Calling All Descendants of Peter Pennebaker of Bardstown KY

From the newsletter editor:

The members of my Pennebaker line migrated from Pennsylvania to Bardstown, Kentucky, which today is about an hour from Louisville. One of the earliest ancestors to settle in the Bardstown area was my great-great-great grandfather Peter Pennebaker (1783-1849), who came with his father Frederick as a small child in 1791. Like his Pennsylvania relative with the same name (Peter Pannebacker, the first in the family to own Pennypacker Mills), this Peter also owned and operated a mill.

Peter and his second wife, Jane Langley (who is not my great-great-great grandmother but rather my great-great-great grandaunt, whom Peter married after his first wife and my direct ancestor Anna Eliza died from cholera in 1833), are buried in a small family cemetery on what used to be known as the Pennebaker Farm. 

The current owners of the farm recently removed the gravestones from the cemetery without permission, but a neighbor fortunately saw and reported it. Grave violation is a Class IV felony in Kentucky, and the penalty is for the perpetrator to restore or properly relocate the graves.

I learned about all this because I happened to visit the cemetery just last March and the local contact who showed it to me texted me to let me know. 

Under Kentucky law, direct descendants are allowed to have a say in the resolution of such matters. Together, my local friend and I have found some other direct descendants who are willing to weigh in. If you are also a descendant or know someone who is, we hope you’ll contact us to have your voice heard as well.

-Elizabeth Allen-Pennebaker