BURTIS (ALBURTIS) RINGO
Born Fed 25, 1763 in Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co., N.J. Son of Cornelius Ringo and Margaret Switcher, moved with them to Virginia when 5 years old. At 15 he ran away from home in Loudon Co. to join Capt Armistead's dragoons of Col. Dabney's regt. and took part in battles against the British at Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, where on Oct 19, 1781 he and his older brother, John witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis' army. Thereafter he became an express rider for Gov. Nelson of Virginia and before the Revolutionary War ended was sergeant of the six couriers.
On Feb. 22, 1790 in Faquier Co., Va., he married Hannah Rector, daughter of John of Rectortown. They moved to Culpeper Co., Va. by 1799 and on to Fleming Co., Kentucky in 1806, where he set up a large stone tavern house at Belle Grove Springs in the southeastern part of the county. They had 13 children, the last 3 being born in Ky.
Burtis Ringo was commissioned a magistrate of this county in 1817 and became a large landholder, carrying one land case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. His affinity for horses was well-known, and family tradition says that he had taken a long ride the day before his death, just a few months before his 90th birthday.
This family plot was purchased in the name of his eldest son, John Robert Ringo, who served as a sergeant in the war of 1812 and in 1832 was lieutenant colonel of the 30th regt., Ky. active militia. The older headstones here were originally in the old Ringo Burial Yard located on a bluff above Stockton Branch of Fox Creek across the road from the Early Inn. It contained the remains of Burtis Ringo; his wife, Hannah; a son, Albert; a daughter, Gracy; his mother-in-law, Grace Classcock Rector Quaintance; and a grandson, Melville Lewis. There were also 3 unmarked graves. Removal was caused by construction of a dam on that site by the Fox Creek Water District.
This dedication and plaque made possible by the efforts of 3 of his many desendants: Mildred Gault Merrill, Robert R. Ringo and David Lee Ringo. July 4, 1976.