In September of 2015 we visited the city cemetery of Independence in the county of Kenton. This wasn’t a huge cemetery, but an interesting one. Clouds were beginning to build, as you can tell from the photos, and we barely had time to take some photos before the heavens opened up. Let me share a few with you today.
It seems flowers continue to be put into the hand of this statue – you can just peek the red, white and blue.
Sarah, wife of Holand Osborn, born January 27, 1789, died, July 15, 1871.
Curchwill G. Osborn, born August 15, 1804, died February 6, 1875, aged 70 years, 5 months, 21 days.
Do you think this man’s name was badly misspelled?
Aquilla Wilson, died January 12, 1842, aged 53 years. (Born 1789).
Mary, wife of Aquilla Wilson, born May 16, 1797, died August 24, 1875.
A very beautifully decorated stone.
Hattie, wife of Allen Reed, June, 4, 1874 – April 30, 1900.
Thomas Ervin, born February 29, 1829, died April 22, 1900.
Tom L. Harris, 1848-? Laura T., wife of Tom L. Harris, 1852-1892.
Philadelphia Oxley, born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, June 24, 1795, died in Independence, Kentucky, December 16, 1878, aged 83 years, 5 months and 22 days.
This is perhaps my favorite stone in the cemetery, and if you would like to read more about this remarkable woman, just click on the above photo.
Categories: Cemeteries
Aquilla and Mary Wilson were my 4th great grandparents. They came to the Independence area from Culpepper, VA around 1817 or so. At the time of his death, Aquilla owned about 1000 acres of land from Shaw Road on the north to Rt. 16 on the south, Wilson Road (named after the family) on the west and just east of 3-L Highway (Rt. 17) on the east.
There are 6 generations of the Wilson family buried in the cemetery. Wesley Wilson, my great great grandfather, was a state senator and 4-term Kenton County Clerk. There was a scandal during his last term in office in which he was alleged to have been paying his deputies less than he reported and pocketed the difference. There were newspaper reports that he fled to Mexico, but that apparently wasn’t true, as he ended up settling out of court and had to do a second mortgage on his house to pay back the money, plus interest.
Wesley’s son Earl Wilson was a star quarterback for Navy (US Naval Academy). He was paralyzed in a game against Villanova in 1909 and died 6 months later.
Earl’s brothers Hansford and L.B. Wilson did vaudeville performances when they were young. After high school, they traveled Europe for a year, doing performances to pay their way. Hansford stayed in the acting profession, becoming an actor on Broadway. L.B., meanwhile, opened a chain of movie theaters in Covington, including the Liberty, the Lyric, the L.B. Wilson (now the Madison Theater), The Strand, and the Hippodrome, among others. He also founded the original WCKY radio station in 1929 and was president of the Chamber of Commerce (then known as the Covington Industrial Club) and president of Peoples-Liberty Bank. L.B. was named with just initials after his mother Lyda Beall Miles Wilson, who died just after giving birth.
J McD,
I am also of this Wilson line. James M. Wilson is my 4th great grandfather. I am hoping you might be able to steer me toward some of your resources as I have hit a bit of a wall connecting him to any of the Wilsons from Virginia about the same time. Thanks,
Tom Wilson
The vase at my mother in law’s grave is missing. I called Friday 6-18-21 and talked to a fellow named Tom. He said that he would check into it but it is a week later and I have heard nothing I called 859-331-3220 and I am calling from Omaha,NE