Cokesbury / Courthouse Hill · Dublin District No. 4 · Somerset County, Maryland
Cemetery near Courthouse Hill
April 2021 field photograph showing the burial ground during the survey. Click photograph to enlarge.
The Corbin & Porter Cemetery, also called the Bratten Family Plot in the contributor record, stands near Courthouse Hill in the Cokesbury area, south of Dividing Creek. Ed Smith and Philip L. Goldsborough visited the privately owned site in April 2021 with the property owners. They documented headstones of the Corbin, Porter, Bratten, Lankford, Dryden, Stevenson, and Veasey families.
The 2021 field account describes a periwinkle-covered hill. The surveyors reported finding several buried or partly buried stones, which they photographed and documented after exposure. The photographs preserve the inscriptions and record the conservation conditions at the time of that visit.
Latitude38° 06.314′ N
Longitude75° 33.041′ W
Status: Surveyed April 2021 on private land; access only by prior arrangement.
Transcription note: The grave transcriptions below are drawn from the original contributor record. Uncertain original readings are preserved; observations made independently from survey photographs are explicitly labeled. Original sources remain in the donor archive.
Graves Recorded
Original survey photograph of Minnie Bratten. Click photograph to enlarge.
Minnie Bratten
Transcription
Minnie Bratten
Wife of
W. F. Bratten
Died 1908
Original survey photograph of Ann Grace Corbin. Click photograph to enlarge.
Ann Grace Corbin
Transcription
Ann Grace
Daughter of
Jno. & Maria Corbin
Born April 9, 1846
Died March 26, 1855
Original survey photograph of George Corbin. Click photograph to enlarge.
George Corbin
Transcription
George
Son of
John & Maria Corbin
Born March 3, 1857
Died Novr 6, 1857
Aged 8 months & 3 Days
Original survey photograph of John Franklin Corbin. Click photograph to enlarge.
John Franklin Corbin
Transcription
John Franklin
Son of
John & Maria Corbin
Born Aug. 6, 1860
Died May 7, 1861
Aged 9 months and 1 day
And now in the Courts of Heaven
With a golden harp in hand
Our youngest darling Jonny
forms one of a cherube band
Original survey photograph of Maria Corbin. Click photograph to enlarge.
Maria Corbin
Transcription
In Memory of
MARIA CORBIN
Consort of
JOHN CORBIN
Born June 7, 1819;
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
June 1, 1862.
42 yrs. 11 mos. & 24 days
Thou art gone to the grave—but ’twere wrong to deplore thee,
When God was thy ransom, thy guardian, thy guide;
He gave thee, and took thee, and soon will restore thee,
Where death hath no sting, since the Saviour hath died.
Original survey photograph of Mary Lizzie Dryden. Click photograph to enlarge.
Mary Lizzie Dryden
Transcription
MARY LIZZIE
Wife of
Albert F. Dryden
Born Dec’r 31, 1843
Died Feb’y 3, 1867
Original survey photograph of Bertha H. Lankford. Click photograph to enlarge.
Bertha H. Lankford
Transcription
In Memoriam
BERTHA H.
Daughter of
John S. & Juliet Lankford
Born Feb. 3, 1874
Died Aug. 28, 1876
The rose that was blooming
Has withered away,
Its fragrance still lingers, though
Dropped in the clay:
It blooms now in heaven a sunnier
Clime.
Its sweetness perennial and ever is mine.
Original survey photograph of Charles Glenn Lankford. Click photograph to enlarge.
Charles Glenn Lankford
Transcription
CHARLES GLENN
Son of
John S. & Juliet Lankford
Born Feb’y 26, 1863
Died Sept. 11, 1866
Original survey photograph of George W. Porter. Click photograph to enlarge.
George W. Porter
Transcription
In memory of
GEORGE W. PORTER
Born Jan. 27, 1783:
Died Jan. 30, 1859.
Aged 76 years & 3 Days
Peaceful be thy silent slumber,
Peaceful in the grave so low,
Thou no more wilt join our number,
Thou no more our songs shall know.
Original survey photograph of George R. Stevenson. Click photograph to enlarge.
George R. Stevenson
Transcription
GEORGE R. STEVENSON
Born Feb. 11, 1837
Died July 8, 1866
Aged 29 Yrs. 4 M. & 27 days
Original survey photograph of Sallie E. Stevenson. Click photograph to enlarge.
Sallie E. Stevenson
Transcription
SALLIE E.
Wife of
Lycurgus H. Stevenson
Born June 27, 1836
Died March 3, 1867
Aged 30 Yrs. 8 Mo. & 6 Days.
Original survey photograph of William H. Veasey. Click photograph to enlarge.
William H. Veasey
Transcription
William H. Veasey
Born Sept. 18, 1808
Died Jan’y 23, 1867
Site Documentation
Additional donor views of the April 2021 discovery and the historical land documentation.
Stone emerging during field documentation in 2021. Click photograph to enlarge.Close view of the documentation process. Click photograph to enlarge.Contributed site-location graphic; consult the original source for scale and parcel details. Click photograph to enlarge.Historic New Providence land plat associated with the research notes. Click photograph to enlarge.
Cemetery and Research Notes
Private property: This cemetery lies on privately owned land. Arrange access with the property owner in advance; the original source discusses burial-site access and the need for authorization. Do not treat the coordinates as permission to enter.
Historical tract research: The contributor’s dossier traces the land to the 1684 patent Providence associated with John Rousells and later title transactions. In 1801–1802 part of the property was resurveyed/patented for Samuel Sloan under the name New Providence. The original study also places the former Somerset County courthouse in the wider Courthouse Hill vicinity.
Documentation History
April 1, 2021: Site visited and documented by Edward M. Smith and Philip L. Goldsborough with the property owners. Three headstones were reported found below the surface.
April 11, 2021: Philip L. Goldsborough typed the grave transcriptions from the survey photographs and compiled the narrative.
October 2026: Photographs reviewed for SCP presentation.
Original contributors: Edward M. Smith and Philip L. Goldsborough; with the cooperation of the property owners. Historical research and full transcription remain credited to the original survey team.
Source notes cited by contributors: Somerset County deeds, Liber WW, folio 298; Clayton Torrence, Old Somerset, pp. 368–371; Maryland patent records, Liber J.C.M.B., folio 64.
