Tackett Cemetery
Over the past few years, the Sacred Ground series has profiled most of the cemeteries found within the boundaries of the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area inside Scott County. One of the last that haven’t yet been mentioned is the Tackett brothers graves on Station Camp Creek, near Charit Creek Lodge, about 3.5 miles west of the Big South Fork River.
Legend has it that buried here are two teenage brothers who suffocated to death in an attempt to escape forced enscription into the Confederate army during the Civil War.
The National Park Service has the two graves, marked with simple fieldstones, marked with a sign that says “Tackett Cabin & Graves 1863.” The site is located on the Twin Arches Loop Trail, just up the creek from Charit Creek Lodge. Near the graves are the remnants of a stone fireplace and chimney, where a cabin — supposedly a cabin occupied by the Tackett family — once stood.
The NPS tells the story this way on one of its trading cards that help tell the stories of the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area: “Hand-hewn tombstones mark the graves of the Tackett Brothers who hid from Confederate sympathizers in search of recruits in 1863. A female relative hid the teenagers under a feather mattress, and then pretended to be sick in bed. The boys smothered to death in their attempt to avoid being pressed into duty.”
The story is also included in a chapter of Enclave, a book about Scott County’s involvement in the Civl War that was published in 2022 by the Independent Herald:
“From the creek-bottom farmsteads near where Station Camp Creek and Charit Creek merge, about three miles west of the Big South Fork River, came the story of the Tackett brothers. As the story goes, an elderly relative who was caring for the boys — perhaps their mother or grandmother — heard the Rebels coming and hid the teenage boys beneath a feather tick, or mattress. She then lay atop it, pretending to be sick. Her act convinced the soldiers to leave. After they had gone, she pulled back the mattress to free the boys, only to discover that they had died of suffocation.”
Is this old legend real? Or just a tall tale?
EXPLORING THE MYSTERY
Confederate President Jefferson Davis authorized the South’s first draft on April 16, 1862. The act required all white males between the ages of 18 and 35 to serve three years of service. People who owned 20 or more slaves were exempted.
Because Scott County was considered part of the Confederacy, that law would have applied to young men from Scott County, as well. But hardly none of them obeyed the order to serve in the Confederate army. Most of the few men from this area who did serve in the Rebel army had enlisted prior to April 1862.
It was not uncommon for marauding Confederate guerrillas to force men and older boys into the fight. And, as such, men and boys would often take to the woods to hide when guerrillas approached their farms. (There were also men from Scott County forced to join the Union army, including a father and his son from Winfield.)
Although the legend of the Tackett brothers has frequently been told through the years, a formal connection between that incident and the famous Duck Shoals Skirmish — or Battle of No Business, as it was otherwise known has never been made. But on one of the two simple headstones at the Tackett Cemetery is this hand-carved inscription: “Ma 3 1863.”
That could be a reference to May 3, 1863 — which also happens to be about the same date as the Battle of No Business.
On that day, a band of Rebels led by Capt. Alec Evans raided Big South Fork River settlements on Station Camp Creek and Parch Corn Creek before seeking shelter for the night in the home of Jonathan Burke, located at Duck Shoals on the Big South Fork River a short distance downstream from Parch Corn Creek.
In his book, Dusty Bits of the Forgotten Past, historian H. Clay Smith wrote that the guerrillas captured three men: Till Slagel, Hudson Burke, and Jackson Smith. As Smith told it, the Rebels intended to hang Slagel and Burke, but the two men escaped. Polly Miller, who lived on the river, convinced the guerrillas to release Jackson Smith. Hudson Burke was Jonathan Burke’s nephew.
That night, as the Rebels slept inside the Burke home, they were attacked by a group of Home Guard men who had surrounded the cabin — including Hudson Burke and his brothers, Benjamin Burke and James Burke. The men yelled “This is Wolford’s Cavalry and the valley is full of soldiers!” which was a reference to the famous Union Col. Frank Wolford, who the Burke brothers had served under during t he war.
As the Rebel soldiers attempted to flee the cabin, several of them were shot dead — including Capt. Evans. Several more were killed, and at least two drowned in the river, which was at flood stage.
Between seven to 11 Rebels were killed in the skirmish. Given the inscription on the stone at the Tackett Cemetery, it seems likely that the Tackett brothers died during the same raid on the Big South Fork area that resulted in the Battle of No Business.
Not everyone is convinced. Some believe that the Tackett brothers never existed; that the story is just made up, and the graves on Station Camp Creek actually belong to members of another early family — and that the letters “MA” found on the stone are initials of a name, not a reference to a month of the year.
Indeed, there were no Tacketts found in Scott County — or in Fentress County — when the 1860 census was taken just before the start of the war. And the cemetery now known as the Tackett Graves was once known as the Kirk Phillips Cemetery.
However, there were Tacketts who lived in the Big South Fork area earlier in the 1800s. A small branch that flows into No Business Creek is called Tackett Creek. And the historian Benita Howell, who conducted significant research on the Big South Fork and its people, wrote that George Tackett was an early settler of the BSF, along with men like Elisha and Richard Harve Slaven, Jonathan Blevins, David Miller, Burdine and Anderson Young, and William Smith.
George Tackett owned about 100 acres at No Business prior to 1827, along with William Smith. It is for him that Tackett Creek is named. Documents published by the Natinoal Park Service indicate that William Tackett purchased the land on Station Camp Creek upstream from Charit Creek Lodge in 1848 (and that the land was purchased from him by Anderson Smith in 1853). It was earlier owned by Ali Hatfield, and before him by Burdine and Andrew (or Anderson) Young, according to NPS records.
When the 1850 census was taken, several Tacketts lived in Scott County, including John Tackett and his wife, Nancy. According to dates included in the census, John was about 65 at the time and Nancy was about 45. Also living in the home were 29-year-old Elizabeth Tackett, 14-year-old James Tackett, 14-year-old B. Canada, and 12-year-old Rachel Canada. This family appears to have lived in the area near Smokey Creek.
There was also a John Tackett, wife of Nancy, who served in Co. E, 14th Kentucky Infantry during the Civil War. However, that John and Nancy Tackett were significantly younger than the Tackett family living in Scott County in 1850. They were born about 1841 and 1848, respectively.
There were other Tacketts found in Scott County when the 1850 census was taken: 15-year-old Joseph, 10-year-old John, 8-year-old James and 5-year-old Mary lived with Phillip and Nancy Anderson. Nancy was a Tackett before her marriage to Phillip. However, this family also lived in the Smokey Creek area.
It’s not clear what became of George Tackett or William Tackett, the early settlers of the Big South Fork region. Kirk Phillips, the other name attached to the Tackett Graves, lived in the Big South Fork years later. He’s buried at the Katie Blevins Cemetery near Bandy Creek.
CONCLUSION
The Tackett brothers graves remain quite a mystery, one that will likely never be conclusively proven. However, the inscription on the stone — “MA 3 1863” and the fact that the Duck Shoals Skirmish occurred around the first of May in 1863 providing an intriguing coincidence that could lend credibility to an old legend that has been around for many years.