The OES visited Hampton Cemetery on March 17, 2002. We discovered this cemetery while driving around on the back-roads of Franklin and Madison County. As we soon found out that we were closer to civilization than we thought and ended up in West Jefferson, where this cemetery is located. But before West Jefferson expanded into the area, the town of New Hampton occupied the land. The town was founded on the fourth of July in 1822 by two men, Samuel Jones and Samuel Sexton, along the National Road that dates back to 1806. In 1830, Rev. Isaac Jones founded Jefferson just two miles away from the village of New Hampton. Everyone in the village moved their families and buildings to Jefferson. The town was later called by the name of its post office, West Jefferson.

Once the center of New Hampton, the Hampton Cemetery contains the remains of many of the original settlers to the area, including the remains of Rev. Isaac Jones and soldiers of various wars, including the Civil War. Since New Hampton was dated between 1822 and 1830, we believe this could be when the cemetery was founded. Many of the older tombstones were in good shape during our visit. The cemetery was still in use with many of the new burials taking place on the opposite side of the grounds.