Thomas Gibson Cemetery
aka Kessler Cemetery
aka Powder Mills Cemetery

.

Hart County, Kentucky

Located on highway 569, Powder Mills Road about 1.1 mile east of Gardner Road.

Fenced and well maintained by descendants of the Gibson Family.

According to Roy Cann's statement in his book, Thomas was the last person to operate the old mills.  
He also stated that it was near the old log home of Thomas Gibson, on the east side of Lyncamp Creek.

Death Certificates, Photos, notes and stories provided by Dee Tapp - transcription provided by Edith Bastin

 

Name

Birth Date

Death Date

Notes

Gibson, Alfred

8 Jun 1822

23 Mar 1887

h/o (1) Nancy (Whitlow) Gibson & (2) Julia A. Gibson; s/o Thomas & Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson; f/o William J., Mary J., Martha, James H., Charles L., John M., George W., Albert, Lafayette & Annice

Gibson, Caroline "Ki" (Hudgins )

Mar 27, 1838

Sept 16, 1906

w/o Jonathan Gibson; d/o John & Rachel (Kimberlin) Hudgins

Gibson, Frances
2 Oct 1825 22 Sep 1917 Spinster d/o Thomas & Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson. No stone found.
Gibson, Jonathan

Jan 29, 1832

Aug 30, 1922

h/o Caroline B. (Hudgins) Gibson; s/o Thomas & Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson; f/o Sarah Adair (Gibson) Kessler & Frances Elizabeth (Gibson) Skaggs

Jonathan & Caroline B. (Hudgins) Gibson Family

Alfred Gibson

Gibson, Mary Polly (Martin)

7 May 1798

5 Apr 1883

w/o Thomas Gibson; d/o Frederick & Elizabeth (Brown) Martin. No stone found.

Gibson, Mease

1810

25 Apr 1883

Black servant of the Thomas Gibson family. No stone found. (See story below)

Mease/Meece Gibson was omitted from the initial cemetery listing, however, she was the faithful black servant girl who was given to Caroline B. (Hudgins) Gibson as a wedding gift from her mother-in-law, Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson.  After the Emancipation Proclamation, Mease was told that President Lincoln had freed all the slaves and that she was free to leave.  She said:  “This here’s my home, where would I go?”  And so, she lived out the rest of her life there on the farm.  She was given the Gibson family name, and her death was recorded in the family Bible just like the rest of the family.  She was a member of the Knoxes Creek Baptist Church as early as 1834, and her name was listed among the “colored people’s names 1834 – 1872” as belonging to Thomas Gibson.

Gibson, Nancy (Whitlow)

1828

Abt 1870

1 st w/o Alfred Gibson

Gibson, Thomas

12 Jun 1798

5 Sep 1867

h/o Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson; f/o Alfred Gibson, Jonathan Gibson, Frances Gibson, Mary Jane (Gibson) Hodges, Nancy Harlan (Gibson) Watkins & Katherine H. (Gibson) Martin

Thomas Gibson was the last operator of the old gunpowder mill at Powder Mills on Lynn Camp Creek which was located just a short distance from the Gibson homestead.  It ceased its gunpowder-making operation around 1865 just after the Civil War during which time gunpowder was sold to both the North and South, and thereafter was used at various times as a lumber mill, a grist mill, a woolen mill and lastly a carding machine operation – all powered from a huge overshot waterwheel at the base of the large spring which provided water for the entire town of Powder Mills.  The town ceased to exist around 1945 when Schuyler Best, the last operator of any mill operations passed away.  At one time, the town consisted of several houses, a doctor’s office, a telephone exchange, a general store, and a post office.  Now, only the doctor’s office and post office remain.

Thomas Gibson Cabin

Hodges, Mary Jane (Gibson)

20 Jan 1841

11 Oct 1883

w/o William M. Hodges; d/o Thomas & Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson

Kessler, Alexander Elliott “El”

Sep 1842

19 Jul 1923

h/o (1) Martha E. Kessler & (2) Sarah Adair (Gibson) Kessler; s/o Henry & Elizabeth (Goff) Kessler; f/o Ira Kessler (1876 – 1957) (by Martha) who married Mattie (Cardwell) on 2 May 1907.

Kessler, Martha E

6 Nov 1851

1 Nov 1878

1 st w/o Alexander Elliott Kessler; M/O Ira Kessler

Kessler, Henry

1804

1879

MORTALITY SCHEDULE. h/o Elizabeth (Goff) Kessler; s/o Daniel & Eve Phoebe (Koontz) Kessler; f/o Alexander Elliott Kessler & Eunice (Kessler) Riley

Kessler, Elizabeth (Goff)

1811

1892

w/o Henry Kessler; d/o Elijah (b. 27 Feb 1785 in Hardyville, VA – d. 3 Nov 1875 in Green County, KY) and Unity (Rodgers) (b. 1 Jan 1777 ) Goff, both of whom are buried in the Macedonia Church Cemetery in Donansburg, Green County, Kentucky

Kessler, Sarah Adair Gibson

Mar 26, 1859

May 20, 1940

2nd w/o Alexander Elliott Kessler; d/o Jonathan & Caroline B. (Hudgins) Gibson

Kessler, Sarah Adair Gibson

Martin, Henry Clay Jan 3, 1838 Apr 8, 1911

Born in Hart County, KY, died at Powder Mills, KY. There is no stone that can be found for him.  He was the husband of Katharine Hodges Martin (who is buried her) and the son of William and Gilmina (Pigg) Martin.  He was the postmaster at Powder Mills, so says the death certificate.

Martin, Katherine H.

2 Oct 1827

20 Jul 1883

d/o Thomas & Mary Polly (Martin) Gibson; w/o (1) Thomas Hodges & (2) Henry C. Martin

Martin, Sarah L.

Sep 29, 1871

Mar 28, 1896

d/o Henry C. & Katherine H. (Gibson) Martin

Quisenberry, John F.
No relationship to the Gibson and Kessler families except that he lived among them and they gave him a home until he died. Tin marker.
KDIndex:
Name: John F. Quisenberry
Death Date: July 30, 1955
Death Place: Barren Co
Age: 076
Residence: Barren
Volume: 31
Certificate: 15060
Riley, Eunice (Kessler)

Mar 1, 1830

Feb 18, 1915

d/o Henry & Elizabeth (Goff) Kessler; w/o John O. Riley, a Civil War soldier ( Union)

Whitlow, Caroline Beatrice "Carrie" (Morales)

Jul 20, 1914

Feb 11, 1941

w/o (1) Edmund Robert & (2) Ford Whitlow; d/o Francisco Julian & Caroline (Skaggs) Morales; niece of Alexander Elliott & Sarah Adair (Gibson) Kessler who raised her after her mother’s death when she was only 9 months old

Whitlow, Charles Edward

Jan 28, 1941

Nov 5, 1941

s/o Ford & Caroline Beatrice (Morales) Whitlow

Whitlow, Ford

Feb 19, 1910

Nov 14, 1960

h/o (1) Caroline Beatrice (Morales) Whitlow & (2) Marjorie L. Spencer

Whitlow, Marjorie L.

1925

1968

2nd w/o Ford Whitlow. m/o Helen (Spencer) Jewell & Elza Spencer. Tin marker

 

An earlier transcription also had:
Kessler, Infant Oct 15, 1908 - Oct 20, 1908
Kessler, Sissie M. 1881 - ---
Sissie Kessler should be Narcissa "Sissie" Myrtle (Jeffreys) Kessler. She is buried alongside her husband Alva Rufus Kessler in the Houk Cemetery in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, according to new information obtained from her descendants. (The Kessler infant may likely be the child of Sissie & Rufus?)

Sissy & Alva Rufus's stone in Houk Cemetery

 

Fieldstones and unidentifiable stones
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