Paris Brumfield Family Cemetery
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The Paris Brumfield Family Cemetery features the burial site of Paris Brumfield (1837-1891), a nationally known feudist best remembered for his role in the Lincoln County Feud. Mr. Brumfield was a Confederate soldier, distiller, logger, and storekeeper. John Brumfield (1870-1900), son of Paris and a Lincoln County feudist, is also buried in the cemetery. The cemetery is currently under consideration for designation on the National Register of Historic Places. Others buried in the cemetery include Ann (Toney) Brumfield (c.1838-c.1894), wife of Paris; Dollie Brumfield (c.1878-bef.1900), daughter of Paris; Moses Brown (c.1793-aft.1880), uncle to Mrs. Brumfield; and Letty (Gillispie) Brown (c.1804-aft.1880), aunt to Mrs. Brumfield.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Description: The Paris Brumfield Family Cemetery is located between the communities of Harts and Atenville and is situated on a nearly level terrace of the Guyandotte River. The cemetery is located south of the river and north of West Virginia Route 10, approximately 1203 feet east-southeast of the Rt. 10 and Browns Branch Road intersection. The cemetery encompasses approximately 111.6 x 39.4 feet. All markers except where noted are sandstone. Graves are roughly oriented east-west in the Judeo-Christian fashion. The cemetery, which serves as the burial location for at least two generations of a nineteenth-century Lincoln County family, is similar in size and design to other rural Appalachian cemeteries.
National Register of Historic Places: In his July 2009 report on the cemetery, William D. Updike of Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., described it as containing individuals of "outstanding local importance" who "made major contributions to events in local history." Additionally, "the Brumfield Cemetery possesses significant historic associations that reflect important aspects of the community's history and development, as the burial location of two individuals and prominent participants in the Lincoln County Feud."
Sources
Charles Brumfield. Interview by Brandon Ray Kirk, Harts, WV, 1994.
John Hartford and Brandon Ray Kirk. “Lincoln County Feud,” The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
Brandon Kirk. Blood in West Virginia: Brumfield v. McCoy (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2014).
Ray Kirk. Interview by Brandon Ray Kirk, Ferrellsburg, WV, 1992.
Fred B. Lambert. The Llorrac: The Yearbook of the Carroll High School of Hamlin, West Virginia (Hamlin, WV: Faculty and Students of 1926).
Edwards Park. "A Tale of Fatal Feuds and Futile Forensics," Smithsonian Magazine (March 2000), 32-36.
William D. Updike. "National Register of Historic Places Evaluation for the Brumfield Cemetery, Harts Creek District, Lincoln County, West Virginia," Contract Publication Series WV09-39 (July 2009).