Descendants of a south Chilton County family have planned a cemetery dedication and grave marking ceremony for the historic Moore Family Cemetery near Verbena.

The dedication is planned for Sunday, Sept. 20 from 2-4 p.m. at the site of the cemetery, located on Chilton County Road 752.

Within the service, there will be a grave marking ceremony for Revolutionary War Patriot Obadiah Moore. The ceremony will converge with the 170th anniversary of Moore’s death.

“We want to get word out to the community because there are a great number of descendants who live here, and I’ve only contacted a few of them,” said Mary Buehler of Montgomery, a descendant herself.

The land on which the cemetery stands was part of the John Moore home place. John Moore, son of Obadiah and Winney Moore, purchased the land on Sept. 4, 1834 in what was then Autauga County.

Among the known buried there is Obadiah Moore, who was born in Princess Anne County, W. Va., in 1754 to Obadiah Moore Sr. and his wife, Prudence.

Approximately two years after Obadiah Sr.’s death, Prudence married Samuel Elks and the family moved to Pitt County, NC about 1768.

Here, Obadiah was drafted into the North Carolina Militia and fought in the Battle of Charleston under Gen. Benj. Lincoln, was captured by the British and became a prisoner of war. Later paroled, he again joined the North Carolina Militia for about 10 days before being discharged.

Obadiah married Winney in the winter of 1782, and after the war they resided in Georgia about 30 years before settling in the Chestnut Creek area of Autauga County around 1820. Family members intermarried with other prominent area families such as Ray, Vinson, Yates, Webb, Deason and Popwell.

Most of the family worshipped at what is now Chestnut Creek Baptist Church. For this reason, it is fitting that current church pastor Derek Deavers has committed to participating in the dedication service.

Conducting the grave marking ceremony will be the Peter Forney and Asthon Sosi Chapters, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution; and the John Archer Elmore Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.

“The Moore family is very oriented in this community,” Buehler said. “If anybody knows of a family member buried in the Moore Cemetery, we would like to identify as many of those unmarked graves as possible.”

Unfortunately, only 21 of approximately 37 graves have been located. Of those, only about 10 have been identified. Other veterans buried there include Moses Moore and Hansford Chitty.

The cemetery is listed as an Alabama Historical Site thanks to the Chilton Cemetery Association, and a historical marker was purchased by the Descendants of Obadiah Moore Nonprofit.

For more information or directions to the cemetery, contact Buehler at (334) 270-2322 or e-mail: buehler2149@

yahoo.com.