Pioneer Cemetery to be cleaned up for Memorial Day
By BRETT DUNLAP, bdunlap@newsandsentinel.comArticle Photos
HARRISVILLE - One of the oldest cemeteries in Ritchie County has been cleaned up and will be rededicated on Memorial Day.
The Anne Royall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will hold a ceremony at 1 p.m. Monday at the Pioneer Cemetery just outside of the Harrisville town limits to rededicate the local interment spot.
"The cemetery is over 200 years old and contains the remains of the founders of Harrisville and three Revolutionary War soldiers," said Cheryl Haught, regent of the Anne Royall Chapter. "It was in danger of being lost due to neglect, and the Anne Royall Chapter decided that something would have to be done during our lifetime or it would be completely gone in a few generations.
"We have always known the cemetery was there. Over the years a few individuals had made an effort to improve the appearance, but an organized effort never materialized. The only maintenance done was some mowing by an area businessman who volunteered to do it."
Over the past year, the chapter has raised almost $20,000 and hired a blacksmith to replace and restore portions of the wrought iron fence placed around the cemetery in the late 1800s by Gen. Thomas Harris. The DAR chapter, along with Veterans of Foreign Wars volunteers, have cleaned the cemetery, reset and repaired broken stones and got a Revolutionary War marker for one of the soldiers.
"In restoring the cemetery we did not try to make it look like a modern one but worked to keep the historic character," Haught said.
The ceremony on Memorial Day is to celebrate the work done there. The featured speakers for the event will be State DAR Regent Virginia Nalley and the mayor of Harrisville, Alan Haught, Cheryl's husband. Other state dignitaries, including the governor, have been invited to attend, but the group has not received any confirmations.
Once the chapter decided to proceed with an organized cleanup of the site, members started making plans over a year ago, Haught said.
"In early 2008 we started looking for a blacksmith with the knowledge to work on historic wrought iron fences," she said. "As you can imagine, blacksmithing is not a common occupation, but we found Nelson Tinnell of Nicholas County who had done this type of work before.
"He came and talked to our chapter and told us what needed to be done. Most of the fence had fallen down and was laying in rusted piles around the cemetery. Mr. Tinnell would use what parts of the fence he could salvage and actually construct new parts that would match, as near as possible, the original fence."
The chapter held several fundraisers that included a yard and craft sale, quilt raffle, soup luncheon, sale of a genealogy CD and a benefit musical performance. Money was also donated by local businesses, along with the Ritchie County Commission and the Lions Club.
"Individual donations came in from across the country from those who had ancestors buried in the cemetery and from those who just wanted to help," Haught said. "The people of Ritchie County were very generous and saw the need to do their part to preserve history."
The cleanup of the cemetery began last spring when the weather turned warm. The work was handled by volunteers, including members of the Anne Royall Chapter, along with their families and several members of the VFW Post 3554.
"They worked at different times as their schedules allowed," Haught said. "Some was on the weekends and others through the week.
"In all, there was at least 25 to 30 people involved in cutting brush, small trees, raking leaves and stones away from the fence line. Volunteers also repaired and reset several stones that had toppled. One large stone required the use of a backhoe to set it up," she said.
"Work continued throughout the summer and most of it was finished by the fall of 2008," Haught said.
Pam Stanley, a member of the Anne Royall DAR Chapter and whose husband Gary is a member of VFW Post 3554, said they were glad for the opportunity to help transform the cemetery and make it more presentable.
"We spent many hours at the cemetery," she said. "It was a wonderful experience to see the transformation of a neglected pile of rusty metal turn into a beautiful fence.
"Stones were reset and tons of brush was removed from the surrounding area. We have gotten our grandchildren involved and we're grateful to have had the opportunity to honor the pioneers that settled this county."
As the cemetery was cleaned and stones repaired, the volunteers found that one of the Revolutionary War soldiers, Thomas Chancellor, buried there did not have a marker. The other soldiers buried there with markers are William Cunningham and Lawrence Mealey.
"The fact that (Chancellor) is buried there is recorded in the Ritchie County Cemetery Surveys book," Haught said. "The chapter ordered Chancellor's service record and obtained a military stone for him. We held a dedication for that stone last Veterans Day with three Chancellor family members in attendance."
Four members of the Anne Royall Chapter have been appointed as legal trustees of the cemetery.
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05-24-09 9:46 AM
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Thanks to the volunteers!
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