Mt. Gilead Methodist Church stood here on land given by Daniel Matheny in 1790, a gift later confirmed by Thomas Jones, Sr., the eventual owner. Defined in Genesis as “hill of witness,” the name Gilead testified to the pioneers' faith in God, and this was the birthplace of Methodism in the area. After a Methodist church was organized at Paris in 1807, probably a year or two earlier, this house of worship fell into disuse. When the Paris Cemetery was opened, burials here were discontinued. In 1878, Dr. Wash Fithian, H.M. Rucker, J.W. Vanhook, Joseph Scott, W.H. Crosswaite, and R.M. Harris, trustees of the Paris Methodist Church, sold the church lot to Thos. Isgrig, Joseph P. Honey, George W. Honey, John W. Vanhook, A.S. Turner, and the heirs of Wm. Kendall as a perpetual cemetery, where about 125 of the faithful rest. As the six families grew older, C.K. Thomas was given control of the grounds, and from his estate a quit-claim deed was made in 1967 to the trustees of the First United Methodist Church of Paris, Kentucky.