#52Ancestors, Week 22: At the (Wilmington) Cemetery

These two "headstones" sit in the center of Wilmington Cemetery in Paducah, Kentucky.  They are the only remaining indicators of a city that once "lived" here. Currently, this small county burial ground is a type of pauper's cemetery - used for the burials of those who cannot afford to pay.  Once, though, the town of Wilmington existed in this space and was McCracken County's first county seat. Here is its brief history.

McCracken County was formed from Hickman County in 1825, and Wilmington became its county seat in 1827. The town of Wilmington was approximately 102 acres, and McCracken County Deed Book A (p. 22) indicates the sale of 42 lots of land in Wilmington in 1827. However, only 8 buildings were ever completed, one of them being the courthouse which was completed in 1830. Perhaps this modest success encouraged more people to buy here, as another spate of lots were sold in 1830 (pp. 102-103). A post office was opened in 1831. In 1832, extensive flooding occurred, and the county records were hastily removed from the Wilmington courthouse.  They traveled by skiff to what would eventually become the new county seat, Paducah. This event is depicted on the Paducah Wall to Wall floodwall mural. In the foreground, 2 dejected-looking men linger by the steps of the courthouse.  Behind the courthouse, a man pushes off into the floodwaters, presumably carrying the last of the courthouse documents. Several submerged buildings, possibly homes, can be seen in the background. This rather inauspicious start more or less marked the end of Wilmington, not only as the county seat, but also as a town.  The post office that opened in 1831 closed in 1846.  Wilmington no longer exists, and while I have done quite a bit of searching, there doesn't seem to be much about it beyond what I have related here.

Sad and secluded Wilmington Cemetery is important to me, not because of anyone buried here, but because my 4x great grandfather, John Field, purchased 3 plots of land here (lots 2, 5, & 9) in 1827. He and his wife, Jane Staton, had married in McCracken County in 1825, so one can only assume he intended to build in Wilmington and be at the center of McCracken County life. As far as I can tell, though, none of the 8 buildings completed belonged to him.  The Deed Books indicate he purchased other land (outside of Wilmington) in McCracken County, but I haven't found any record of sale for the lots of land he bought in Wilmington in 1827. Did he "take a bath" in the flood waters of 1832?  I'll probably never know.  John Field is a slippery fellow who evidently died sometime between 1840 and 1850, leaving behind his wife and two children.  They moved to Illinois not long after.  

Last summer, standing in the emptiness of Wilmington Cemetery, I could certainly appreciate the desire to own property in this area.  It was lush, green, and peaceful, and I hope this post will at least preserve the memory of Wilmington, the-county-seat-that-was.