In deeds transferring land on Grant Mountain Road, a cemetery is set apart from the land transfers.
There are about 27 graves in the Barnwell Family Cemetery located on the property of George Barnwell and family.
The cemetery is in excellent condition.
Almost all the headstones identify the person buried there. Three field stones were found and a hand-carved marker, which could not be read. On the back of the stone is carved “Done by John Jack.” There have also been recent burials in the cemetery.
The earliest burial appears to be that of Enos Barnwell born in the 1790s. He was the son of the first Barnwell in what is now Henderson County, William Barnhill. The name was later changed to Barnwell, according to genealogists.
William Barnhill moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina and purchased land in 1814 from John Lanning on Hooper’s Creek. Several of his descendants are buried in the cemetery.
Other surnames found in the cemetery are Laughter, Owenby, Nix, Connor, Dimsdale and Thomas.
There is one Confederate veteran with a grave site in the cemetery.
Arthur (Matthew Arthur) Laughter enlisted in the 25th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. A, Edney’s Greys. He was discharged in 1862 by reason of being under age. He re-enlisted in Co. F as a substitute. He was reported under arrest on the January-February 1864 muster roll. The reason for his arrest was not reported. He was released in May 1864 after volunteering to serve in the defense of Richmond. In February 1865 he was confined at Washington, D.C., by the Union and released in March 1865. He died in 1894.
The cemetery is on the county’s GIS map layers.