Look Back: History lies in early Wood County cemeteries – Week #2
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Last week excerpts from a news item by Betty Stout, writer for The Parkersburg Sentinel, began the first week of Remember a Rural Cemetery Month; her article continues:
"The Tavenner Cemetery located on 'Central' (present-day Camden) Avenue was used as a burial place as early as 1816, according to [early historian, and genealogist] John A. House, although at the time of this writing the oldest tombstone with a visible date was that of Elizabeth Fuget, buried in 1822. [It was this cemetery that Capt. James Neal, Col. Hugh Phelps, his wife Hannah and others who died in the 'sickly season' of 1822-23 were buried. Their stones, and others, have since been replaced by the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. Neal and Phelps played significant roles in the establishment of Wood County and Parkersburg,]
"Tucked away beside the Corning Glass plant on Staunton Avenue in Parkersburg is the John Stephenson graveyard.
"The site is not visible from the street, and we are grateful to Tim Ambrose, Corning's supervisor of administrative services, and to Larry DeWitt, trades supervisor, for their help in finding it.
"Our research indicates that although the cemetery is an early one, there were probably no more than six adults and several children buried there.
"There is no indication John Stephenson is buried there, but we may assume that since he was the cemetery's founder, he was no doubt laid to rest beside his wife Elizabeth [Dils Stephenson], who died in November 1821 at the age of 38. [John A. House recorded that John and Elizabeth raised seven children.]
"Prior to the building of the Corning plant, the property belonged to the Standard Oil Co., who took on the responsibility of caring for the plot and Corning has continued this.
"On our recent visit [to the cemetery] we found three sandstone 'slabs' lying flat over what appeared to be three grave sites. Two of these were partially overgrown with grassy sod, one had its engraving completely obliterated and the other had but few words left.
"We were able to decipher enough of the latter to determine that it was the grave of David Stephenson, a veteran of the War of 1812 who had served as Commissioner of Revenue for Wood County in 1821, and who died in 1829.
"In an adjoining grave was his wife Jane, who preceded him in death in February of 1823. By some stroke of good fortune, her stone had withstood the elements better and was fairly easy to read.
"A marble headstone that had fallen and was broken had been moved to Corning's carpenter shop and had been repaired. It read: Octavia, daughter of J. and S. Stephenson, died Feb. 17, 1847. She was 12 years of age."
[It has been determined that the news item above, a continuation of the one that appeared in Look Back last week, were part of a Special Editions of both Parkersburg newspapers, celebrating Parkersburg's Bicentennial, 1785-1985.]
Historian and genealogist John A. House, to whom reference regarding cemeteries has often been made, reports of a much earlier visit to the John Stephenson Cemetery:
"Lost in the midst of the City of Parkersburg, tucked away among the buildings and paraphernalia of the Standard Oil Company, is a little plot of ground that was, a few years ago, a quiet country graveyard, the family burying ground of John Stephenson. It is kept in good repair by the company, is seven by nine panels in size, and enclosed by a substantial iron fence on the north and east, with a bank on the others."
Some years ago, the remains from this cemetery were moved to the Mt. Carmel Cemetery at 29th Street and Fairview Avenue to make room for a large warehouse beside the office buildings of the old Corning plant.
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Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: roberteenoch@gmail.com, or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.