Appalachian History Series
A hillside resting place with county roots
Rest Haven Cemetery sits on a ridge above Baxter and Keith in Harlan County, Kentucky. Its story begins at the end of 1929, when the Harlan County Fiscal Court voted to purchase 1,827 burial lots at “Rest Haven” for a county graveyard serving both “colored and white” paupers. The next day the clerk entered the order in the record book and the county judge accepted the deed on January 1, 1930. Those minutes and the follow-on court opinion capture the cemetery’s official founding and rare integrated purpose during the Jim Crow era.
How a court fight preserved the paper trail
The purchase became the subject of Harlan County v. Howard. Although the case focused on whether the Fiscal Court followed proper procedures, the opinion quotes the exact language of the minutes and confirms the purchase for a county pauper burying ground at “Rest Haven.” That primary source is why we can date the cemetery’s formation so precisely and understand how county leaders conceived its mission.
A Revolutionary War veteran comes home again
In 2016 the Cumberland River’s erosion threatened the Wix-Howard Cemetery at Loyall where Revolutionary War veteran Samuel Hord Howard and family lay. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stabilized the site and, with local officials and descendants, arranged to move the Howard graves to Rest Haven. On May 12, 2017 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, carried Howard’s flag-draped casket into Rest Haven and rendered honors. Local news documented the move, and the Old Guard’s own account preserves details of the ceremony.
Feud history written in stone
Rest Haven also holds markers tied to the late nineteenth century Turner–Howard feud. Contemporary obituaries noted that Judge George B. Turner’s eldest sons were killed in that violence, and later family accounts and transcribed headstone inscriptions keep the episode alive for genealogists who walk these rows today.
Civic leaders at Rest Haven
Several figures from Harlan County public life are interred here. Will Ward Duffield, a Democratic candidate for Congress in 1930, is listed at Rest Haven. So are three members of the Brock political family: State Senator Hiram M. Brock Sr., his son State Senator James C. Brock, and Hiram M. Brock Jr., a World War II veteran and state representative. A specialized cemetery index of American officeholders confirms each burial.
A community cemetery then and now
From its first county order forward, Rest Haven functioned as a shared memorial ground for miners, teachers, judges, veterans, and families of every background. That purpose continued into the twenty first century when agencies, media, and citizens mobilized to save graves imperiled by river erosion and to reinter them with care at Rest Haven. For visitors today, the cemetery lies at 3000 KY-840, Baxter, a short drive from Harlan.
Sources and Further Reading
Harlan County v. Howard, 246 Ky. 791. Kentucky Court of Appeals opinion that quotes the Fiscal Court minutes establishing purchase of lots at “Rest Haven” for a county pauper cemetery. vLex
3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard. “Old Guard Soldiers lay Revolutionary War veteran to final resting place” with photos and ceremony details, May 15, 2017. The Old Guard Journal
Associated Press. “Feds to stop Revolutionary War soldier’s grave from falling,” on the Corps of Engineers’ stabilization effort at Wix-Howard Cemetery. AP News
WYMT. “Corps of Engineers agrees to repair historic Harlan County cemetery,” Sept. 13, 2016. https://www.wymt.com
WYMT. “Historic graves moved from Wix Howard Cemetery,” Nov. 21, 2016. https://www.wymt.com
WKYT. “Graves moved from Harlan County cemetery falling into river,” Nov. 21, 2016. https://www.wkyt.com
The Political Graveyard. “Cemeteries and Memorial Sites of Politicians in Harlan County, Kentucky” (Resthaven Cemetery entries for Duffield and the Brock family). Political Graveyard
Kentucky Kindred Genealogy. “Turner and Howard Families of Harlan County and the Feud Between the Two,” with period obituary material and feud context. Kentucky Kindred Genealogy
Find a Grave. “Resthaven Cemetery,” listing and location, 3000 KY-840, Baxter. Find a Grave
Author Note: If you have a family story or a veteran’s service record tied to Rest Haven, reach out so we can add it to the living history of Harlan County.