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November 8, 2012.

KNOTTS ISLAND CEMETERIES
Compiled by Melinda Lukei

October 20, 2012 Cemeteries 1 thru 4. Graves 1-39. Route 615 at Virginia Beach Border

October 22, 2012 Cemeteries 5 thru 14. Graves 40-94

October 24, 2012 Cemeteries 15 thru 28. Graves 95-228

October 30, 2012 Cemetery 29. Graves 229-796 Main Island Cemetery

November 1, 2012 Cemeteries 30 thru 40. Graves 797-920

November 2, 2012 Cemeteries 41 thru 52. Graves 921-996

November 4, 2012 Cemeteries 53 thru 60. Graves 997-1024

November 24, 2012 Addendum. Graves 1025-1049

November 8, 2012 Index

The graveyards of Knotts Island are located all over the island. Many of the graveyards are in good condition, however I also found gravestones thrown in ditches, some covered by garbage, many entangled in vines and sticker bushes, and a few that only the location is known.
I inventoried these cemeteries three times. Once in 1981, 1987 and again in 1993 to make sure that I had copied the correct inscription. It is sad to say but, some gravestones that were in good condition on the first visit were broken or missing on later trips. I found stones that had been pushed down and some that were under several inches of grass and dirt.
This book was written to preserve the information on the gravestones on Knotts Island before more grave sites disappear.
This book contains the grave sites from the Virginia/North Carolina state line on Highway 615 near The Anchor Club north of the Marsh Causeway to the Currituck Ferry landing at the south end. The grave sites on the Virginia side of Knotts Island are also included.
A consistent order of date (day, month, year) has been used throughout this book, which may not be in the same order found on some gravestones. Information in parenthesis is data that I had in my records about the person. Several abbreviations have been used which need to be explained so you will get the most out of this book.
b - born
d - died
s/o - son of
d/o - daughter of
w/o - wife of
h/o - husband of
m/o - mother of
f/o - father of
gs/o - grandson of
gd/o - granddaughter of
() - information I have obtained from records, bibles and family history.
I am sure this is not all the graves that were on the Island. Many of the early graves were marked with wooden markers and have long ago deteriorated. There were also slave graveyards that were not marked at all. Some of the older folks of the Island told me of two but, I found no markers just indented ground.
The "old graveyard" of Knotts Island is in the woods and east of the fire station. I have heard there were over 300 graves in that one cemetery, but I only found a precious few by crawling on my hands and knees. The area is big enough for 300 graves so I do not doubt the number. If only someone had made a record in the early 1900's this information would not have been lost.
Many of the old stones were very difficult to read and family records may have a different date. If this is the case I would appreciate your telling me so I can correct this in future editions of this book.
The first land grants were issued on Knotts Island on 20 April 1680. I believe, from my research, that people were on the Island many years before 1680, but they had not applied for land grants. A lot of our ancestors have lived here in the past 300 years.
The oldest grave on the island is said to be George Bullock buried at Knight's Point around 1722. It was a large marble slab and metal plate. Many of the older residents say they saw it but it is not visable today.
I would like to thank Jane Brumley for the imput she had in this project. She had researched many of these cemeteries and we compared information that is no longer there, hoping to preserve the dates that we were able to pick up from other sources, such as cemetery records, church records, Mrs Harrell's collection of tombstones, Mrs Shannonhouses' records in her book on Eastern North Carolina Tombstones. Also thanks go to Dennis Wright, Edmund White, Russell Edward Simpson, Mrs Victor Boyce, Ida Jean Cason who helped me locate these graves.
The purpose of this project is to preserve dates for the families of Knotts Island. It is a collection to help others to find their family roots.

P.S. I forgot to mention that these cemetery records were also published in the Currituck County, NC Cemetery Book by the Alblemarle Genealogical Society in 1995. A lot of these tombstones have disappeared since I first started collecting them. Others were already gone but we had records that the WPA had done so I included them in the book.