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After 241 Years...Descendants Pay Homage To Their Family
This special place is close to the Rutherford-McDowell County line. On a hilltop, on property now owned by Doyle Lytle, the family cemetery that includes three men who fought in the Revolutionary War as well as many members of their families. The men were part of the decisive battle of Kings Mountain which was the beginning of our victory and England's defeat.
Due to the kindness of Doyle Lytle, descendants of the Bradley-Ledbetter families were permitted to clear, cleanup and resurrect what was the family cemetery. They spend three days doing just that.
This honored place is a history lesson to all who become aware of what started in 1770. That is the date when Richard Ledbetter and his wife Nancy, Richard's brothers, George and Isaac Ledbetter Sr. as well as their sister, Mary Ledbetter Bradley, together with her husband John Bradley Sr. followed the old Indian roads from Bute County, North Carolina (now Warren County) seeking more fertile land to farm. At the time, it was called Tryon County which later became McDowell and Rutherford County.
If you drive to Green Hill and take a right on Cove Road and go 10.7 miles just a few feet from the McDowell-Rutherford County line, you will arrive at the private residence of Doyle Lytle. This includes a cemetery approximately 80 foot square which is the final resting place for the Badley-Ledbetter families. As I mentioned previously, to be privileged to go there is a lesson in history. As the descendants cleared the overgrowth, it became a discovery mission. Back then when they had no markers, there were real "grave stones" which marked the graves. A large stone was placed at the head and a small stone at the feet to mark the grave. Only much later did stone plaques appear with names or initials on it to mark who was buried there.
There were two forts that involved the Bradley and Ledbetter families. One was Fort Montford's Cove and Fort Hampton. They were set up about seven miles apart to protect the families from Indian raids. John Bradley, Sr. was on duty at Fort Hampton. He was at the door loft when entire darkness came as a result of an eclipse, he fell out of the loft and died. Richard Bradley built the first brick house in Rutherford County. It was torn down, but the bricks were used to build another house which today is on the east side of the family cemetery.
As previously mentioned, the family produced at least three men who fought in the Revolutionary War. If you visit the Kings Mountain museum today, Captain George Ledbetter's powder horn is on display. As the years past the Bradley's and Ledbetter's married into each other's family. They eventually moved out of Montford's Cove, and went to different North Carolina counties and other states. They left behind a story of our country's founding and development. It was a legacy of hard work, loving families, and their Christian faith. Part of their testimony is now rediscovered in the original family cemetery 241 years later.
