Chicken Hill Cemetery
Located near the intersection of
Gann Road and Idlewild-Hollyleaf Road near the Gann community in Northeastern
Gibson County.
Mapquest
This cemetery is no longer in existence. A long time
resident of this area, Mrs. Aultie Walker, told me that she knew nothing about
this cemetery. It was located to the north of the home of the late Elbert
and Dorothy (Mallard) Cole. Dorothy was said (in the Gibson County
Cemeteries book by Emily Walker) to have looked for the cemetery, but found no
trace of it. The Chicken Hill is a small ridge in this area. It is
probably the exact location of the cemetery.
Patti Simmons’ grandfather told her that his grandmother, Isabella Elizabeth (McAlister) Swindell, was buried in Chicken Hill Cemetery. Isabella was the first wife of James T. Swindell and the daughter of John R. McAlister and Margaret (Fullerton) McAlister. Family research suggests and is accepted that Isabella passed away between the 1870 census (where she and James were listed with some of their children) and 1873, when James married Martha E. (Carruth) Lamb. Isabella’s exact death date is unknown. It has been suggested that perhaps Isabella’s parents are also buried in Chicken Hill Cemetery; however, their exact burial place is unknown.
There is no known list or written information about any other folks buried in Chicken Hill Cemetery. Local history says that during a period of road construction, some bodies were exhumed. We know nothing about this right now. Patti Simmons has a deed for the land listing also a “Chicken Hill Church.”
Submitted by
and M.A. Gray
