In the mid 1950’s Gladys Bolton, her husband Walter “Bub” Bolton along with Gordon Crenshaw Sr., Abner Braswell, Roger Williams and others led efforts to improve the cemetery. Gladys’ work as cemetery administrator resulted in the first official organization to govern the cemetery. On April 26, 1959, Big Creek Cemetery Association formally organized by adopting its original by-laws. The original association had 60 voting members present. From the mid 1950’s until the late 1980’s Gladys Bolton served as cemetery administrator. She expertly handled the financial affairs of the cemetery and established the earliest known records of burials and purchases of cemetery lots. From 1955-1964, she kept a small blue notebook to record dates and payments made. Fortunately, many of these old records were preserved and are now on file digitally with the cemetery’s administrator. At the time of the association’s establishment, annual dues for membership were $12.00 for each lot owned. By 1974, the cemetery association, under Gladys’ leadership, had enough funds to properly maintain the cemetery for some time in the future. In 1975, the fees for annual dues were discontinued.
A plaque at the entrance gate was given by Gladys Bolton to honor her great-grandparents Dabney Crenshaw and Hepsey Branch Crenshaw who had on May 8, 1886 deeded the cemetery’s six acres to the trustees of Big Creek Cemetery Association. The land had been part of a 640 acre tract purchased by Joel Crenshaw in 1828.
Memorial Wall
A brick wall is being built to eventually enclose the cemetery grounds. This project will raise funds for the cemetery’s future endowment. From the memorial wall’s beginning until the present over $17000.00 has been received. We are encouraging family members to honor loved ones by purchasing a section of wall containing a personalized memorial for $1600.00.
Honoring Our Veterans
At the present time, Big Creek Cemetery is the resting place for at least 55 United States military veterans. We are proud to work with local organizations to honor these men and women by placing flags on each veteran’s grave every Memorial Day and Independence Day. One of the most interesting of these is James V. Ulin who was born in 1893. His monument simply states that he ”Died in Service”. The date of his death was May 25, 1918. Another of our veterans was a Purple Heart recipient. We are seeking additional information on any of these veterans from family members.