Also called the Crawford Cemetery and the Holston Institute Cemetery, the cemetery is located 450 ft. north of the intersection of Muddy Creek Road and Fain Drive in a wooded area of the pasture field.  The cemetery was very overgrown, with many stones broken and fallen over.  There were at least nine graves marked by fieldstones and probably a few unmarked graves.  The cemetery was surveyed on 10 April 1934 by Hannah V. Boyd.  There were several more markers found at that time and they are included on this list, as well as two names taken from Charles M. Bennett’s transcription, ca. 1960.

Photographed and transcribed on August 7, 2004 by Donna Briggs and Bob Shell, updated 5 May 2005 by Donna Briggs, Bob Shell, Gary Sawyer, Betty Jane Hylton, Jan Clark, Chester Willis and newspaper reporter Jessica Fischer.

Map Location: Boone Dam Quad

GPS Location: 36°29.36N  082°24.15W   Elevation: 1545 ft.

Additional information

Two previous transcriptions of this cemetery indicate that “between Thomas Crawford and Hames Crawford, there is an unmarked grave in which is buried AUNT SHARP (nee Crawford).”

Some research indicates that Thomas Fain (b. 1784) was the son of John Fain and Nancy Agnes McMahon of Chester County, Pennsylvania.  John was born ca. 1755.  He and Nancy lived in Washington County, TN (then NC).  He was a private in the Revolutionary War, serving under Captain Evan Shelby. It is very likely that he fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Thomas married Sallie Crawford on 26 Mar 1812.  Siblings of Thomas include: Nicholas (b 1782), Ruth (b 1784), and John (b 1788). The Fain family emigrated here from Ireland.