Discovery...

During the first trip to Carter County we, Grandmommy, grandaddy, dad, and myself, went to the Sinking Creek Baptist Church. We found the church right where it was supposed to be and learned that it is the oldest church in Tennessee's history. You may ask what the importance of this church is to the Kuhn family. It was that Peter Kuhn, the son of Mary Katherine and William Kuhn, was a pastor there for some time. In the book Pioneer Baptist Preachers there is a brief summary of his evangelist career. "Elder Peter Kuhn was born in Pennsylvania December 1, 1793, and came with his parents to Washington County, Tenn., at an early period in the settlement of the state. Having lived in this county a number, of years he moved to Sullivan County, where he spent most of his ministerial life. He was twice married and reared a considerable family, but the children, I am told, moved west and south, and perhaps none of them are now living. For many years he was a member of Muddy Creek Church, being also pastor of the church for a good many years. He was also pastor of Rocky Point Church in Sullivan County for a long time: Elder Kuhn went far and near to attend and hold revival meetings; his gifts were in thatdirection. He was an evangelist rather than a pastor. He preached the gospel in the demonstration of the Spirit and in power, and his preaching was effective in winning the lost to the Saviour. Like many other preachers of his day, his education was limited and most of his preparation for the pulpit was made between the plow handles, or while laboring in some way with his hands to support himself and family. Brother Kuhn, I am told, "had a sunny disposition, was a good singer, was well reported of by his neighbors, was a good man, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him." He lived to a good old age, making his exit from life as he neared the seventy-eighth milestone on the journey, and his body was laid to rest in the graveyard of the old Muddy Creek Church. His grave is marked by a neat tombstone bearing the inscription: "Elder Peter Kuhn, born December 1, 1793; died November 15, 1871. For forty years he was a faithful preacher of the gospel." A link to the record of the cemetary is a follows, his name and inscription appear on the site http://www.tngenweb.org/sullivan/cemetery/muddy_creek.htm. This certainly shows that Christianity has always been in the Kuhn family. The description of him did not mention when he preached at Sinking Creek. However he preached at Sinking Creek from 1812 to 1833. I have in my possession a record of some of the deeds he did at Sinking Creek. Among these deeds he was called to do are various committees that he served on while pastor. As we left this church I suggested we should look for the Hendrix family cemetary. I had a map from the book my grandparents gave me and it showed this cemetary to be very close to our location. We pulled down a side road and looked but saw nothing. I got out of the car to go ask someone at one of the houses nearby if they knew anything of an old cemetary. My dad joked that if he comes out with a shotgun you should probably run. I didn't find this funny because this house looked like the kind of place where that could happen. Anyways this semi-suspect man pointed me in the direction of his landlord's house saying there was an old cemetary on the top of a hill. I asked the somewhat scared landowner if they had any old cemetaries nearby. She said they did and that if I went straight up the hill beside the house I would find it. I couldn't understand why she seemed so scared until I told my girlfriend the story. She said that it isn't everyday that a 6'2" 275 pound guy knocks on your door asking to look for a graveyard. I guess I kind of see her point. Anyways, me and dad went looking for this graveyard. When she said straight up the hill she wasn't kidding. We were almost on hands and knees trying to scale the mountain. Finally at the top of the mountain, completely out of breath, we discovered someting neither of us could have dreamed of. We found out it wasn't the right graveyard but we did find that Andrew Kuhn, son of Jacob Kuhn, was burried there. His birth and death dates are a few years off compared with what i originally had but anyways it is in fact the son of Jacob, Andrew. He originally left for Kentucky in the 1840's but must have returned to live in Carter County or to be burried there. This was the most amazing discovery ever. I saw something that I had discovered on paper come to life on top of that hill in Tennessee. Me and my dad both agreed that this hill was the perfect burial spot for anyone. You could see from miles around once you stepped outside of the trees. There were other graves scattered around the location but no names other than Cooper were discovered on the tomb stones. After I returned home I learned that this was in fact known as Cooper Cemetary back in the day. I have already planeed our next trip to Carter County. I plan to go to the old Kuhn lands that were originally the lands of John and Jacob. I hope to find John and Mary Katherine's graves on this land also.