Hash Family Cemetery

Chestnut Hill, Ashe County, North Carolina

This cemetery was divided into two sections at one time, one for white individuals and another for African-Americans. It has recently been refenced and one fence encloses both races, without distinction. It is in good shape, despite being difficult to reach. There are approximately 73 graves in this cemetery (58 graves in the white section; 15 in the African American section), but very few are marked with engraved grave stones, most have field stone markers.

This cemetery is located in the Chestnut Hill Township of Ashe County, North Carolina. GPS coordinates for it are: 36.52095 N; 81.35513 W.

This cemetery was surveyed on June 14, 2003 by Jeff Weaver, however, much work has been expended by many individuals in trying to determine who is buried here and where their specific graves are located, especially Lee Hash and Bill Caldwell. Those graves identified in this fashion have been marked with small granite markers bearing the person’s name. Many of the older field stones were carved with a chisel with the person’s name by Allen Hash prior to 1890. This was how most of those graves identified were indeed noted. Unfortunately over the past 20 years most of these inscriptions have deteriorated due to acid rain; a few, however, are still visible. Others were identified by older family members who attended funerals here in the early part of the 20th century. Two notable ones were Ola McMillan and Ola Mae Phipps Neaves.