Breaking News
Local columns

Look Back: Remember a Rural Cemetery Month concludes

By Bob Enoch 3 min read
After a light brushing away of lichen, the Civil War tombstone of J.A. [John] Stinespring, Co. M., 6 W.VA. Inf. can be read. As one of the news items attests, it was decorated by D.W. Welch in 1898. Stinespring was born in 1843 in Harrison County, Virginia. His wife was Elizabeth J. Postlewaite. His death occurred Nov. 4, 1914, with burial at the old Cedar Grove U.M. Church cemetery. (Photo by Bob Enoch)

Confederate Veterans Will Duly Observe Memorial Day

Camp Jenkins Confederate Veterans will strew flowers on the graves of their departed comrades on Saturday.

The Veterans and the Committees on Flowers and Decoration will meet at the office of Judge J.G. McCluer, on the corner of Fourth and Juliana streets, where they will start on their mission of loving remembrance.

The graves of the veterans are located as follows: at Riverview Cemetery - Col. Geo. Jackson, Dr. G.B. Moffett, Henry Cook, A.G. Stringer, Geo. Pennybacker; at Odd Fellows Cemetery - J.T. Atkinson, A.M. Perkins, ---------- Gaskill; at Holliday Cemetery - Wm. Logan, W.H. Clark, ---------- Armstrong; at Dils-Foley Cemetery - K.B. Stephenson; at Tavenner's Cemetery - B.F. McDougle.

Excerpt from The Parkersburg Sentinel

May 30, 1891

***

COUNTY DETAILS

The Following Men Detailed to Decorate Following Cemeteries. Andrew Post G.A.R. [Grand Army of the Republic] has detailed the following men to see that soldiers' graves in the following cemeteries are decorated on Decoration Day: Wadesville – Otto Shultz; Cedar Grove – D.W. Welch; Tracewell's – J.G. Kesterson; Hoyt's – M.V. Traugh; Mt. Pleasant – David Stewart; Mt. Moriah, Low Gap, Harkness & Davis – J.W. Postlewait; Kincheloe – J.L. Bailey; Red Hill – George Beorn; Bethel – Jos. Fisher; Williamstown – Thomas Prettyman; Briscoe – William Bell; Lubeck – J.S. Kesterson and Wm. Hall; Bethel Southside – J.G. Kesterson; Tavennerville – Wm. Kirk and John Baker.

Excerpt from The Parkersburg Daily State Journal

May 18, 1898

***

Memorial Day will be observed Monday. As we honor not only the veterans of America's wars, but all our deceased loved ones, let us keep in mind that: "It should be a matter of interest to all of us to preserve a record of our ancestors. These hardy pioneers came to this 'island of the sea,' cleared the unbroken forests, cultivated farms, built their houses, reared their families, and made it possible for their children to have advantages which they never possessed. Whatever of comforts or of luxuries that we now enjoy is due, in a great measure, to them as a result of their labor. They sowed the seed amid great privation and toil, and we are reaping the harvest. So, it is most fitting that their names should ever be held in grateful memory by their descendants." Though the preceding quote by Herman Wesley Small was from his book, "A History of Swan's Island, Maine" (1898), was referencing early inhabitants of Maine, what is now Wood County could also at one time have been considered an "island of the sea."

Though a nice thing to do, it is not necessary to take flowers to the graves of loved ones. A few minutes of quiet meditation and recalling joyful memories might be equivalent to many bouquets of flowers.

***

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.

Starting at /week.