Historic New Chapel Cemetery located in the Third District of Itawamba County just a few miles north of Monroe County is one of the largest historic cemeteries in Itawamba County. Settled by pioneers from the Newberry District, South Carolina area, early pioneer families included the Shumpert, Riley, Mayfield, Estes, Dabbs, and Monts families among others. Today there is a Methodist church at the site and at one time the grounds hosted two churches, the present-day Methodist church and a Presbyterian Church. Located in the cemetery is a monument erected by church members back during the 1960's memorializing the first person buried in the old cemetery, Betsy Noble, who died around 1837. My uncle, Samuel Feemster Riley told me once that she was a young girl when she died. Riley's grandfather, John Riley and his brother Moses Riley, donated the original land to the church and cemetery shortly after arriving in Itawamba County from Newberry District and the story of Betsy Noble had been handed down through the generations.
Todate, I have been unable to find any information on a Noble family in early Itawamba County. Betsy Noble is simply an Itawamba County mystery.
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