Look Back: Gleaning history from cemetery stories

Cemetery Month Continues

Other interments in the Dewey-Harris Cemetery are: Hannah Harris, daughter of W. & M. Harris, born Feb. 15, 1811, died January 24, 1856, age 47 years, 11 months and 21 days; Sophia Dewey, daughter of Samuel and Docia Dewey, died July 23, 1846, age, 1 month, 1 day; Coleman Dewey, son of Joel and Jane Dewey, died young; Sarah Coleman Dewey, died young. Another marker with no name reads -- born May 21, 1876, age 22 years, 6 months, 4 days.

The Dewey, Harris and Coleman families were related by marriage. Members of these families, brothers Joel and Joshua Dewey and brothers John and Malcom Coleman had ventured into the Belleville area in the late 1780s and were part of creating the second permanent settlement in what would become Wood County. These brave men became a vital part of the development and protection of the Belleville settlement. In the late 1780s until the treaty with the Native Americans in 1795, Natives frequently crossed the Ohio River, into the settlement at Belleville.

In his writing, Sketches of North-West Virginia, S.C. Shaw describes one such incident while a group from the Belleville settlement were near Mill Creek hunting for provisions for those at the fort: "John Coleman and Elijah Pixley returned to the garrison [at Belleville] for flour and salt. The third day after their departure, Mr. Malcom Coleman rose very early [at their hunting camp] and prepared their breakfast, anxiously awaiting their return. While invoking a blessing on their simple meal, the sharp crack of a rifle was heard, and a shot passed through his shoulder. Moments later a second shot passed through his head and he fell dead beside his companion, James Ryan, who escaped the Indians and returned to the garrison."

During another raid at Belleville, Native Americans had begun to scalp a woman when they were fired upon and fled. The woman had a terrible gash on her head and direly needed medical assistance. Joshua Dewey, using a light canoe, made the trip to Marietta in about 40 hours, returning with a doctor who assisted in the recovery of the lady.

Harris Cemetery -- Records in the Wood County courthouse deed books indicate that the 54+ acres on which the Harris Cemetery is situated was owned by Aaron Harris in 1826, when he then sold it to William Harris for $400. In brief, the deed description reads: "beginning at two sycamores on the bank of the Ohio River, thence to a white oak sapling on a hill, thence to a black oak, back to the Ohio River and to the point of beginning, containing 54 1/2 acres." Aaron Harris, born in 1785, died in 1832. William Harris died in 1849. In 1850, William's heirs, John and Dianna Harris, Samuel and Docia Dewey, and William and Hannah Harris, conveyed the 54 1/2 acres to Noah Castle. In the deed was a reservation of, "one-half acres where the cemetery now is."

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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.