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Dare County Cemeteries
John Midyett Cemetery
- Tyrrell
Co., NC
All photos and text compliments of
James Emery Midyette, Jr.
The photo above, taken on the date of our inspection, shows the woods looking east from the state road. The property is posted and marked for No Trespassing. The latitude and longitude recorded at the site was 35.956374 -76.076077. The cemetery is located approximately 200 yards inside a mature wooded area on the east side of Fort Landing Road (SR1209). Located near the cemetery on the west side of the road is purportedly the second largest pecan tree in the State of North Carolina.
The following data is derived and compiled from Tyrrell County Cemeteries 1732-1984 compiled by Camille Bateman Everton in 1995, Midyett family research provided by Kay Lynn Midgett Sheppard, 1850 Tyrrell County census data, and an on-site visit in January 2019. The cemetery book records 14 graves. The visit by James Emery Midyette Jr. identified eleven marked graves along with three headstones that we were unable to read due to them being face down or under the ground.
I have titled this the John Midyett Cemetery as he was the patriarch of the family that lies here, and his grave is the oldest one marked on the site. His wife (Ann), son (Thomas) and Thomas’ wife (Ann), daughter (Nancy), and many of Nancy’s children by Benjamin Spruill, a wealthy farmer, are buried here. In the 1850 census, Benjamin Spruill is listed with his wife Nancy Midyett Spruill and four sons (John -14, Benjamin – 11, Thomas – 9, Joseph – 7), one daughter (Buenavista – 3), and another girl (Ann Midyett – 9). We can assume Ann was the orphan of Thomas and Ann Midyett. On the census the family’s property was valued at $10,000, which was an incredibility large sum for a farmer 170 years ago. At least one of John Midyett’s great-grandchildren is also buried here -- John Spruill, son of Thomas and Lavania Spruill.
The Midyett family graves are located on the north side of the cemetery and the Spruill family graves are located on the south side. All graves are oriented east-west with headstones on the west and footstones on the east. It is located in a very mature wooded area with no indication of the timber ever being cut. Many older trees had fallen to the west likely from hurricane or northeasterly storm force winds. The cemetery has not been maintained in at least 50-75 years as there were 50 foot tall trees growing among the graves. Several of the headstones were lying on the ground. One grave had been partially unearthed by a tree that had fallen many years ago and the roots had pulled up the clay bricks that covered the grave. In the table below you can click on the blue highlighted links and view a photo or other pertinent information. Information in brackets is taken from sources other than the gravestones..
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| The photo above shows a view looking southeast. John Midyett’s daughter-in-law Ann’s headstone, that has been partially enveloped by a tree, is on the left. | The photo above shows the cemetery looking towards the northeast. The markers on the right side of the photo are from the Spruill families. John Midyett’s grave marker is on the back left side behind the fallen tree limb. |
| NAME | BIRTH | DEATH | COMMENTS / INSCRIPTION |
| Midyett, Ann (front view) | [c Mar. 1811] | 3rd day of June 18 [45] |
SACRED to the Memory of - Aged 34 years 2 mos
23 days Farewell vain world, I've reach.....rest of epitaph unreadable [northwest view looking at backside of head & foot stone] |
| Midyett, John | 10th Decr 1783 | 29th Novr 1838 |
SACRED to the Memory of - Aged 54 years 11
months & 19 days
Why should we mourn departed friends This headstone also has an inscription on the bottom corner which read Rob't Dalrymple. Research showed that Robert was the Norfolk, VA stonemason for John's headstone. Robert and his wife, Mary, both died of yellow fever just days apart. Both are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia with an impressive marker. Obituary for Robert. Obituary for Mary. |
| [Midyett, Lois] | [Jan. 24, 1776] | [Apr. 27, 1840] |
[Wife of John Midyett - Aged 64 years, 4 months, 21 days] Footstone marked L.M. -- no headstone found in 2019] |
| [Midyett, Lois] | [Apr. 4, 1839] | [Nov. 12, 1839] | [Aged 7 months, 8 days] |
| [Midyett, Thomas B.] | [Nov. 6, 1814] | [Apr. 7, 1847] | [No headstone or footstone found in 2019] |
| Spruill, Benjamin | Nov. 11, 1838 | June 11, 1858 | Son of Benj. & Nancy Spruill |
| Spruill, Charles | Jan. 13, 1858 | Aug. 2, 1858 | In Memory Of - Son of Benj. & Nancy Spruill |
| [Spruill, Ephraim] | [May 31, 1856] | [Sep. 22, 1856] | [Son of Benj. & Nancy Spruill] |
| Spruill, Fanny S. | Nov. 2, 1818 | July 10, 1867 | In Memory Of - Wife of John Spruill |
| Spruill, John | Oct. 22, 1836 | Sep. 17,1858 | In Memory Of - Son of Benj. & Nancy Spruill |
| Spruill, John | Aug. 27, 1868 | Sep. 22, 1873 | Son of Thomas & Lavinia Spruill |
| [Spruill, Samuel] | [Dec. 12, 1852] | [Oct. 20, 1854] | [Son of Benj. & Nancy Spruill] |
| Spruill, Susan L. | [Apr. 17. 1845] | September 28, 1846 | Daughter of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill - Aged 1 year, 5 months, 11 days |
| Spruill, unknown | This could be either Ephraim or Samuel Spruilll's grave. | ||
| Spruill, William | Sept. 3, 1847 | July 9, 1848 | In Memory Of - Son of Benj. & Nancy Spruill - Aged 10 months & 6 days |
Known Graves by Date of Burial
1. John Midyett 1783-1838 (patriarch of the Midyett family at this site). His father was Thomas Midyett; grandfather - Samuel Midyett II; great-grandfather - Samuel Midyett I; and great-great grandfather - Matthew Midyett (patriarch of the Midyett(e)/Midgett(e) family in Eastern NC. John Midyett was born December 10, 1783 in NC, and died November 29, 1838 in Tyrrell Co., NC. He married Lois Spruill November 01, 1806 in Tyrrell Co., NC. She was the daughter of Hezekiah Spruill and Rhoda Baum. Lois was born January 24, 1776 in NC, and died April 27, 1840 in Tyrrell Co., NC. They had two children:
1. Thomas Baum Midyett, born November 06, 1814 in NC; died April 07, 1847 in Tyrrell Co., NC.
2. Nancy Midyett, born December 06, 1816 in Tyrrell Co., NC; died November 27, 1881 in NC.2. Lois Midyett 1839-1839 - infant daughter of Thomas Baum Midyett and Ann Spruill (neither headstone nor footstone identified Jan. 2019).
3. Lois Midyett 1776-1840 - Wife of John Midyett. (footstone found but headstone not identified Jan 2019).
4. Ann Spruill Midyett 1811-1845 – First wife of Thomas Baum Midyett. Her grave is located on the far northern side of the cemetery. Unfortunately, Ann’s grave has been overtaken by three large trees. A tree has grown around her headstone.
5. Susan Louisa Spruill 1845-1846 (infant daughter of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill)
6. Thomas Baum Midyett 1814-1847 (son of John and Lois Midyett). No headstone, nor footstone identified Jan 2019).
Thomas Baum Midyett was born November 06, 1814 in NC, and died April 07, 1847 in Tyrrell Co., NC. He married Ann Spruill December 22, 1837 in Tyrrell Co., NC. She was born March 1811 in NC, and died June 03, 1845 in Tyrrell County, NC. Two months after Ann’s death he married Ann/Angelico Pledger on August 18, 1845 in Tyrrell Co., NC. She was the daughter of William Pledger and Elizabeth Midyett. She was born February 05, 1827 in NC, and died July 08, 1893.
Children of Thomas Midyett and Ann Spruill Midyett are:
1. Lois Midyett, born April 04, 1839 in Tyrrell Co., NC; died November 12, 1839 in Tyrrell Co., NC.
2. Ann Elizabeth Midyett, born October 29, 1840 in Tyrrell Co., NC; died February 10, 1891 in NC. After the death of her mother in 1845 and her father in 1847, Ann was apparently welcomed into the home of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill (her uncle and aunt’s family). On the 1850 census Ann is listed as being 9 years old and living in their home. Ann would have been only six years old at the time of her father’s death. She married Ephraim Leigh Mar. 11, 1856.One child was born to Thomas Midyett and his second wife, Ann/Angelico Pledger:
1. Harriet Ellen "Hattie" Midyett, was born June 24, 1846 in NC; died November 07, 1927. She married William Edward Shallington on Feb. 21, 1865.7. William Spruill 1847-1848 (infant son of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill)
8. Samuel Spruill 1852-1854 (infant son of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill) (no headstone, nor footstone identified Jan 2019)
9. Ephraim Spruill 1856-1856 (infant son of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill) (no headstone, nor footstone identified Jan. 2019)
10. Benjamin Spruill 1838-1858 (adult son of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill)
11. Charles Spruill 1858-1858 (infant son of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill)
12. John “Jacky” Spruill 1836-1858 (adult son of Benjamin and Nancy Spruill)
13. Fanny S. Spruill 1818-1867 (wife of John Spruill)
14. John Spruill 1868-1873 (young son of Thomas and Lavania Spruill). He was the great-grandson of the patriarch John Midyett.
No part of these records may be used for any commercial purposes. However, please feel free to copy any of this material for your own personal use and family research.
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© 2019 Kay Midgett Sheppard & Marla Beasley
