excerpt from Blueridgenow.com
Published: Friday, May 20, 2005 at 4:30 a.m.
by Jennie Jones Giles

Another cemetery in the Big Willow community, the Cantrell Family Cemetery, is said by descendants to be more than 125 years old and contains about 25 graves.

There are 25 marked graves inside an enclosed fence off Indian Cave Road in Champion Hills. Nine of those stones have legible inscriptions.

The oldest grave is that of Elizabeth Cantrell Shepherd, who died in 1825. She was the wife of Nimrod Shepherd and daughter of Samuel Cantrell, 1785-1873. He is also buried in the cemetery

Jacob and Samuel Cantrell were brothers who settled in the Big Willow area. Jacob Cantrell was a Baptist minister who was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church from 1830-34 (Hendersonville, NC). He was also the first pastor of Crab Creek Baptist from 1834 to 1839. Moved to Gilmer Co. GA in 1849 & founded Goshen Baptist Church where he is buried with his wife.

In April, nine fieldstones were located outside the fenced area.

"It's possible there are more where a tree was uprooted," Miller said. "The rows are array and the graves are not in the order as shown in the county cemetery book."

The cemetery was preserved by the Branigar Organization and is located on .06 acre.

"The cemetery was maintained, but in April there appeared to be a couple of years growth," Miller said. "The main concern is that the boundaries, inside the enclosed area, do not incorporate the entire cemetery."

Located off Indian Cave Road within the Champion Hills Golf Club development owned by the Branigar Organization in the Big Willow community. Turn on Indian Cave Road off Willow Road. The cemetery is located off Indian Cave Road about 350 feet from Willow Road and borders the northwest corner of a parcel for 26 Indian Cave Road. The cemetery is located on about .06 acre.

There is one broken stone with only the following:

"A member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church" – 1811-24 Apr 1887