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.
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