The following two articles were published in the St. Francois County DailyJournal on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2002:

VOLUNTEERS WON'T REST UNTIL CEMETERY IS AT PEACE.
BY: SherryGreminger\Daily Journal Managing Editor

PARK HILLS - James Earl Wallace died Oct. 6, 1917 of scarlet fever. He was the 2-year-old son of J.H. Wallace.

Joseph Dalton died Sept. of 1917. His death is listed as killed by a bread truck in Festus.

John Lawless, 7, was accidentally shot and died in January of 1909.

These are just a few of the names of people buried in the old Gibson Cemetery, located off Hovis Farm Road in Park Hills, who have been identified.

Mable Reed of Desloge, a noted expert in local cemeteries, estimates there are 250 graves. Of these 250 souls, 175 names have been placed with grave sites either through markers, early newspapers, family histories, census reports or probate records gathered by Barbara Serini in 1998.

Mark Gibson says he has been trying to get people interested in repairing the cemetery for many years. "It has been in such a state of disrepair for so many years that a lot of people don't even know it exists."

Gibson, his cousin, Vernon Gibson, Sharon Douglas, Rich Middleton, Mable Reed and about a dozen other volunteers are trying to see that people don't forget those who have gone before them.

Today Gibson Cemetery is a place taken over by vandals and criminals. Next to a broken headstone with remnants of blue paint, there are signs of illegal activities. Police tape rings the area.

Tombstones have not only been turned over, but broken and scattered throughout the approximate two acres compromising the cemetery.

Tree limbs and broken headstones litter the century-old cemetery. Sunken spots scattered throughout the grounds represent burial sites. The area is overgrown with brush.

Mark's cousin, Vernon Gibson of Park Hills, said that his great-grandfather William Riley Gibson owned the property where the cemetery is located. It was purchased from William's father, Greenberry Gibson.

Reed believes it was the main cemetery of its time for the people who came into the area to work in the lead mines. She says an 1882 platt map shows the property belongs to the Gibsons.

The Gibsons are fairly certain that their early ancestors are buried in this cemetery, however, there are no markers and they can only rely on the family's oral history.

One of the things these volunteers did to ensure the cemetery is restored was apply for a inhancement fund from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). A $112,650 project was approved for Gibson Memorial Mine Trail.

The group plans to locate a bike/pedestrian trail on one of the highest spots in St. Francois County. According to the application, "The path will serve as a reminder of the importance of mining in the community and help appreciate our ancestors."

They have proposed the trail link up with an abandoned railroad bed formerly known as the Gumbo Branch of the Mississippi River Bonne Terre Railroad. At this point, the owners of adjoing property are not interested in having the trail located there.

"Tourism has replaced the mining industry in this area and this trail will enhance the list of local sights for visitors to see," they wrote in the grant application. "As you walk down the path an old cemetery can be viewed and serve as a reminder of our proud heritage."

This is where the group is buried under the tremendous amount of work to be done. There is still much to be accomplished and Douglas says they will lose the money by January if they have not started the work on the trail. The funds for the project are for the trail only and do not include restoring the cemetery.

"We are dedicated, however, to restoring the cemetery," she said, "even if we lose the funds for the trail."

As late as the 1960s, burials were still taking place there and as early as 1922, pleas were going out to secure funds for the maintenance of the grounds.

In 1922 William Edwards started a movement to secure funds to build a fence around the Gibson cemetery. On Nov. 17, 1922, The Lead Belt News reported "this 'city of the dead' has been in a deplorable condition for several years, the fence which originally enclosed it having long since fallen to decay, leaving the enclosure at the mercy of any creature who may roam in that direction."

The fence was to have cost $800 and by the following year, Edwards put out another plea for help, having raised only $54.

The current group of volunteers are also asking for help. They don't need money, they need manpower.

"There is so much work that needs to be done," Douglas said. "The whole area needs to be cleaned down to the ground level. We do have to be careful, however," she added, "because many of the trees and plants that are here were planted by the grave sites as memorials. It needs its boundaries marked.

"But, once we have this underbrush out, we can set out to locate the graves that have no stones or have had the stones desecrated. Charles Boyer [of Boyer's Funeral Home] has agreed to help us with the grave location."

The group plans to meet at the cemetery about twice a month to begin the clearing process. They have asked anyone interested to contact either Douglas at 431-7390 or Gibson at 431-8979.

Douglas suggested the work would make a good service project for an organization or school group.

TALES OF VAMPIRES, CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND MORE RESIDE IN GIBSON CEMETERY.
BY: SherryGreminger\DailyJournal Managing Editor

PARK HILLS - Mention Gibson Cemetery and almost anyone who has lived in the county for very long will tell you there is a vampire buried there.

What many people do not know is there may also be a Civil War veteran who supposedly cut the arm off a man at Blue Goose Saloon for saying something bad about his wife, Sara.

No one knows exactly how many people are buried at Gibson Cemetery. The cemetery, located off Hovis Farm Road in Park Hills, was originally owned by William Riley Gibson who purchased it from his father sometime in the mid 1800s.

It has been suggested that many burials took place there that were never recorded and many of the burial sites that were recorded have been lost over the years.

Sharon Douglas of Park Hills says her mother told her she has many relatives buried there, but no stone was put up for fear of grave robbers. Douglas said it was a custom to just plant flowers or maybe leave a plate or a dish to mark the site, so only the family would know for sure who was buried there.

According to the legend of the vampire, handed down mainly from teenager to teenager, in the early 1900s a vampire plied his bloody trade in Elvins. He was, according to the myth, a Hungarian miner - a man who had no mercy and was cruel beyond belief. During his latter years, it was said he never left his house during the day and a large number of children died mysteriously.

It was theorized by his neighbors that he was the cause of the children's deaths and when he finally died, the townspeople wanted to make sure he never returned to plague their town.

He was buried in Gibson Cemetery, where curiously enough, a large number of small children's graves still stand testimony to some catastrophic illness. The neighbors, according to the story which still circulates, took great care to separate his grave from the others. They enclosed it with wrought-iron and according to the legendary way to end a vampire's career, hung crosses from the fencing so that even in death, he would not be able to cross the chasm he had been condemned to inhabit.

Another story about the Hungarian miner may more believably explain why his neighbors believed him to be a vampire. He was, according to this story, an albino. An albino has no pigmentation in his skin. His eyes would most probably be pink and he would have white hair. With such a physical condition, an albino would probably avoid being outside since he would be very susceptible to sunburn. The sunlight would be unbearable to his eyes. And, of course, those pink eyes. What more could someone want when pointing a finger at a vampire?

The wrought iron and crosses are all gone from the present-day cemetery, but the history remains.

Another interesting story involves Moses Middleton who was a private in Company B of the 50th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. He is one of Douglas' and Middleton's ancestors and Douglas believes he is buried somewhere in the cemetery because so many of his descendants are there.

In a claim application for a pension filed about 1890, Moses tells the story of his war injury.

"In the early part of the winter about last of November 1864 while in line of duty under Captain Charles Perry of said Bt. B (sic) at a point near "Skin Town" on the march on foot on the road between Farmington and Jackson after 2 or 3 days fever, head aches and general bad feeling "measles" come out on me all over in spots.

"We were camped for the night by the road without tents or shelter. I had nearly new uniform with overcoat and 2 army gray blankets, but a cold and blowing snow was on us.

"With measles I went a day and part of a day to Jackson wading in snow, water and sleet and once wading a creek deep to my hips. We stayed a night in the Court House at Jackson and then in the day went to Cape Girardeau where I was put in the Hospital, a large house.

"A young Dr. I think he was Surgeon of the 29th Reg. treated me a long time, perhaps 8 or 10 weeks twice a day with medicine and kind words and I believe he saved my life but I was so dull and unwell that I never learned his name.

"Then an old Dr. took his place. They brought him there, put him in charge of the sick at the Hospital but I don't know his name or that he was Army Surgeon. He treated me then till I was able to walk about, then Capt. Perry got the Dr. to let me go to my Co. about a quarter of mile from the hospital and then this man of my company took care of me til we went to St. Louis about early in April where no duty was required of me by then my feeble condition until August 11, 65 when I was discharged.

"While am invalid at Cape Girardeau about last of February 1865 my Captain sent me with a teamster Jon Johnson who was going to haul water from a creek branch to camp to cook with. The horses ran, Johnson fell off or got off. I tried to jump off and was thrown off and ruptured.

"Dimness of sight, deafness, continued suffering in the right ear and right side of the head I believe were caused by measles and this exposure time. I not only believe it, I know it."

Moses died in April of 1904. An inquest was held and the following was reported, "I ,A.L. Evans M.D. Coroner of St. Francois County Missouri certify that I held an inquest on the dead body of Moses A.L. Middleton on the 27th day of April A.D. 1904 and that the jury found that the deceased came to his death by drowning with suicidal intent. He drowned in the Big River near Bonne Terre.

Those are only two of the stories handed down through time - the vampire story through legend; the Civil War soldier through documentation.

Every one of those grave sites holds the remains of a person who was loved by someone. Each of those now dead had some kind of story associated with their lives.

Who will remember them?

Douglas and her crew of volunteers want to see that they are not forgotten forever.

LEAD BELT NEWS, Flat River, St. Francois Co. MO, Fri. Nov. 17, 1922

MORE FUNDS NEEDED TO BUILD A FENCE AT GIBSON CEMETERY

The movement, which was recently put on foot by Wm. Edwards of St. Francois, to secure funds for the building of a new fence around Gibson cemetery, on the out-skirts of St. Francois, is making a fair amount of head-way, but is in great need of the hearty support and co-operation of every citizen of the Lead Belt. This "city of the dead" has been in a deplorable condition for several years, the fence which originally enclosed it having long since fallen to decay, leaving the enclosure at the mercy of any creature who may roam in that direction.

Mr. Edwards conceived the idea of appealing to the different churches, and asking that a committee be appointed from each, to take up this work among its membership, requesting that all money thus collected by placed in the bank. Some donations have come from distant points in this state and from other states, through publicity given this movement through the columns of the Lead Belt News.

The approximate cost of this fence will be $800. Mr. Edwards and LeRoy Poston made a survey of the plot of ground, and found that it will require 1500 feet of fencing to enclose the plot.

LEAD BELT NEWS, Flat River, St. Francois County, MO, Friday, March 23, 1923.

THE GIBSON CEMETERY IN SHOCKING CONDITION.

William Edwards of St. Francois who launched a movement last fall, to secure funds to fence Gibson cemetery, is making preparation to renew his campaign.  In the beginning of the campaign, he appointed a number of captains, who were to have charge of the collection of funds for this purpose.  He appointed a captain in each church of the Lead Belt.  Up to date, only two of these captains have made any returns.   J. W. Aldridge has placed in the Miners and Merchants bank to the credit of this fund, $51.75.  Mrs. Spray has reported a collection of $2.75.  The total is $54.50.

The sum is a far cry from the amount required to do this work.  This cemetery covers three acres, and will require 1500 feet of fencing.  The approximate cost is $800.  All semblance of the former fencing around this plot has disappeared.   This cemetery is in the woods near St. Francois, and is open to the prowling of any animal who may wander in that direction.

Mr. Edwards requests that his captains renew their activity, and get the required amount together as soon as possible.