Landmarks is fortunate to be considered a trustworthy and safe depository for historic places that need to be brought under an umbrella of protection for preservation. Willstown Cemetery is one of those places.
Willstown Mission was located on a ten-acre site at the base of Lookout Mountain near the home of Major Lowry, a strong supporter of the mission. Ard Hoyt, a pastor of a Congregationist church (formed by the Presbyterians in 1812), along with his family, was transferred to the Willstown Mission in 1824. He was called "Father Hoyt" by the Cherokee.
According to the history of Willstown written by Elizabeth S. Howard, the purpose of the mission was to make the Cherokee Indians English in their language, civilized in their habits and Christian in their religion. Father Ard Hoyt became ill and died February 18, 1828. He was buried in the center of a peaceful wooded area. A little over a hundred years later a granite stone was erected at the gravesite commemorating both Hoyt and the Willstown Mission. The only other marked graves in the cemetery are those of seven of the Vance Commins Larmore family, who homesteaded the mission.
The cemetery contains many Indian graves, but they are marked by plain rocks, and stumps of cedar trees. It was the custom of the Cherokee to plant a cedar tree by the grave of one of their own. The cedar trees were cut down by a former owner and used to panel the inside of his home. According to Lib Howard's history, some historians think the small cemetery was started before Willstown Mission was established, and some believe that Chief John Watts was buried there in 1808, his grave unmarked unless by a stone or cedar tree.
Landmarks is grateful to Winnie (Larmore) Scott for donating the historic Willstown Cemetery to Landmarks. She presented the deed to President Perry Morgan, knowing that he was a dedicated historian and would set in motion the plans for maintaining and preserving the cemetery. Thank you, Winnie. In memory of Perry, Landmarks is already working on the plan. And, all of Fort Payne owes Elizabeth Howard a debt of gratitude for researching the documenting the history of Willstown and the cemetery so that it will not be lost to history.