KIMMEL CEMETERY Township 12 south

Kimmel Cemetery, located west of Jonesboro, was transcribed by Darrel Dexter in the winter of 1997. It is probably the oldest cemetery in Union County. To my knowledge, it has the oldest legible marker in Union County, that of Jacob Woolf, who died in 1823. (The oldest marker in St. Johns Cemetery is dated 1828 and in Jonesboro Cemetery 1829.)
Kimmel Cemetery is often called the "Old Dunkard Cemetery." The earliest members of the families buried there were connected to the Dunkard Church, or German Baptist Brethren. There was at one time a large Dunkard Colony south of Jonesboro, composed of Woolf, Hunsaker, Kimmel, Davis, Dougherty, Vancil, Wigle, Limbaugh and other families. They are in some ways similar to the Mennonites and were called "Dunkards," the German word for "dippers," because they baptized by dipping the person forward, face down, into the water three times. Jacob Woolf and George Davis, who died in 1816, were made the first deacons of the church in 1813 and George Woolf was chosen the pastor. In 1826, Charles Dougherty, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Woolf Dougherty, was ordained a Dunkard preacher in Union County. Between 1827 and 1831, most of the Dunkards left to settle in Adams Co., Ill. The last love feast was held by the Dunkards in Union County in 1836 at the home of Daniel Kimmel.
The oldest markers in the cemetery are classified as "discoid," a type of marker which looks like a nearly circular head, neck and square shoulders.

CAUBLE, Augustus, s/o W. & M. J. Cauble, d. Dec 30, 1867, age 8y, 6d.
CAUBLE, Mary Jane, w/o Willis Cauble, d. June 2, 1863, age 22y, 5m, 19d.
CRUSE, Polly, February 16, 1833; In memory of the death of.
DAVIS, _______Yandles, In memory of, age 20y, 4m on January 3, 1833.
FAGGANT, Catharine, b. Dec 30 or 31, 1780; d. Apr 23, 1835; In memory of.
GREEN, Zilpha, d. Aug 27, 1861, age 22y, 6m; foot marker, Z.G.
KIMMEL, David A., b. Sep 30, 1846; d. Mar 6, 1932.
KIMMEL, Eliza J., d. Feb 18, 1885, age 61y, 3m, 18d; w/o G. W. (Contributed by Jeana Gallagher)
KIMMEL, Elizabeth, w/o M. Kimmel, d. Mar 1, 1853, age 30y.
KIMMEL, Elizabeth, d. Feb 23, 1887, age 82y. (Broken stone)
KIMMEL, George W., d. Apr 4, 1876, age 55y, 7m, 5d. (Contributed by Jeana Gallagher)
KIMMEL, Laura E., w/o D. A. Kimmel, b. Sep 21, 1853; d. Nov 4, 1874.
KIMMEL, Nellie E, w/o D. A. Kimmel, b. June 11, 1864; d. June 19, 1890.
KIMMEL, Otis, d. Feb 20, 1879, age 2y, 2m, 19d; s/o W. O. and M. (Contributed by Jeana Gallagher)
KIMMEL, Phillip, d. Apr 29, 1866, age 36y, 7m. (Foot marker PK.)
KIMMEL, Phillip C., d. Aug 1865. (Contributed by Jeana Gallagher)
KIMMEL, Sarah, w/o M. Kimmel, d. Apr 28, 1862, age 38y, 1m, 28d. (This stone is not erect and is broken at the base.)
SAMS, Mary D., d/o R. & E. Sams, d. Sep 14, 1864, age 7y, 8m, 10d. (stone broken)
WOOLF, Jacob, b. Sep 19, 1778; d. Oct 7, 1823.

J.T.--(foot marker only)
1813?- IHDC (?)-
R.D. --(foot marker only)
N.E.K.--(foot marker only)
L.U.K.--(foot marker only)