The Stradley monument is the most distinctive in this small cemetery, also known as Hiwassee College Cemetery.

Born June 15, 1825, at No. 37, Ironmonger Street, London, England. Brought by his parents to America when he was three. His father was a Baptist minister. Studied medicine and began to practice in Burnsville, N. C. Married Nov. 16, 1872, Miss Harriet Newell Wilson. They had eight children, two of whom became Methodist preachers: W. Bascom and Charles L. Admitted 1856. Located 1861, but afterward returned to the Conference. He was made a Captain in the Confederate Army, performing the duties of a surgeon part of the time. After the war he took work for some time, but was supernumerary for many years. His first wife died Dec. 3, 1883. He later married Miss Harriet Porter, Asheville, N. C. Died Jan. 15, 1905, at his home in Monroe County, Tenn. Buried at Hiwassee College, Tenn., now known as Buckner Memorial.

∼JOHN RYLAND STRADLEY was born on 15 June 1825 at Woolwich, county Kent, England. At the age of three, he accompanied his parents to America on 15 Sep 1828, arriving at Charleston, SC, and proceeding to Asheville, NC. He married first at Burnsville, NC on 16 Nov 1852 HARRIET NEWELL WILSON. She was born on 13 Sep 1834, in Yancey County, NC, the daughter of Samuel L. and Emily Elizabeth (Whittington) Wilson. HARRIET died on 4 Dec 1883, and JOHN married second, in Buncombe Co, NC, on 18 Mar 1886 Harriet E. Porter. She was born 9 Jan 1839. JOHN RYLAND STRADLEY died on 17 Jan 1905 at Madisonville, TN. HARRIET died on 26 Nov 1930, at Beaverdam, NC.

JOHN RYLAND STRADLEY served during the Mexican War in Company K, North Carolina First Regiment of Foot Volunteers. He was a Private in Captain Samuel B. Tipton's Company. The unit was organized on 10 Apr 1847 and discharged on 7 Aug 1848. He then studied medicine and became a physician, though where is not known. Although raised as a Baptist, JOHN attended the sermons of Reverend David Sullins, a Methodist, while practicing medicine in Yancey Co, NC. He was powerfully converted. Although a layman, the ministry was short of ministers, and JOHN RYLAND was asked in 1852 to give several sermons. He was soon afterward licensed to preach, and he joined the Holston Conference of Methodists in 1856. His first wife, HARRIET, was schooled at the Burnsville Academy. In 1859, she was made a life member of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Greenville, TN.

At the beginning of the Civil War, JOHN RYLAND relocated his family to Madisonville, TN. He purchased a farm near Hiwassee College at Madisonville. On 12 Feb 1862, he was mustered in as Captain of Company E, 59th Mounted Infantry of Tennessee in the Confederate army. He fought at the Battle of Vicksburg and was besieged there until it fell to General Ulysses S. Grant on 3 July 1863. He was captured but was soon paroled, as was often the custom. He again saw service in the Valley of Virginia, serving as a surgeon.

Following the war, he returned to Madisonville, TN, where he rejoined the Holston Conference. He continued to preach, but he devoted himself to farming. He also served as the Superintendent of Schools for Monroe County and also as President of the Board of Trustees for Hiwassee College.

Children, by JOHN RYLAND and his first wife HARRIET NEWELL.:
i. WILLIAM BASCOM, b. 28 Sep 1853 in Yancey Co, NC
ii. Mary E., b. 1855-56 in NC, m. John Gill
iii. Lilly Ann, b. 1858-59 in TN, m. W.A. Krise
iv. Harvey E., b. 3 Sep 1862 in TN, d. 19 Sep 1883
v. Charles Lee, b. Oct 1867, d. 3 June 1933 at Clinchport, VA, m. Margaret (lnu), b. June 1868 in VA.
vi. Susan Llewella, b. 1871-72 in TN, m. a Hayes
vii. Sarah Jane, b. 1876-77 in TN, d. abt. 1980, m. W.A. Krise, widower of her sister Lilly Ann.
viii. Lucy May, b. 1877-78