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This isn't actually connected to any Carnahan's either, but for anyone doing
research in the Munderf/Jefferson County Area, this is something that had thrown me off
too, until Dawn reminded me of the story that I now recall my Grandmother mentioning. Some
websites list 2 cemeteries in Polk Township - the Zion/Munderf Cemetery, and the Slyhoff
Cemetery. Just to clarify for everyone researching, the Slyhoff Cemetery is simply a
one-person gravesite on private property with a legend attached to it. Dawn refreshed me
on the story, then I googled it and found it on the internet:
The Legend of Slyhoff's Grave
Richard Slyhoff was an infamous man in early Jefferson County. He was known to be in a
constant state of drunkenness. He was regarded by his neighbors as a real "Cain
raiser." Some people even said he was an atheist.
On his deathbed, Slyhoff may have had a vision of what awaited him beyond this earth and
made his family swear to a strange request. His final request was to be buried under a
large rock near his home. Slyhoff's reasoning was simple - he did not want the devil
to find him on judgement day.
His family fulfilled Slyhoff's last wish. They took his body out to the boulder and
began to dig under the rock. They dug out enough space not only for the body to be laid
out but also for a marker to be placed at the head of the grave. It was hard work. The men
had to work on their knees much of the time before they could slide the coffin under the
rock. Space was so confined they used a portion of the boulder as the marker.
Their work finished, they left the boulder with little intent of ever returning.
A few years later, one of the burial party returned, perhaps out of a morbid sense of
curiosity, to the lone grave under the rock. What he found surprised him.
The grave he and his friends had worked so hard to conceal was no longer under the rock.
Somehow the huge boulder had moved. Instead of covering the grave, the rock had moved
UPHILL, leaving Slyhoff exposed to the sky. There was enough room to walk completely
around the infamous man's grave.
Over the years the rock has continued to recoil from Slyhoff. Will the devil come calling
on Judgement Day? If he does, Slyhoff may find out you can never hide from your past, even
in death.
This is part of a bigger website with some other interesting articles on it about the
history of Jefferson County:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/4034/index2.html