1. The “Horseshoe Bend Hardgrave Cemetery” was on 200 acres purchased by Francis Hardgrave in 1800 and sold to his son James in 1801. James lived there 35 years or until 1836 when he moved to Johnson County, AR. Thus he is not buried here, but James owned the cemetery for 35 years and several of his relatives and friends are buried there.
2. The majority of our group believe that Francis and Sarah are buried there rather than in the Providence Church Cemetery, though the lack of any sign of death dates on the stones leaves it a continuing puzzle.
3. We are all convinced that John Hardgrave (the son of Francis and husband of Polly Robertson) is the John buried here in 1828 because of 1) A report that he came back to Nashville from Madison County, TN “for his health,” 2) His will was written here just prior to his death, and 3) The name and death date on the stone match all other documents, even though there is a one-year discrepancy on the birth date on one other document.
4. We don’t know why John came back to Nashville for his last days, except for the “health reasons” mentioned, possibly a favored doctor here, or that both he and Polly had family here. And sometimes people just want to “go home to die.”
5. We believe that Johnson Hardgrave was the son of James, because of circumstantial evidence, not proved yet. He had been married about two years to Sally Baxter, the daughter of Jeremiah Baxter. We have not found evidence of children yet.