Letter from Jewell Hopkins to Bert Hilburn, May 26 1974<o:p></o:p>

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Dear Cousins:<o:p></o:p>

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I was glad to get your nice letter and I took the money and got your flowers and will have them on the graves Sunday, rain or shine.  Thanks for sending. <o:p></o:p>

I found some more facts about our grandfather (Andrew Wayne Harrell) that is not in the pamphlet.  So I copied it and sending it to for what it may be worth to you.  Mothers mind was clear until the very day she passed away.  So I know she gave me some of this information years before she died.  It was a Mr. Bullock (James Stephen Bullock bc 1826 Ky d aft 1890) instead of Kreller our grandfather requested to be buried in the field. I’ve heard that all my life and I don’t think the Krellers were that close to the cemetery anyway.  The Krellers came direct from Germany as you will read in the pamphlet.  I remember him well.  It took me about a year to compile this with the aid of Miss Fowler with the World War II veterans.<o:p></o:p>

I worked on a history of my mothers descendents about 3 years but don’t have as much on my dad’s.  However, Floyd and Thelma and I went to the A.B. Church about 3 or 4 years ago, down by Celt, about 18 miles east of here where our grandparents lived before they moved east of Urbana.  Where dad was born in 1870 (Charles Andrew Harrell), then they moved to Urbana in about 3 years and ran the Urbana Mill with his brother.  He had 2 brothers, Jeems? (James C. Harrell??) and Rome (Rueben Jerome Harrell) and some of their descendents live around Tunas now, but I don’t know them.  Then about 1874 he bought the farm where Dad and Mom lived and where I was born. Do you realize that was about 100 years ago.  Grandfather built the house that I was born in sometime after they moved to that farm in an old house about ¼ mile west of there.  Maud told me just before she died that Uncle Frank lived north of there and she could remember not too long after it was built and that it was considered an awful nice house at that time.  Now it is almost fallen down.  All this may bore you as it does some of my relation, but thought maybe it might intrust you.  Next Sunday is our decoration, I’m chairman of the Program Committee but I don’t mind it.  Best wishes to you both, I’m hoping you get these copies as I lost a lot of them when I mailed them 4^th class but have had no trouble since I now send them 1^st class. <o:p></o:p>

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Love, <o:p></o:p>

Jewell H.<o:p></o:p>

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History of Mission Ridge Cemetery<o:p></o:p>

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Somewhere about 1889 Mr. Steve Bullock and Wayne Harrell made plans to build a Missionary Baptist Church.  Mr. Bullock offered to donate half an acre of his farm for this purpose.  But before much had been done about it, Wayne Harrell passed away.  He had requested before his death that he be buried in a corner of Mr. Bullock’s field, which was in the corner mentioned above.  Thus the graveyard was started.  This was April 25, 1890.  Then 2 years later with the aid of Mr. Bullock, the church was built.<o:p></o:p>

Then in 1920 the church bought an acre from Bill Bonner where this “new�?church now stands.  Then in 1920 or 1921 where the old church stood was “lotted�?off to the members of the church.  Then later they and the public, that was interested, bought an adjoining acre on the north, which now makes 1 ½ acres in the cemetery. From what information we can find our 1^st decoration was somewhere about 1902 or at least between 1901 and 1905.<o:p></o:p>

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Bert the above is from a copy I had used in a program (years) ago. I would have already forgotten it before now if I hadn’t found it.  So I’m sending it on to you as I copied it word for word,  like it was given to me years ago by mother and dad and others that knew.  Also about 1 year ago there was a strip of land on the east donated to us and is now a new addition, maybe 1 acre.<o:p></o:p>

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