Joel Clark Cemetery

Based on research in Morganton and Raleigh I suspected that Joel Clark and his family might be buried in the Adako area of Caldwell Co. So, last week mom, dad and I drove over to that area to see if we could find the "Atico" Cemetery. The cemetery is listed this way in the Alexander and Jeremiah Clarke book, but I reasoned that it was probably misspelled since it would be pronounced the same as Adako. We didn't have any luck finding anything, even with stopping and asking a couple of locals. That night I found the Collettsville Historical Society online and contacted a member. He responded with directions to Joel Clark's grave!

So, Saturday mom and I drove back over to Adako Rd. in Collettsville and tried to find the graves. The directions:

Leaving Collettsville via Adako Rd. travel 1 3/4 mi. The cemetery will be on the right about 50 yards off the road near a giant oak. The cemetery is 150 yards before Murphy Place (street).

Yeah.........

We found an area that looked like it might be the spot. After climbing a small bank and helping mom up the bank, we wondered in the woods for a while with no luck. We went back to the road and walked up and down the highway looking for another area, but no luck still. We drove up Murphy Place, but nothing up there either. Then a car of four women passed us heading up Murphy Place. We waved to them to stop, but they just passed by, so we followed them.

They had pulled into a driveway that wound up a hill, so we followed them on to the house. I had mom do the talking, and two of the women said they knew the cemetery we were talking about. One offered to take us to the cemetery to show us where it was. We followed her in the car to a different spot along the highway and she got out. This time the bank was much steeper, so mom stayed in the car. She led me pretty much straight to the cemetery, which was not really in a clearing at all, but was among the trees in the woods. I found Joel Clark, his wife Betsy Taylor Clark, and several other family members.

My pictures didn't turn out that great because the writing on the tombstones has worn away so much. You can't read many of the names at all. I'll have to go back again and take shaving cream and a ruler.

        Joel Clark              Betsy Taylor Clark