ACPA - Cemetery Restoration Projects

Watts Cemetery Restoration Project
Butler County, Alabama

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by Wade Watts Kuisel, May 12, 2004

Thanks to Ted Urquhart's posting on the Butler County Genealogical and Historical Society web-page we were able to locate the Watts Cemetery in the spring of 2003. Under the watchful eye of Alabama Historical Commission's Lee Anne Hewett we probed for buried stones but were not able to find any additions to what were already visible. The weeds looked like they were taking over, so I planned to return the following year to clear the brush.

Watts Cemetery in Butler Co. Alabama

GGGG grandson Thomas Kuisel enjoyed exploring around the cemetery too until the skies opened up. Note the yellow probing tool in the background.

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When we gathered again a year later on a beautiful day in March 2004 we couldn't believe our eyes. Somebody had cut down the weeds and raked the plot clean. Standing left to right are descendants Margaret Gaston, Mason Gaston, Al Gaston, and Johness Watts Kuisel.

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Patriarch John Hughes Watts (1781-1841) was honored at this site by the United Daughters of 1812 for his service in the Creek War on a stormy day in 1929. He along with his wife Catherine Prudence Hill was one of the first settlers in the area once known as Pine Flat. Their eldest child, Thomas Hill Watts became attorney general and later governor of Alabama during the Civil War. One day soon we hope to have John Hughes Watts's broken stone repaired and have a re-dedication ceremony.

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Contact: Wade Watts Kuisel

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