Esau Laxton (died 1956), Jack Laxton (died 2002) and Bill Laxton (died 2021) are all buried at Laxton Cemetery.

They’re only a few of the many Laxtons who are buried at the cemetery at Buffalo. Through Esau Laxton’s lineage, his father Isham Laxton was buried there in 1941, just as his grandfather Jackie Laxton was in 1918.

Among Thomas Laxton’s other children buried there: Alfred Laxton in 1892 and Thomas Laxton Jr. in 1923.

Among Jackie Laxton’s other children to be buried there: Tilda Phillips in 1920 and Thomas Laxton in 1923. 

Another of Jackie Laxton’s children, John Jackson “Shug” Laxton Jr., was buried at the aforementioned Chambers Cemetery at Buffalo in 1955. While Shug Laxton was the namesake for Shug Mountain, one of his sons, Dexter Laxton (1894-1982; buried at Scott Memorial Gardens in Oneida) is the namesake for one of the roads connecting Oneida to Pine Hill.

As for Esau Laxton’s generation, among his sisters to be buried at the Laxton Cemetery are sister Nancy Jane (died 1969), sister Nannie (died 1917), sister Della (died 1918), brother Sevier (died 1902), sister Lumellie (died 1898), sister Cordie (died 1977), sister Darthama (died 1901), brother Charley (died 1910), and brother Arzo (died 1989).

Almost all of Esau Laxton’s children were buried at Laxton Cemetery, in addition to son Jack. Among them: Wilbert (died 1918), Lester (died 1991), Dilbert (died 1937), Thurman (died 1999), Mary (died 2008) and Bill (died 2021). First-born son Virgil, who died as a child in 1918, may have been buried at Laxton Cemetery, as well.

Of course, the Laxton family hasn’t remained in the Buffalo area of Scott County — although a few have. They’ve since spread throughout Scott County and beyond. That’s perhaps most notably the case with Sheriff Jack Laxton, who married into the Thomas family at Grave Hill. While he and his wife, Alma, are both buried at Laxton Cemetery at Buffalo, they lived most of their life at Grave Hill and raised a large family there. 

The Cemetery Today

There are just over 200 people buried at Laxton Cemetery. The most recent burial there was Retha Chambers Laxton, wife of Otis Laxton, who died Dec. 19, 2022.

Cemetery Census

LAXTON CEMETERY
GPS Coordinates: 36.44817, -84.41933
First Burial: 1795*
Last Burial: 2022

Ancle Abbott, 1943-1943
Carl Bridges, 1893-1971
Ethel Laxton Bridges, 1895-1980
Janet Broxterman, 1952-1952
Jamison C. Bryant, 1977-1977
LaMance Bryant, 1978-1978
Richard L. Bryant, 1970-1998
Artha Laxton Byrd, 1899-1981
Eddie Camp, 1948-2024
Bobby J. Chambers, 1933-1996
Emma Phillips Chambers, 1925-1998
Estelle Roark Chambers, 1935-2009
Isham G. Chambers, 1924-2001
James E. Chitwood, 1944-1982
Mary Laxton Chitwood, 1905-1964
Gladys Bridges Creech, 1916-2002
Elvina Lay DeMoss, 1949-2022
Infant Duncan, 1917-1917
Dock Duncan, 1882-1938
Nannie Laxton Duncan, 1888-1917
Laura Laxton Dyer, 1925-2009
Infant Ellis, N/A-N/A
James Ellis, 1935-1983
Milford E. Ellis, 1911-1994
Arthur C. Garland, 1922-1992
Mary Laxton Garland, 1933-2010
Ashalee D. Gibson, 1983-1984
Billy R. Gibson, 1955-2016
Lakie Chambers Gibson, 1919-2000
Laura Phillips Gibson, 1965-2021
Samuel H. Gibson, 1925-1986
Vernia L. Gibson, 1954-1954
Arlena Goad, N/A-N/A
Berry Goad, N/A-N/A
Cindy Goad, N/A-N/A
Emily Goad, N/A-N/A
Flora Goad, N/A-N/A
John Goad, N/A-N/A
Mary Goad, N/A-N/A
Sarah Goad, 1827-1905
Tilmon Goad, N/A-N/A
Virginia Goad, N/A-N/A
Wilma Goad, N/A-N/A
Flora Laxton Honeycutt, 1898-1975
James K. Honeycutt, 1935-1935
John M. Honeycutt, 1908-1966
Jonah Honeycutt, 1915-1992
Vina Chambers Honeycutt, 1901-1985
Emery H. Hughett, 1905-1985
Infant Hughett, N/A-N/A
Infant Hughett, N/A-N/A
Infant Hughett, N/A-N/A
Infant Hughett, N/A-N/A
Sarah Laxton Hughett, 1903-1991
Debbie L. Lawson, 1960-1960
Alfred Laxton Sr., 1821-1892
Alma Thomas Laxton, 1929-2020
Alonzo Laxton, 1900-1971
Alvin Laxton, 1899-1994
Alvin Laxton, N/A-N/A
Amanda Sharp Laxton, 1822-1914
Arlena Thompson Laxton, 1858-1941
Arvil Laxton, N/A-N/A
Arzo Laxton, 1903-1989
Becky Laxton, N/A-N/A
Infant Laxton, N/A-N/A
Infant Laxton, 1944-1944
Darthama Laxton, 1900-1901
Delbert Laxton, 1927-2019
Dilbert R. Laxton, 1920-1937
Dorothy Laxton, 1906-1925
Earnest Laxton, 1902-1918
Easter Chambers Laxton, 1879-1914
Elbert Laxton, 1923-1924
Elsie Owens Laxton, 1905-1991
Emma Trammell Laxton, 1879-1974
Ethan Laxton, 1879-1976
Evon F. Laxton, 1926-2008
Floyd C. Laxton, 1935-2006
Gary Laxton, 1950-1950
H.H. Laxton, 1894-1894
Helen Pennington Laxton, 1902-1988
Howard Laxton, 1915-1978
Hugh Laxton, 1912-1976
Infant Laxton, N/A-N/A
Infant Laxton, N/A-N/A
Infant Laxton, N/A-N/A
Infant Laxton, 1939-1939
Infant Laxton, 1910-1910
Inglesaul Laxton, 1885-1899
Isham Laxton, 1865-1941
Ivory Acres Laxton, 1905-1993
Jack Laxton, N/A-N/A
Jack O. Laxton, 1923-2002
Jacob W. Laxton, 1985-2022
James Laxton, N/A-N/A
James C. Laxton, 1913-1987
James “Mount” Laxton, 1873-1930
James S. Laxton, 1894-1902
Jane Laxton, N/A-N/A
Janet D. Laxton, 1958-2003
Jerry W. Laxton, 1953-1953
Jim H. Laxton, 1949-2024
John Laxton, 1866-1924
Jackie Laxton Sr., 1830-1918
Judy L. Laxton, 1946-1946
Julia Trammell Laxton, 1877-1956
Karen R. Laxton, 1949-1992
Kathleen Yancey Laxton, 1925-2016
Kermit Laxton, 1930-2019
Laurah West Laxton, 1894-1917
Leon Laxton, 1923-1960
Lester R. Laxton, 1916-1991
Levi Laxton, 1927-1999
Levi Laxton, 1867-1927
Loma Wright Laxton, 1906-1994
Lothrey J. Laxton, 1876-1876
Lumellie Laxton, 1896-1898
Marie Hawkins Laxton, 1918-2007
Martha Laxton, N/A-N/A
Maudie Laxton, 1920-1950
Mertie West Laxton, 1897-1987
Milford Laxton, 1936-2021
Millard Laxton, 1914-1916
Millie L. Laxton, N/A-N/A
Nannie Laxton, N/A-N/A
Ohlen H. Laxton, 1901-1955
Ollie Laxton, N/A-N/A
Ophelia Jeffers Laxton, 1927-2018
Otis Laxton, 1942-2007
Paralee Trammell Laxton, 1866-1932
Ray Laxton, 1918-1918
Retha Chambers Laxton, 1943-2022
Robert B. Laxton, 1938-1939
Rosa Laxton, 1880-1880
Rosalie Hollenbeck Laxton, 1928-2017
Rose Carson Laxton, 1911-1993
Sandra R. Laxton, 1947-1947
Sarah Thomas Laxton, 1825-1893
Sylvester L. Laxton, 1884-1891
Thomas Laxton, 1863-1923
Thomas Laxton Jr., 1840-1923
Thurman O. Laxton, 1921-1999
Tom Laxton Jr., N/A-N/A
Ulysses S. Laxton, 1915-1918
Wilburn Laxton, 1939-1939
Wilda Laxton, 1944-1944
William E. Laxton Jr., 1932-2021
William Esau Laxton Sr., 1884-1956
Effie A. Lay, 1939-1941
Gada N. Lay, 1915-2008
Nancy Laxton Marcum, 1887-1969
Sheena A. Nelson, 1997-1997
Auburn W. Owens, 1925-1979
Etta M. Owens, 1958-1958
Mable Hughett Owens, 1926-1989
Arthur C. Phillips, 1897-1983
Darlene Phillips, 1946-1946
Flonnie Laxton Phillips, 1899-1982
Infant Phillips, 1931-1931
Matilda Laxton Phillips, 1859-1920
Ulysses S. Phillips, 1890-1965
Elizabeth S. Roark, 1979-1979
James E. Roark, 1939-2013
Juanita Bales Roark, 1939-1971
Lawrence V. Roark Jr., 1981-2015
Lawrence V. Roark Sr., 1932-2014
Paul B. Roark, 1935-1964
Sandra Strunk Roark, 1937-1979
Stella Phillips Roark, 1897-1984
Benny E. Roberts, 1937-N/A
Gene A. Roberts, 1935-1995
Donald M. Ruthenberg, 1930-2021
Tina Laxton Ruthenberg, 1936-2025
Allen Sexton, 1964-1988
Cosby Sexton, 1924-2016
Lonnie Sexton, 1957-1994
Pauline Laxton Sexton, 1930-1998
Julia Stevens, N/A-N/A
Clarence L. Sullivan, 1888-1970
Deliah West Sullivan, 1878-1955
John B. Terry, 1924-2018
Mary Laxton Terry, 1930-2008
Jesse Wallen, N/A-N/A
Kennedy H. Wassom, 2011-2011
Dorum J. West Sr., 1916-1981
Evie West, 1910-1992
Harlan West, 1967-2020
John B. West Sr., 1891-1927
Luke West, 1978-1978
Martha Laxton West, 1891-1918
Ommer H. West, 1936-1937
Onvy West, 1950-1950
Opal Laxton West, 1908-1938
Willard West, 1911-1913

*The earliest reported burial at Laxton Cemetery was in 1795. However, there is no evidence to corroborate this report. There are many unidentified graves, or graves without dates, at Laxton Cemetery, making it impossible to date the cemetery with certainty.

This story is part of the Scott County Cemetery Project.