Clay Sink Cemetery

Additional Cemetery Info...

Clay Sink Church Road
Lacoochee, Florida, USA
Coordinates: 28.47339, -82.06701

A historical marker here reads:

Harrison and Martha Ann McKinney Slaughter acquired 120 acres in this area from Jesse Sumner May 20, 1862. The settlement that developed here was first called Slaughter after this pioneer family. Over time it became known as Clay Sink, after the clay sinkhole that is in the area. This cemetery was established on this hill of moss-draped oaks in 1873 when the Slaughters buried their infant daughter here. It is now maintained in perpetuity by the Clay Sink Cemetery Association Inc. On Feb. 19, 1897, the Clay Sink Missionary Baptist Church was organized with 21 members, with Elder G. A. Bryant, moderator. In 1904 a wood-framed building was erected on this site and served the congregation until the present pine building was constructed in 1956. The one-room Slaughter/Clay Sink school building was built in 1912 on Cobb Slough and moved in 1915 to this site that was donated by William Henry and Joanna Slaughter Boyett. It became the fellowship hall for the church in 1943 when the school closed due to consolidation. The teacher’s raised platform remained a part of the structure. Some of the early settlers who were charter members of the church were Slaughters, Sumners, Boyetts, Sapps, Robbins, McKinneys, Hardins, Mobleys, Gays, and Weeks. Descendants of these families still live in the area.