A lovely garden of flowers, shrubs and ivy is the setting for the Mallett Cemetery off River Road in the area of Bowman’s Bluff in the Big Willow community. Inside the rock wall can also be found a picturesque chapel.
The Mallett family purchased the Bryn Avon estate that was originally built by Morgan Evans.
The grave sites of the Mallett family are well maintained. Brig. Gen. Pierre Mallet, 1864-1950, who served in World Wars I and II, is one of those grave sites.
This is an active family cemetery and located on private property.
At the lower end of the cemetery, in a dense, wooded area, is a broken headstone.
The headstone is legible: J. Thadeus Henry, 1829-1857. This is a grandchild of Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Henry.
According to early records, the Henry family owned land in this area through the first half of the 1800s. There is evidence suggesting that originally the land near or at today’s Mallett Cemetery was originally the “Henry Cemetery.” Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Henry was one of the largest landowners in Henderson County at the time of his death in 1840. His land extended from the Big Willow community, through the community of Etowah and into the old Boyleston community (now part of Mills River and Etowah). Four of his children owned substantial acreages of land in the Big Willow community: John Henry who married Malinda Williamson, Joseph Henry Jr. who married Rachel Sentell, Albert G. Henry who married Elizabeth Cantrell and Noah Henry (married Eliza Jordan, Rachel Beck, Sarah Galloway, Nancy Oats). The grave site of son Noah Henry is located at the Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery in the Big Willow community. The grave sites of the other three sons and their wives have not been located. There is the possibility that the grave sites of son Albert G. Henry and wife, Elizabeth Cantrell,  are among the numerous unmarked or indecipherable field stones at the Cantrell Cemetery. There is documentation for a Henry Cemetery in the Big Willow cemetery, particularly related to son Joseph Henry Jr. and his wife, Rachel Sentell. Family documents state a Henry Cemetery as their grave sites. The son of John Henry and Malinda Williamson Henry (J. Thadeus Henry) is located at this Mallett Cemetery. This suggest that the grave sites of this couple may also be at a now non-existent “Henry Cemetery.”
For additional information on Bryn Avon and the Mallett family visit: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20150914/articles/150919998 and also within the book “Hidden History of Henderson County” by Terry Ruscin.