West Virginia Cemetery records are listed by county then name of cemetery within the West Virginia county. Most of these are complete indices at the time of transcription, however, in some cases we list the listing when it is only a partial listing.
Benjamin B. Odell, thirty-seventh Governor of the State of New York, was born at Newburgh, N. Y., January 14, 1854. He was the son of Benjamin Barker and Ophelia (Bookstaver,) Odell. He graduated from Newburgh Academy in 1874, and entered Bethany College, in Bethany, W. Va., the same year. He remained there one year, after which he entered Columbia College, New York City, where he continued until 1877. He married Estelle Crist, of Newburgh, April 25, 1877; she died in 1888. His second wife was Mrs. Linda (Crist,) Traphagen, a sister of his first wife, whom he married in 1891. … Read more
Inclusion of names in this West Virginia World War II Casualty List has been determined solely by the residence of next of kin at the time of notification of the last wartime casualty status. This listing does not necessarily represent the State of birth, legal residence, or official State credit according to service enlistment. Casualties listed represent only those on active duty in the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, resulting directly from enemy action or from operational activities against the enemy in war zones from December 7, 1941, to the end of the war. Casualties in the United … Read more
G.W. OZMENT. – This gentleman is a veteran of the Indian wars, a survivor of many a bloody fight in Southern Oregon, and a pioneer of 1852. Born at Greensborough, North Carolina, in 1833, he became an orphan at the age of ten, and at fifteen went to Western Virginia with an uncle, and somewhat later was in Tennessee, working on his own account. The far West, however, was the land of his dreams; and he saved his earnings to go to Paducah, and from that point to St. Louis. Three months later he was on his way to St. … Read more
Vital Registration, Division of Health 350 Capitol St, Rm. 165 Charleston, WV 25301-3701 (304) 558-2931 Info: (304) 558-2931 Fax: (304) 343-2169 Barbour County 8 North Main Street Philippi, WV 26416 (304) 457-2232 Mineral County 150 Armstrong Street Keyser, WV 26726-3505 (304) 788-3924 Berkeley County 126 West King Street Martinsburg, WV 25401 (304) 264-1923 Mingo County P.O. Box 1197 Williamson, WV 25661-1197 (304) 235-0381 Boone County 206 Court Street Madison, WV 25130 (304) 369-7306 Monongalia County 243 High Street Morgantown, WV 26505 (304) 291-7230 Braxton County P.O. Box 486 Sutton, WV 26601 (304) 765-2835 Monroe County P.O. Box 350 Union, WV … Read more
Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking. Ancestry.com West Virginia State Database A large collection of databases of births, deaths, marriages, census, obituaries, directories, estate records, and … Read more
Henry Clay McDougal was born in Marion county, Virginia (now West Virginia), December 9, 1844, and was the second son of John Fletcher and Elvira Boggess McDougal, who were born and reared in that county. His great grandfather, William McDougal, was a Scotch Presbyterian clergyman, who came from the highlands and settled on the Monongahela River, in Virginia, in the year 1770. His maternal ancestors came from England under the second charter granted by James I, in 1609, to the company of ” Adventurers and planters, etc., for the first colony in Virginia,” and first settled on the James River … Read more
The subject of this sketch was born in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, August 18, 1851. His father, John W. Hanna, is also a native of Virginia. His mother, whose maiden name was Rebecca Deitz, died at the birth of our subject, and he was reared by his grandmother, a most estimable and cultured lady who carefully trained the mind of her young, charge in those channels calculated to make him a pure minded, honest and honorable man and a respected and useful citizen. He was educated at Louisburg Academy and grew to manhood in his native county. After leaving school … Read more
James L. Chapman is a native of West Virginia, born near Manchester, Hancock County, in the widely quoted “Pan-handle district,” March 23, 1818, and there he was reared, educated, and lived until the 5th of April, 1854. In that year he migrated to the “land of the Hawkeye,” settling in Jefferson county, but remained in that county only till the following fall, then removed to Wayne county, Iowa, and there continued to live and engage in farming until 1864, when he made his home in Missouri, locating in Harrison county. Six years he pursued farming avocations in that county, then … Read more
James A. Talbott has not only achieved that success represented by large land holdings and rich and prosperous farms, but also the riches of friendship and community esteem. All this is well indicated by the title affectionately bestowed upon him and most people know him as “Uncle Jimmie” Talbott. Mr. Talbott and his family reside in Harwood Township, in section 36, near Gifford, but his farm possessions spread over a large area and include 1,600 acres of choice Illinois soil. Mr. Talbott is a native of West Virginia, and was the fourth of eight children born to J. V. and … Read more
Do I remember slavery? Who could forget these lash prints on my back. Some time I set here and look at my wife and think Lord help me look what I live through. Me and my wife had a car wreck early last year, that made her lose her mind so she just sings all the time cant think. Raises chickens and talks like a baby. She is two years older than me, and too she is the mother of thirteen children, had lots of trouble. I am still able to find the cows and horses that belong to my … Read more
Interviewer: Cecil Miller Person Interviewed: John W. Fields Location: Lafayette, Indiana Place of Birth: Owensburg, KY Date of Birth: March 27, 1848 Age: 89 Place of Residence: N. 20th St., Lafayette, Indiana Cecil C. Miller Dist. #3 Tippecanoe Co. INTERVIEW WITH MR. JOHN W. FIELDS, EX-SLAVE OF CIVIL WAR PERIOD September 17, 1937 John W. Fields, 2120 North Twentieth Street, Lafayette, Indiana, now employed as a domestic by Judge Burnett is a typical example of a fine colored gentleman, who, despite his lowly birth and adverse circumstances, has labored and economized until he has acquired a respected place in his … Read more
If Kansas should be called upon, through some unfortunate circumstance, to lose at this time the services of Hon. Joseph H. Mercer, state live stock commissioner, it would still owe him a debt of gratitude for the great work he has accomplished in the eradication of the evils attending the foot-and-mouth and other diseases injurious to animals in Kansas, in the bringing about of a better understanding between the farmer and the packer, in the arrangement of freight rates, and in the protection of the interests of the farmer, and particularly of the live stock man, in various ways and … Read more
Kansas has produced no more eceentric, generous or beloved character than William F. M. Arny. Although not a native of the state, he was a son in all that stands for its independence and humanity. He was born in the District of Columbia, March 6, 1813, and after graduating from Bethany College, West Virginia, acted for a time as secretary for Alexander Campbell the famons Disciple preacher. At the age of twenty-eight he was on intimate terms with all of the leading men of the nation, especially with such as Abraham Lincoln and others of force and originality. In 1850 … Read more
Marshall M. Murdock, a pioneer journalist of Kansas, the founder of the Wichita Eagle and one of the marked men of the commonwealth, was born in the Pierpont settlement of what is now West Virginia, in 1837. He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his father married into the Governor Pierpont family. Soon after his marriage the family moved to Ironton, Southern Ohio, and there Marshall Murdock attended the public schools and commenced to learn the printer’s trade. Thomas Murdock, the father, was unsuccessful in his business venture, and, as he had an abhorrence of slavery and Kansas was then the … Read more
Prof. Lewis L. Dyche, who held the chair of systematic zoology and taxidermy at the University of Kansas from 1900 until his death January 20, 1915, had a wide reputation in North America in his chosen fields. He was born at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, March 20, 1857, in early life he came to Kansas, and in 1884 received the degrees of B. S. and B. A. from the University of Kansas. During the years 1885-86 he was assistant professor of zoology, and in 1886 he received the degree of A. M. He was then made professor of comparative anatomy, … Read more
An Exclusive to AccessGenealogy: The following series of articles takes a look at the early Native Americans of the Shenandoah Valley region. Who peopled the area before European contact? How did these Native American’s influence the early events of American history? What archeological evidence remains of these people’s? Part one looks at a couple of unusual clues to the identity of early Shenandoah Valley residents. In part two the history of the Shenandoah Valley after the arrival of Europeans is summarized in order to understand why the Native American history has been largely forgotten. Part three explores the pre-European past of the Shenandoah Valley. Part four looks at many of the early European eyewitness accounts of the Shenandoah Valley and it’s peoples. Part five reviews the professional archaeological studies carried out in the Shenandoah Valley in recent years.
Native American artifacts are frequently found in the Seven Bends area of the Shenandoah River between Woodstock and Strasburg, VA. However, mounds and earthworks are mostly concentrated in the bends near the outlet of Toms Brook at Maurertown, VA. The mounds were fairly prominent when settlers first arrived, but after 250 years of plowing, they generally can only be found in aerial photographs. Paleo-Indian Period Warren County During the 1990s, the Thunderbird Archaeological District was surveyed and partially excavated. Thunderbird consists of three sites that were occupied or utilized during the Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic Periods. It was the first … Read more
According to English maps and books of the late 1500s, Sir Francis Drake landed on the coast of Virginia, near the mouth of the James River in 1577. He named the region Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth I then explored the Chesapeake Bay for a few weeks. He then led a part of his fleet’s crewmen on horseback and foot along the James River for 10 days until they reached the summit of a mountain, where they could see a vast valley, covered in grasslands and fields. Drake’s memoir states that this valley was densely populated by agricultural Indians, … Read more
Along the North Fork of the Shenandoah are the fertile bottomlands that made the valley famous. Between Strasburg, Woodstock and New Market, VA the river snakes its way through rich alluvial soils. Here, there is archival and unstudied archaeological evidence that an advanced Native American culture once existed in the Shenandoah Valley. Because of the lack of archaeological studies of Mississippian type sites in the Shenandoah Valley, the discussion on this period must remain highly speculative. Native American platform mounds still exist in Virginia. They will be discussed within Part Four. It should be noted that the Shenandoah Valley is … Read more