Family Graveyard Restoration

This is an update of an earlier post from 2014 with links and additional photos.

Landon surveys the graveyard 1997

In the early 1990’s while visiting Guthrie, Landon came upon the old Kimbrough Family Graveyard, located on the tobacco plantation owned by various Kimbroughs until the early 1900s when it was sold out of the family.

“I was really excited to find something my father’s family knew nothing about, but the task at hand was daunting: the gravestones were knocked over, covered with brush and rabbit warrens made walking hazardous.”

When I saw it, I worried about snakes, myself. I hate snakes. Once it was cleared I agreed to help document what we found.

Bob Kimbrough, (Landon’s father) and his cousin Ben Kimbrough of Clarksville, Tennessee, paid to have the site cleared and the tombstones replaced in their original positions as much as possible. Cousin John Kimbrough agreed to maintain the site. We visited again a few years later and copied down the information about the tombstones and did our best to create a family tree for the people buried there, but that may not appear on the cemetery page. Feel free to email if you’d like what information we do have.

Robert Landon Kimbrough in the Kimbrough Family Graveyard in Guthrie, KY
Robert Landon “Bob” Kimbrough at the start of the restoration of the Kimbrough Family Graveyard

Susan, who at the time was the owner of the house and property, said that someone had found a tombstone or two down by the creek years ago, but didn’t know where they belonged. I fear that vandals likely displaced or took additional tombstones. It is said that there may have been another older graveyard on the property, or more likely it was a slave graveyard. Sadly, other tombstones might have solved some of our family mysteries. The earliest burial date here that can be read is 1830 and the latest 1903.

Posted with gratitude for the late Bob Kimbrough, and very much alive cousins Ben Kimbrough and John Kimbrough. We recently lost Sue Head Kimbrough, widow of Charles, mother of John, and enthusiastic supporter of the restoration. Aunt Sue provided a lovely “B & B” for us when we visited Guthrie. She will be missed!

To see the restored cemetery go to: http://kimbroughgenealogy.lanstat.com/

3 thoughts on “Family Graveyard Restoration

  1. Wonderful work you are doing on this family cemetery. I don’t know of any connections we have there, but both husband and I have TN and NC roots. I stopped by to welcome you to the blogging world and GeneaBloggers, in particularly. Look forward to reading more from your family research!

  2. HI – my name is Rochelle Kimbrough and i was given a photo copy of the bible page mentioned above from my father Andrew Kimbrough. I have just started my journey to find out about my family’s history Your page helped to realize I’m on the right track. Thank you!

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