Gibson Cemetery

aka possibly Johnson Cemetery

Panola Co,  Cemeteries of TX

by William Hall Westmoreland

Submitted by Gloria B. Mayfield

The Gibson Cemetery is located on the Old J. D. McJimpsey Place, three miles or so southwest of Elysian Fields, Texas. Located south of the west road in Panola County, it lies within the Daniel Tuttle Survey. It is situated on land belonging to Champion International Corp. A timber company that has granted us permission to maintain the cemetery.

After the War Between the States, Tom Gibson, his wife M.A., Gibson and daughter Lena and Lula Mae located in the area of Arlston, Tex about 1870.

Lula Mae Gibson was born May 27 1858 and married George Alfred Westmoreland, who was born October 2, 1851. They were married May 30 1877 and lived in and around Arlston. Tom Gibson had been a wealthy man before the War and later business won him his wealth again. After his death, date unknown, his widow married a man named Hill and her burial place is said to be a Shady Grove Cemetery, DeBerry, Texas

Lula Mae Gibson Westmoreland and George Alfred Westmoreland were the parents of 11 children. Their son Rupert Hall, was the father of Howard Hall Westmoreland, my father.

All of the Westmoreland Family with a few exceptions, are buried in Woodley Cemetery.

Last Name First Name Birth Death Remarks
Black P.G. Nov 9 1848 Apr 5 1881 -
Black A. E. - June 4 1884 65 years
Black F.J. Jun 15 1858 Aug 11 1890 All three buried on same fenced lot
Black Asa R. Jan 10 1877 Sept 1 1880 S/o A.R. & S.E. - - Asa Rebecca Black & Sarah Elizabeth Boynton Black
Willingham R. S. Jul 25 1882 Mar 11 1877 Masonic Emblem
Willingham W. R, Mar 24 1859 Jul 22 1889 -
Birdsong Amanda Roquemore Dec 2 1822 Jul 22 1856 Consort of Dr. J. M. Birdsong  1st wife (info by Thelma Vaughan)
Johnson William P. May 8 1834 Jul 4 1854 See (1)
Johnson James Feb 3 1803 Aug 1 1859 See (2)
Johnson Eliza No dates - See (3)

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  1. "Remember now thy Creator in the day of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." When blooming youth is snatched away by deaths resistless hand, Our hearts the mournful tribute pay. Which pity must demand.
  2. -
  3. When shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man's peace.
  4. -
  5. Stone is marked: Webb, McCulloch & Co. St Louis Mo. The lot is enclosed with a very ornate wrought iron fence that bears the name Eliza Johnson. It also bears the patent dates of 1852 & 1859, name of manufacturer and location.

The Johnson and Black lots are the most prominently marked. There are two individual graves that were marked with brick markers several feet high. There are no names or dates on these graves. A brick enclosed lot is also visible that could have been the foundation of a cemetery house made of wood, that was used in the period of the early 1800's.

There are most probably, additional graves that have no visible marker.

My family members buried here have little to mark their graves. There is only a brick or two marking the Tom Gibson lot, my father's great grandfather. Tradition tells us of five graves on this lot. Tom Gibson, some children and a white nanny that came with the family from Forsythe, Georgia, after the War Between the State.