Sacred Ground: Foster Crossroads Cemetery
Wandering through the Foster Crossroads Cemetery, it isn’t surprising to find that lots of Boyatts are buried here.
This is, after all, Boyatt country. The Boyatt family was the first to settle the Foster Crossroads area west of Oneida, and remains prominent in the area today. There are several cemeteries in the area that serve as the final resting place for members of the Boyatt family, including the Davey Boyatt Cemetery on nearby Rob Watson Road. But this — the cemetery at the community’s Baptist church — is the largest, and oldest, of them all.
The Foster Crossroads community is often referred to as West Oneida. Geographically speaking, it is more north of Oneida than west. By the time you reach the Baptist church here — some seven miles from U.S. Highway 27 through Oneida — you’re less than a mile from the TN-KY line, which also marks the boundary of the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area.
The Foster Crossroads Cemetery dates back to the 1860s. There are several graves in the old portion of the cemetery — located at the top of the knoll above the church — that are marked by field stones that are mostly illegible. Among these were some of the oldest settlers of Foster Crossroads, including Thomas W. Boyatt and his wife, Susannah Maxwell Boyatt, who died in the 1860s.
Thanks to a monument donated by Mikki Boyatt — a second great-granddaughter of Thomas and Susannah Boyatt — and placed among the old field stones in recent years, we know that Foster and Susannah Boyatt are buried among those old stones.
The Boyatt family
Family genealogists have traced the Boyatt family all the way back to 11th century England. The first variation of the Boyatt surname appears as Boyd in 12rh century Scotland. The Boyd family were Scottish nobles. Sir Robert Boyd — mentioned frequently in the epic poem “The Wallace” by Blind Harry — was a direct ancestor of the Scott County Boyatt family.
Over time, variations of the Boyd surname included Boyett, Boyette, and finally, Boyatt. It was Edward Boyett, a third great-grandfather of Thomas Boyatt, who migrated to America in the mid 17th century, landing in Virginia Colony. From there, the Boyatts moved to North Carolina and eventually to Tennessee.
Jordan Boyatt (1770-1815) moved to Tennessee at some point around the beginning of the 19th century. A delinquent tax listing shows him in Anderson County in 1805. Jordan Boyatt was married to Elizabeth Gregory (1780-1810) and was the father of Foster Crossroads’ Thomas Boyatt, who was born in 1806, according to family genealogical sources.
Those same genealogical sources say that both Thomas and Elizabeth Boyatt died in Wayne County, Ky. It is worth noting that the northern part of what would become Scott County, Tenn. was for many years in the early 1800s considered to be part of Wayne County, Ky., due to confusion over where the state line was located.
Some historical accounts say that Jordan Boyatt came to the Big South Fork region with Martin Beatty, the prospector who is credited with discovering oil while drilling for salt brine near Bear Creek along the Big South Fork River, just a few miles from Foster Crossroads.
The Beatty well became one of the first commercial oil wells in the U.S., and the old-timers were scared when the tarry crude oil began bubbling to the surface of their well, fearing they had drilled straight into the pits of hell. When two men were hired to float barrels of the newly-discovered substance out of the remote Big South Fork area, their boat capsized at a major rapid on the river. The men returned with a story of the devil himself coming down the hill and smashing their boat, snatching the barrels of oil, and disappearing into the forest with it. Thus, the rapid came to be known as Devils Jump.
It’s not clear where Susannah Boyatt was buried in 1810, nor where her husband was buried in 1815. However, it seems that they had at least five children — one of them being Thomas W. Boyatt, born in 1806. He married Susannah Maxwell in 1827, and they wound up making their home at Foster Crossroads, on top of the plateau a few miles from the Big South Fork River.
Thomas and Susannah Boyatt had at least 10 children. The oldest of those was Jordan Boyatt, born in 1828. Jordan Boyatt (pronounced “Jurden”) settled along the headwaters of No Business Creek, west of the Big South Fork River, and was the father of Ransom “Ranse” Boyatt, who was murdered in 1933 amid the Jerome Boyatt saga.
The burial locations of most of Thomas and Susannah’s children are unknown. One of their children, son William, born in 1830, died at the age of one and was likely buried somewhere in the vicinity of Foster Crossroads. A few exceptions to the unknowns are Jordan Boyatt, who was buried on a ridge overlooking his farm, off Terry Cemetery Road in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, and Davey Boyatt and Elizabeth Boyatt Watters, both of whom are buried at the Davey Boyatt Cemetery off nearby Rob Watson Road, along with a number of other descendants of Thomas and Susannah Boyatt.
Another exception is Elisha Boyatt, born in 1839. He is buried at Foster Crossroads Cemetery and is the only of Thomas and Susannah Boyatt’s 10 children known for sure to be buried there. At the 1860 census, Elisha was the oldest of three Boyatt children still living at home, at age 21. Others included 18-year-old Margaret and 13-year-old Elizabeth.
The cemetery begins
Susannah and Thomas Boyatt may have been the first people buried at Foster Crossroads, in 1863 and 1864, respectively. It’s hard to say for sure, since the earliest graves at the cemetery are marked with fieldstones that are uninscribed or are illegible.
Beyond the graves of Thomas and Susannah Boyatt, the names of the earliest persons buried at Foster Crossroads are not recorded with certainty. The next verifiable grave does not show up until 1910, when their son, Elisha, died and was buried there. It’s worth noting that son Henderson, son Granville, and son David each died between 1869 and 1899 and their burial locations are unknown.
Elisha Boyatt, who served in Company K of the 30th Kentucky Infantry during the Civil War, was 70 when he died on April 26, 1910 and was buried at Foster Crossroads. He married Mary Flemmon Douglas, who would die 11 years later and is also buried at Foster Crossroads. She was from the same family of Douglases that later settled at Hazel Valley outside Oneida, and she and Elisha had at least six children. Most of them are buried at Foster Crossroads, including son Lewis (1872-1953), son Alvis (1874-1955), daughter Martha Bell (1878-1939), daughter Margaret Foster (1880-1977), daughter Sarah Bell (1886-1957), and daughter Eliza Jane West (1883-1962). Martha and Sarah married brothers from the Bell family.
Following Elisha’s death in 1910, burials at Foster Crossroads included Clarence Boyatt, Elisha Boyatt’s 18-year-old son, in 1918; James West, Elisha Boyatt’s son-in-law, in 1919; Maude Boyatt, Elisha Boyatt’s infant great-granddaughter, in 1920; Ruby Maxwell, another of Elisha Boyatt’s infant great-granddaughters, in 1921; and Elisha’s wife, Mary, in 1921.
The Foster family
In addition to the Boyatt family, the Foster family was very prominent at Foster Crossroads around the beginning of the 20th century … the family was, after all, the community’s namesake.
The Foster family hailed from nearby Grave Hill. William Esau Foster (1879-1965) is the oldest of the Foster family to be buried at Foster Crossroads, though he wasn’t the first to be buried there. He was a Spanish American War veteran who married Mary Alice Simpson. His parents were John and Emaline Phillips Foster.
It was Esau and Mary Alice’s next-to-youngest child, daughter Mildred, who was the first Foster buried at Foster Crossroads. She was just two years old when she died in 1921. Her older siblings Homer (1909-1971) and Mattie Koger (1915-1994) would both be buried at Foster Crossroads.
The Foster family also married into the Boyatt family. Ephraim Foster (1881-1959) married Margaret Boyatt (1880-1977), the daughter of Elisha Boyatt. They’re both buried at Foster Crossroads, along with most of their kids: Elzie (1905-1985), Geneva Terry (1907-2001), Arnie Slaven (1908-1993), Howard (1910-1999), Roy (1914-1962) and Glen (1919-1991). Several grandchildren are buried at the cemetery, as well.
The cemetery grows
Other surnames besides Boyatt and Foster began showing up at Foster Crossroads in the 1920s. The first of those was baby Helen Barnett, who died in 1921. Another child, Christeen Watters, age two, was buried there in 1921, and a newborn, Gertrude Hamby, was buried there in 1928.
William Boyatt, the son of Jordan Boyatt and grandson of Thomas Boyatt, was buried at Foster Crossroads when he died at age 85 in 1930. His wife, Rebecca Slaven, was buried there three years later.
One-year-old Francis Simpson was buried at the cemetery in 1930. And in 1931, John Thomas Applegate was buried at the cemetery. He was the husband of Agatha Butterfield Applegate, who was the school teacher at the Foster Crossroads School for eight years before retiring in 1932. Originally from Michigan, she taught school in Scott, Fentress and Morgan counties for more than 30 years. Following her husband’s death, she moved to Nashville to live with her daughter. She was buried at Foster Crossroads in 1956.
Dale Musgrove was buried at the cemetery in 1932, along with baby Doyle Foster, and Ezra Ross, a World War I veteran who was shot and killed.
In June 1933, Jerome Boyatt was bured at Foster Crossroads after being kidnapped from the Scott County Jail by a band of vigilantes, tortured and murdered. He had been accused of killing two lawmen — including the Pickett County sheriff and the sheriff’s son — at a Rock Creek mining camp a few months earlier. Amid the manhunt that was led by a Pickett County posse, his father, Ransom Boyatt, had been murdered at the family’s farm on No Business Creek.
Jerome Boyatt was Thomas Boyatt’s great-grandson; Ranse Boyatt was Thomas Boyatt’s grandson.
Years later, Ranse Boyatt’s widow, Poppie, was buried at Foster Crossroads, as well. Jerome’s brother, Eugene, who was present at the Rock Creek camp when the shooting incident occurred in 1933, was buried at Foster Crossroads in 1951 after he was killed in an accident along the O&W Railroad.
The Bell family
The most elaborate headstone at Foster Crossroads is a cenotaph that is in memoriam of World War II veteran Hollis Fields Bell.
Bell, who served in the U.S. Navy, was 20 years old when he went missing in January 1944. He was declared dead two years later.
Bell entered the service in June 1942, training in San Diego, Calif., and New London, Conn. He joined the war in August 1943 and obtained a rank of seaman first class. In 1944, he was aboard the submarine Scorpion patrolling the China Sea when the entire crew was lost. He was officially declared dead on January 11, 1946, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Victory Medal.
A marker for Bell is also placed at the Manila American Cemetery & Memorial in the Philippines.
Bell was the son of Tyree Rhodes Bell (1895-1950) and Sarah Ellen Boyatt Bell (1886-1957), both of whom are buried at Foster Crossroads.
Sarah was one of Elisha Boyatt’s daughters. She married Tyree Bell, a World War I veteran, and they lived in Oneida.
Tyree’s brother, Edward Luther Bell, was also buried at Foster Crossroads in 1946. Two of his daughters, Augileate and Edna Mae, are also buried there.
Meanwhile, Hollis Fields Bell isn’t the only U.S. military member killed in action whose memorial can be found at Foster Crossroads. Sgt. Willis Watters was buried there in 1951 when he was killed in action in Korea at the age of just 18. He served in Co. G, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, and was killed in action on May 28, 1951. He was the son of John Melton and Ella Foster Watters, who are also buried at Foster Crossroads.
And Lt. Cpl. James Dennis West was buried at Foster Crossroads in 1967 after being killed in the Vietnam War, also at the age of 18. The son of Luther and Lona Watson West, James West dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966. He was assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division in the Danang Municipality. He was wounded on May 13, 1967 and died two days later.
Cemetery Census
FOSTER CROSSROADS CEMETERY
GPS Coordinates: 36.58601, -84.55971
First Burial: 1863
Last Burial: 2025
Agatha B. Applegate 1875-1956
John T. Applegate 1868-1931
Clifton Barger 1943-1979
Dean Foster Barger 1939-2003
Helen Barnett 1921-1921
Augileate Bell 1915-1978
Edna M. Bell 1916-1995
Edward L. Bell 1888-1946
Hollis F. Bell 1923-1946
Martha Boyatt Bell 1878-1939
Sarah Boyatt Bell 1886-1957
Tyree R. Bell 1895-1950
Hattie Hill Birchfield 1921-2003
Jeffery D. Birchfield 1964-2021
Jerry L. Birchfield 1950-2021
Thurston Birchfield 1949-2004
Eva Boyatt Blevins 1904-1961
Benjamin D. Boutwell 1978-1978
David N. Boutwell 1941-1980
Christopher B. Bowling 1986-1986
Abe Boyatt 1922-2007
Alvis Boyatt 1874-1955
Archie Boyatt 1930-2015
Bobby D. Boyatt, 1932 – 2024
Brian G. Boyatt 1949-2022
Clarence Boyatt 1900-1918
Donald Boyatt 1933-1983
Elisha Boyatt 1839-1910
Eugene Boyatt 1913-1951
Fred C. Boyatt 1895-1983
Geraldine F. Boyatt 1935-1976
James J. Boyatt 1925-1975
Jerome Boyatt 1911-1933
Jesse Boyatt 1914-1954
Jewell Watters Boyatt 1911-1986
Jim Boyatt 1944-2006
Julia Sweet Boyatt 1901-1964
Lawrence Boyatt 1900-1983
Lester Boyatt 1906-1961
Lewis H. Boyatt 1872-1963
Lora M. Boyatt 1933-1933
Lucy Marcum Boyatt 1900-1988
Luvernia Slaven Boyatt 1879-1960
Mary Douglas Boyatt 1843-1921
Maude Boyatt 1920-1920
Oscar C. Boyatt 1927-1982
Patty A. Boyatt 1946-1946
Pete Boyatt 1954-2014
Rachel Foster Boyatt 1876-1953
Rebecca Slaven Boyatt 1854-1933
Robert L. Boyatt 1954-1955
Susanna M. Boyatt 1806-1863
Theodore Boyatt 1912-2001
Thomas W. Boyatt 1805-1864
Velma A. Boyatt 1936-1936
Wanda Boyatt 1934-2015
William Boyatt 1845-1930
Willie Boyatt 1934-1934
Willie E. Boyatt 1894-1975
Billy D. Cannon 1935-2010
Janice Foster Cannon 1937-2005
Billy C. Claiborne 1938-1977
Barbara Collins 1966-2005
Infant Collins 1965-1965
James D. Collins 1940-1977
Kathryn Slaven Strunk 1945-2021
Hazel West Fisher 1943-2008
Cynthia Foster 1948-1948
Della Smithers Foster 1896-1973
Dorothy Boyatt Foster 1911-2001
Doyle C. Foster 1932-1932
Elzie L. Foster 1905-1985
Ephraim Foster 1881-1959
Glen C. Foster 1919-1991
Harold Foster 1946-2007
Homer Foster 1909-1971
Howard Foster 1910-1999
Hurstle M. Foster 1912-1963
Letha Thomas Foster 1907-2004
Louella Phillips Foster 1930-2016
Loy C. Foster 1921-2006
Mae Terry Foster 1922-1978
Margaret Boyatt Foster 1880-1977
Mary Simpson Foster 1889-1945
Mildred I. Foster 1919-1921
Minnie Simpson Foster 1909-1986
Mitchell C. Foster 1907-1987
Olive Carroll Foster 1930-1992
Pauline Foster, 1937-2025
Roy Ledford Foster 1914-1962
William E. Foster 1879-1965
Sharon A. Garrett 1948-1948
Gertrude Hamby 1928-1928
Grace Boyatt Hamby 1907-1968
McKinley Hamby 1898-1976
Steve W. Hamby 1965-2004
Steve W. Hamby 1934-1986
Wilma Hill Hamby 1946-2018
George W. Hicks 1939-2022
Helen Slaven Hicks, 1943-2024
Lawrence Hicks 1931-1984
Shirlene Boyatt Hicks 1943-2019
Benjamin Hill 1917-1974
Dottie Hill N/A-N/A
John S. Hill 1876-1953
Wilda Watson Hill 1922-2002
Cleo Kidd 1934-1934
Gertrude D. King 1892-1951
Clifton R. Koger 1946-1994
Gilbert D. Koger 1910-2001
Mattie Foster Koger 1915-1994
Milford Koger N/A-N/A
Wesley T. Laxton 1965-2018
Skylar T. Lane 2004-2005
Myrtle Watters Manley 1921-2001
Arnold R. Maxwell 1925-1966
Elisha Maxwell 1891-1966
Florence B. Maxwell 1898-1981
Ruby J. Maxwell 1920-1921
Daley O. Musgrove 1894-1932
Alice L. Neal 1975-1975
James M. Neal 1935-1977
Jerry W. Neal 1970-1978
Lona Watson Ritchie 1924-2010
Jonathan N. Robison 1975-1975
Ezra Ross 1902-1932
Lena Foster Ryan 1944-1981
Devian R. Sexton 1995-1995
Trae Sexton, 2009-2024
Francis I. Simpson 1929-1930
Andrew C. Slaven 1915-1974
Arnie Foster Slaven 1908-1993
Imogene Shelton Slaven 1938-2021
Lola Boyatt Slaven 1907-1986
Lonnie Slaven, 1948 – 2024
Lula E. Slaven 1949-1966
McArthur Slaven 1945-2003
Mitchell H. Slaven 1915-2005
William C. Slaven 1942-2010
Winford S. Slaven 1937-2023
Poppie Litton Smith 1884-1978
Boyce Terry 1938-1939
Geneva Foster Terry 1907-2001
Homer Terry 1914-1982
Christeen Watters 1919-1921
Ella Foster Watters 1889-1958
Holland F. Watters 1927-1990
John M. Watters 1884-1938
Warren Watters 1924-2001
Willis Watters 1932-1951
Alta West 1918-1938
Charles D. West 1957-2019
Eliza Boyatt West 1883-1962
Infant West 1938-1938
Infant West N/A-N/A
James C. West 1880-1919
James D. West 1948-1967
Luther J. West 1911-1978
Paul T. West 1916-1977
This story is part of the Scott County Cemetery Project