PAWV
  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Current Preserve WV Members
    • Join Preserve WV AmeriCorps
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Sponsor a Member
  • Programs
    • Advocacy >
      • Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits
    • Annual Awards
    • Blair Footsteps Interpretive Trail
    • Historic Masonry Workshop
    • Historic Wood Window Preservation Workshop
    • West Virginia Endangered Properties >
      • West Virginia Endangered Properties List >
        • Endangered Properties Blog
        • Saved Sites
        • Lost or Archived Sites
    • West Virginia Historic Preservation Conference
    • Webinars >
      • Webinar Archive
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail >
      • Movie Theatres of West Virginia
    • WV New Deal Trail
  • Resources
    • Fund Your Preservation Project >
      • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
      • Saving Historic Places Grant
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • How to Recycle Asbestos
      • Mothballing Property
      • Window Rehabilitation
    • Frances Benjamin Johnston: A West Virginia Icon >
      • Selected Photos
      • Behind the Lens Activity
    • Historic Preservation Degrees
  • News
    • Preservation Spotlights
    • Monthly E-newsletter
  • Contact
    • About Us >
      • Our Team
      • Our Story
  • Give
    • Become a Member of PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Ways to Give to PAWV
    • #GivingTuesday
    • Volunteer

AMERICORPS MEMBERS CLEAN UP HISTORIC CEMETERY

1/25/2015

 
By Jennifer, Preserve WV AmeriCorps

On Monday, January 19th, thirteen AmeriCorps members and eight community volunteers worked together to clean the Seventh Day Baptist (SDB) section of the Blockhouse Hill Cemetery in Doddridge County, WV. Prior to our project, most of the headstones could not be seen through the high grass and brush. The cemetery had not received any regular maintenance for at least 20 years. We leveled and stabilized over 35 headstones and foot stones. Dozens of buried markers that had been hidden for decades were unearthed. Eight mounds of brush were cut and stacked for future disposal.
In preparation, the Blockhouse Hill Cemetery Association paid a contractor to mow the cemetery. They also bought the 20 bags of sand and gravel that were used to level the headstones. A local restaurant, the Bee Hive, and the Doddridge County Historical Society donated pizza, coffee and water for lunch.

​The SDB portion of the Blockhouse Hill Cemetery is considered Doddridge County’s pioneer cemetery. A few of the more notable citizens buried there are Nathan Davis (founder of West Union and a captain in the War of 1812), Lewis Maxwell (Congressman), Judge Chapman J Stuart (responsible for naming West Virginia), George Revels (black civil war veteran), Samuel J Cupp (confederate soldier), William J Maulsby (union soldier), Captain John Carroll (union soldier) and Joseph Cheuvront (physician and merchant).

The cemetery sits on the site of the original SDB church that was built ca 1800. The DAR erected a monument in 1925 stating that the church was there from 1792 until 1832. I believe this to be an error, because after much research, the earliest I can place any SDB member living in Doddridge County (then Harrison County) is in 1802. The SDB Church in Salem, erected before the one on Blockhouse Hill, was not even built until 1796. A tornado in 1833 razed the hewed-log church and another tornado in 1837 killed a father and daughter, both who are interred at the cemetery.

Blockhouse Hill is a historical and cultural asset to the 8,300 citizens who currently live in Doddridge County. Not only are our foundering fathers buried here, but many of the families that live in Doddridge County today can trace their roots back to those resting in this long-forgotten cemetery. There is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done, but thanks to AmeriCorps’ help, we can now efficiently and safely assess what repairs need to be made.

Our endeavors uncovered many exciting finds:
  • We unearthed a memorial slab for the Dawson family (5 children and the father) who died in a house fire in 1856. We knew that it was somewhere in the cemetery, because it was documented in Hardesty’s 1883 ‘History of Doddridge County’.
  • We cut away the trees and brush that were obscuring the monument of Chapman J Stuart, the man responsible for naming West Virginia.
  • We discovered the headstone of a union civil war soldier who was completely unknown to any genealogist or local historian.
  • The most important improvement of the day was the clearing of Lewis Maxwell’s plot. He was a Congressman, the richest man in WV (in his day), a lawyer and the founder of Weston and Jane Lew. The area where Blockhouse Hill is located was once called ‘Lewisport’ in his honor. His monument was placed at the edge of the hill, overlooking the old Northwestern Turnpike.

Thank you so much to all the AmeriCorps members and community volunteers that helped.
  • Alicia Blake (The Education Alliance)
  • Ali Linville (Lifebridge)
  • Robert Wolfe (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Kristen Richards (The Education Alliance)
  • Nicole Marrocco (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Andrew Thomas (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Joe Obidzinski (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Chelsea Elliott (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Raven Thomas (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Carlee Dulaney (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Crystal Wimer (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Devon Scanlon (Preservation Alliance of West Virginia)
  • Ila Foley (Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia and Preston Counties)
  • Gilbert Neely (Doddridge County Historical Society)
  • Patti Harris (Doddridge County Historical Society)
  • Sherri Harris (Doddridge County Historical Society)
  • Rennie Brown (Doddridge County Historical Society)
  • Roxanne Fritz (Starting Points)
  • Raine Fritz (DCMS)
  • Eric Bee (Community member)

Comments are closed.

    News and Notes

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    About
    Advocacy
    Awards
    Conferences
    Endangered Properties
    Excuse For An Excursion
    Federal Historic Tax Credit
    For Sale
    Funding
    Heritage Areas
    Heritage Tourism
    Historic Architecture
    Historic Preservation Funding
    Historic Preservation Programs
    Miscellaneous
    Newsletter
    Preservation Legislation
    Preserve WV AmeriCorps
    State Historic Tax Credit
    Trades
    Training
    WV Preservation Spotlight

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    May 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012


    Subscribe to our mailing list to receive e-news updates on historic preservation news and events in West Virginia.
    Subscribe

Get Involved

  • Give Online
  • ​Volunteer
  • Join AmeriCorps 
  • ​Subscribe 
  • Kroger Community Rewards
  • Shop with Amazon Smile
  • Contact Us

Programs

  • June 2022 E-News
  • Saving Historic Places Grant
  • Preserve WV AmeriCorps
  • Advocacy
  • ​Preservation Awards
  • Endangered Properties List
  • Conferences
  • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
  • WV Historic Theatre Trail
  • WV Historic New Deal Trail


Contact Us

Preservation Alliance of West Virginia
​421 Davis Avenue, #4  |  Elkins, WV 26241
​Email: info@pawv.org
Phone: 304-345-6005
Donate with Crypto

Organizational Partners:
PAWV Logo
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
© COPYRIGHT 2022 - PRESERVATION ALLIANCE OF WEST VIRGINIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Current Preserve WV Members
    • Join Preserve WV AmeriCorps
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Sponsor a Member
  • Programs
    • Advocacy >
      • Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits
    • Annual Awards
    • Blair Footsteps Interpretive Trail
    • Historic Masonry Workshop
    • Historic Wood Window Preservation Workshop
    • West Virginia Endangered Properties >
      • West Virginia Endangered Properties List >
        • Endangered Properties Blog
        • Saved Sites
        • Lost or Archived Sites
    • West Virginia Historic Preservation Conference
    • Webinars >
      • Webinar Archive
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail >
      • Movie Theatres of West Virginia
    • WV New Deal Trail
  • Resources
    • Fund Your Preservation Project >
      • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
      • Saving Historic Places Grant
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • How to Recycle Asbestos
      • Mothballing Property
      • Window Rehabilitation
    • Frances Benjamin Johnston: A West Virginia Icon >
      • Selected Photos
      • Behind the Lens Activity
    • Historic Preservation Degrees
  • News
    • Preservation Spotlights
    • Monthly E-newsletter
  • Contact
    • About Us >
      • Our Team
      • Our Story
  • Give
    • Become a Member of PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Ways to Give to PAWV
    • #GivingTuesday
    • Volunteer