John Louis Hargis was born 2 Mar 1802 in Washington County, Virginia, to Samuel Whiteside Hargis 1774-1859, a veteran of the American Revolution, and Nancy McMunn 1770-1839. John Hargis and Elizabeth Weddington were married on 4 Jul 1822 in Russell County, Virginia. In 1826 John moved his family, which then consisted of him, his wife and baby Elizabeth Jane, to Pike County, Kentucky. There he practiced law. He and Elizabeth had additional children: William, Jacob, Samuel W., Sabina, Kenaz F., James Henry and Eliza A.
In 1839 the family relocated to Jackson, Breathitt County, Kentucky, when the town was just forming. There they had a son, Thomas Frazier Hargis, in 1842. John's wife, Elizabeth Weddington Hargis, died on 24 Nov 1843. He married Eliza Secrest on 14 Oct 1844. John worked for 12 years as clerk of the county and circuit courts of Breathitt County. He represented Breathitt and Morgan County as a member of the Constructional Congress in 1849 when the state was changed to a commonwealth. John was an assistant U.S. Marshall in 1850. He is referred to in records as Colonel John Louis Hargis or "bally John."
In 1856 John Louis he moved to Morehead, Rowan County, Kentucky, where he worked as the county attorney for several years. Two of his children also became attorneys, Kenaz F. Hargis and Thomas Frazier Hargis. John Louis Hargis died on 1 April 1886. His second wife Eliza died in 1863. He married Sarah Pelfrey about 1870. An obituary written in the Louisville Courier Journal 7 Apr 1886 stated that he was buried on Saturday, April 3, 1886, and that the remains of Col. John Hargis was interred in the family burial grounds at Morehead, Kentucky. The occasion was marked with many acts of respect for the deceased. The funeral eulogy was delivered by Elder Henry F. Martin. It states that John donated the ground on which a church was built. It turned out to be the church where his funeral services took place. The obituary goes on to say he was a man of strong mind, fine presence and a thorough believer in the Savior. His last words were "Jesus can fix it all; He will make it all right." The article said that most of the people of Morehead attended the services. The article goes on to state that the people of Breathitt and Rowan County intended to have a monument built to the memory of Colonel John Louis Hargis.
As far as I know, a monument to John L Hargis was never built. In fact, as it turned out, John was buried in the Hargis Family Cemetery south of Morehead near Paragon and Lower Lick Fork road. I don't know when the property was acquired by the Hargis family but John's grandson William Norvel Hargis and William's son Ottis Hargis were living there in the early to mid 1900's. During the construction of Cave Run Lake, much of that area was to be flooded. There was a cemetery relocation project conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers in which the graves in 28 cemeteries were to be moved. The graves in the Hargis cemetery were moved to Alphrey Cemetery in Rowan County nearer to Morehead. All but a few graves in the Hargis Cemetery were marked. One of the unmarked graves must be that of Colonel John Louis Hargis.
The old Hargis Cemetery was bordered by a creek to the west and nearby water coarse to the south. As told by one of Louis' great great grandsons, Vernon Hargis 1925-2012, there was a great flood in 1939 that came in the middle of the night. His family narrowly escaped the waters that came into their house. They got to safety but the house was swept away along with some of the grave markers in the old cemetery. A memory that one of Vernon's daughter has of her father is how he would complain whenever they returned to the old cemetery over the following years, and he could not find some of his ancestors because the flood washed away the markers.
The Hargises from the old family cemetery are now buried near one another in Alfrey Cemetery. The few unmarked graves of the old cemetery now have new headstones displaying only numbers to represent each unknown grave. The grave of Colonel John Hargis must now be marked by one of these numbered headstones. Which number will probably never be known. It is hardly a monument befitting a man who was so admired by so many, a man who helped construct the Constitution of the state of Kentucky.