Solomon Sturgill, The man who dug his own grave

by Lucy G. White

When I look over the fertile bottoms of the Little Fork Stream in Carter Co., KY., I do not wonder why the Sturgills chose to live in this particular place. On one side of the creek the land rises high and steep, while on the other side the hills rolled gradually into the bottom lands. I would like to have seen it as Solomon Sturgill first saw it. The hills would have supplied wood for fuel, buildings and fences and for making tools and furniture. They would also have supplied food in the form of nuts fruits and wild game, herbs for medicine and mast for hogs. Good springs and small streams provided a bountiful supply of water and the fertile little bottoms were easy to till.

A foot bridge still crosses the stream, as it did over 140 years ago at the very same spot. An 80 year old great grandson of Solomon and Rebecca still lives on part of the original farm which is still as clean and fertile as ever. He is still especially proud of the family cemetery located on a knoll on the "far side" of the creek. He said there were 55 graves in the cemetery, many unmarked, but that he knew the names of most of those who slept there. Sturgill descendants continue to be buried in this cemetery. As he told me things of long ago, he told of the man who dug his own grave.

One day in the fall of 1856, four men, who lived many miles from here, were driving their hogs to Willard, KY. to sell them. Since the day was late and the air was damp and cold, they were looking for a place to spend the night. One man was ill with a hacking cough and said that he was too weak to go much further. As they rounded a bend in the road they saw the home and farm of Solomon Sturgill. As they neared his gate, Solomon went out to meet them and seeing that one was very ill, he agreed to let them spend the night there.

When morning came, the sick man was too weak to even rise from the bed. The other three men left him and went on their way, saying that they would be back to see about him. When they returned late that evening, the sick man was much worse and before morning he died.

In those days there were no such things as funeral parlors and undertakers were only found in the cities. Country people buried their own, and they usually did not wait long to do it. One of the men went on ahead to inform the dead man's relatives, but since his home was many miles away no one was sure that they would come for him. With this in mind, Solomon Sturgill picked a choice grave site in the family cemetery and started digging a grave for the man.

A short time before the burial was to take place, the man's relatives did come for his body. The neighbors said that the empty grave would have to be filled in and offered to help do it. Solomon told them not to bother, that he would do it himself within the next few days.

The next day Solomon himself felt ill, and on the day after that he was feeling even worse. On the third day a doctor was called, and after the examination, he told the family that Solomon had typhoid fever and that there was little hope for him. The open grave had still not been filled.

Afer the doctor left, on Oct 10. 1856, Solomon Sturgill made his will and three days later he was dead. One cannot help but wonder if he had a premonition when he told his neighbors that he would fill the empty grave. He was buried in the same grave he had helped to dig.


The inscription on his stone reads:
Solomon Sturgill
died Oct'r 13, 1856
aged 52 yrs 6 mos & 9 days
Rebecca wife of
Solomon Sturgill
born Apr. 21, 1800
died July 13, 1877

quoted from the East Kentucky Quarterly