WestVirginiaCemeteryPreservationAssociation

What's New?
Archive for the year 2006

To view current "What's New" log entries, Click Here 
To view "What's New" log entries from 2010-11, Click Here

To view "What's New" log entries from 2009, Click Here
To view "What's New" log entries from 2008, Click Here
To view "What's New" log entries from 2007, Click Here
To view "What's New" log entries from 2003-2005, Click Here


December 31, 2006: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, WVCPA receives all of its income to cover operating expenses and be able to pass along gifts for selected cemetery rescue efforts in the state of West Virginia from donations from faithful donors and philanthropists across the United States.  WVCPA makes it a point to NOT charge for any of the services it provides on the internet, in person, or via email, nor do we inundate our volunteers and business contacts with spam email, soliciting donations throughout the year. In fact, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we are greatly restricted by the Internal Revenue Service in how we raise funds that are not given as freewill gifts. So, once a year around this time, we strive to remind our friends and visitors of the opportunity that they have to further the work of WVCPA through their financial gifts and potentially gain deductions on their own taxes in the process.  As such, here are a couple of announcements we'd like to make as this year comes to a close:
  • WVCPA has been added as one of the non-profit charities that benefits from people using the GoodSearch search engine at www.goodsearch.comGoodSearch is a search engine with a unique social mission. It’s powered by Yahoo, so you get the same great search results. GoodSearch donates 50% of their advertising revenue to the nonprofits and schools selected by their users. Now our supporters can make a difference in the work of WVCPA, or any nonprofit charity of their choice that is included among the registered organizations on the GoodSearch site, simply by changing the way they search the Internet!  Starting tomorrow, the 28th of December, anytime anyone uses the GoodSearch site to search on the Internet and specifies WVCPA as their favorite charity, GoodSearch will set aside a portion of their revenue to contribute WVCPA. Over the years, many of you have expressed the desire to donate to WVCPA, but have not had the means - now you can without it costing you a penny!  Check out GoodSearch for details, and tell your friends and family how they can contribute as well!
  • In only a few short days, 2006 will come to a close and 2007 will dawn with all of it's promise and hopes for an exciting New Year.  Remember that if you would like to give a tax-deductible gift  to WVCPA, your letters must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2006 to be considered a donation in the 2006 tax year.  On our Contribute page, we also have links to PayPal if you prefer to send us a gift using your major credit card.
December 31, 2006:
December 29, 2006:
  • Added a page for Old Rehoboth Church Cemetery in Monroe County.  Work is still in progress with gathering data for a full listing of known burials in this cemetery.  If you notice any names missing from this listing, please send us the details (name, birth date, death date, etc.) by email.
December 27, 2006:
  • Added a page for Orlando Cemetery in Braxton County, thanks to information provided by WVCPA contributor, Kate Hofman, who will be sending us more information and photos to add to the page in the near future.
December 18, 2006:
  • Added a page for Rader Cemetery in Jackson County, thanks to information generously provided by WVCPA contributor, Frank Hyre.
  • Added cemetery pages for Summers, Webster and Wetzel counties - more research is underway for these counties to identify additional cemeteries located in these counties.
  • Major additions to the Pendleton County cemetery page - communication underway to begin work with volunteers and community leaders in that county to help preserve their historic cemeteries.
  • Amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, working to catch up on old email that has sat far, far too long, and that ominous "to do" pile that never seems to get any smaller!  Despite the stress that brings at times, we wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China for all the friends that it has brought us over the years that Joel and I have operated WVCPA - you're all a wonderful blessing to us, as we hope we are in some way to you.  On the home page we say "A Blessed and Joyous Christmas Season to You and Yours!", and we mean it from our hearts.  Our prayers are with you all for a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! 

Joel & Donna Duprey

December 8, 2006:
November 26, 2006:
  • Completed a page for St. Patrick's Cemetery in Putnam County, thanks to the photographs and reading/research submission by WVCPA contributor Robin Kilgore
  • Photos being added to the Bethel Church Cemetery page (Mason County), photos from a recent WVCPA staff visit to the cemetery, from WVCPA contributor Connie Hitchings, and from photos taken by Dale Sines a few years ago, submitted by WVCPA contributor Dennis Green.
November 12, 2006:
  • Added a page for Mt. Olive Cemetery, located east of Ripley in Jackson County
  • Page established for Rader Church, (research is still in progress on this one) located in the same area of Jackson County, northwest of Gay. 
October 29, 2006:
  • Added a page for the Belcher Family Cemetery in Pocahontas County. Family researcher and Belcher descendant, Judy Long, from Oregon generously provided the information and photos for this page. This cemetery lies close to the boundary of Watoga State Park on private land.  From the family visit in August of this year, it appears that there may be a very real threat to the continued existence of this small family cemetery, due to heavy construction going on nearby. Judy and her family are working hard to do what they can to preserve this cemetery. To that end, the cemetery was fenced and graves clearly identified by the Belcher descendants. If you are able to help in the preservation of this cemetery, particularly if you live near Watoga State Park and are able to help with local research and correspondence, contact WVCPA by email and we will forward your message and contact information to Judy.
  • Close to 75 photos were added last night to the Wyoma Church Cemetery page (Mason County), and over 100 remain to be added, thanks to the photographic work of WVCPA contributor Rex Carlyle. Many of the photos he sent us were for burials not previously recorded/published for this cemetery.  
October 27, 2006:
  • Added a page for Dunlap Cemetery in Kanawha County and Smith/Good Cemetery in Jackson County - our apologies to the contributor of the information for this cemetery, Russ Dean, for the long time since he sent these to us.  We found the information in the email today, lost among the hundreds in our archive, and realized that the page had not been completed as yet.  Russ has also sent us several photos and information for other cemeteries, and we will be working to get these online as soon as possible, along with the many other submissions that we've received over the past months that have yet to be posted.
October 23, 2006:
  • Added several photos, and made updates to the page for the Edward Greenlee Cemetery in Mason County.  Included are photos from our clean-up project the first weekend in October 2006.
October 21, 2006:
  • Added a page for the Mt. Vernon UMC Cemetery, and started a page for Coffman Cemetery, both in Greenbrier County.  Our thanks to Bruce Chase for bringing it to our attention! We hope to see more information about this cemetery - perhaps a current reading and some photos - from Bruce in the near future.
  • Added recent photos from the Casto-Fisher Cemetery in Jackson County.
October 19, 2006:
  • We've returned from our latest "expedition" to West Virginia to gather cemetery information, photos, etc. It was a very successful trip, thanks to ideal weather conditions, among other things.  We were able to at least make a valiant effort at uncovering the Edward Greenlee Cemetery, thanks to the hard work and fun we shared with June and Connie, our stalwart volunteers on that project.  A good half of the cemetery was uncovered from eyeball-high weeds before we all tuckered out. More work needs to be done there to maintain it, and to clear a good path from the field below it on the hill.
    Sadly, we were unable to attract any able volunteers on Oct. 14th for the clean-up of the Lewis Greenlee Cemetery.  After close inspection of it the day before, we determined that one brush hog weedeater, a pair of pruners and just Joel and I wouldn't even be able to make a dent in the saplings and briars that have overgrown this cemetery.  We will revisit it in winter, weather permitting, to see if we can at least get some of the more aggressive saplings pruned back to stave them off at least.
  • Besides that, we gathered over 1000 photos of cemeteries and tombstones, this time mostly in Jackson County.  Cemeteries visited include the following: Longview Church, David Sayre, Cherry Grove, Casto-Fisher, Antioch Church, Hopewell Baptist Church, Fairview Church, and Foster Chapel. In Putnam County we visited Barnett Chapel, and in Mason County we visited Edward Greenlee, McDade, Mt. Tabor, Bethel Chapel, Forest Hills, and Baden Presbyterian
  • The David Sayre Cemetery page is now online for you to visit (incidentally, WVCPA recently donated funds to the David Sayre Cemetery fund to help towards the purchase of a new gate for the fence line by the road - something we do on occasion when a specific need comes to our attention and our funds allow, with the approval of our advisory board).
October 2, 2006:
  • Added a cemetery page for Pocahontas County.
  • A reminder that WVCPA will be doing clean-ups of the Edward Greenlee cemetery in Leon, Mason Co. this coming Saturday from 11:00-3:00 (or until we're done!), and of the Lewis Greenlee cemetery located along Thirteenmile Creek, north of Tribble Road in the Arbuckle area of Mason Co.  If you're interested in helping out, please contact us by email as soon as possible, including a daytime and evening phone number so we can get in touch with you.  We will be traveling the remainder of this week, attending a family funeral (Joel's father - please keep us and our family in your prayers during this time of grief), but will be checking email on Friday the 6th.
September 10, 2006:
  • Added a page for the Wyoma Church Cemetery in Mason County - there is still background research being done on this cemetery in archived obituaries for burials of the past 20 years. Watch for changes and additions of photos to the page over the coming months.
  • Added a page for the Pott's Chapel Cemetery in Mason County.  Background research is still being done on this one as well, so the listing is not totally up to date.
28 August 2006:
10 August 2006:
  • Added a page for the Edward Greenlee Cemetery in Mason County, thanks to the photographs and research provided by WVCPA contributor Connie Hitchings.  We're evaluating the possibility of doing a clean-up of this cemetery, perhaps as early as this coming October.  If you're interested in helping out (and have the tools to work with), and are available on the first Saturday's in October, let us know.  Nothing is certain yet, but we have strong hopes that we can work this out in addition to the Greenlee Cemetery along Thirteenmile Creek south of Leon.
22 July 2006:
  • Added a page for the Casto-Fisher Cemetery near Goldtown in Jackson County - a little family cemetery facing some very real threats from major construction taking place around it.
  • Joel and Donna have returned from their summer trip to WV - unfortunately, while in WV, Donna was bitten on the leg by an unknown 'critter' of the insect-sort, and the bite quickly developed into a staph infection which she is still getting over.  It gave her the opportunity to spend 2 nights and 3 days with the very kind and capable staff of Jackson General Hospital in Ripley, who we are happy to report are a top-notch team if you ever find yourself in need of some emergency medicine when you're in the area! The little adventure, however, seriously bit into (pun intended?) the time that Joel and Donna had hoped to use on cemetery research over the last week in the state. If all goes well with the healing process, Donna will be fit as a fiddle come early October when she and Joel will be making another trek to WV. By the way, Donna did get a chance to take a peek at the conditions at Greenlee Cemetery a few days before she was bitten, and it did not look good.  The cemetery lies barely 8 feet from the roadbed, and it was so overgrown that, were it not for one large headstone near the front fence line, plus knowing exactly where the cemetery was, you wouldn't have known there was a cemetery there at all.  This one is definitely on the list for a 'makeover' in October! If you would be interested in working with Joel and Donna on this project in the Leon area of Mason County in October (either Saturday of the Columbus Day weekend or the one following), drop them an email at before the end of September.  They'll be needing a means to either shred on site or haul away any brush that is cut down, plenty of willing hands with long-handled pruners, and perhaps a weedeater for good measure. 
5 June 2006:
  • Several updates have been made to a number of cemetery pages, in particular the Pleasant Hill Cemetery page in Jackson County and New Antioch Cemetery in Putnam County.  
  • Many new pages are in progress - check for new links for pages in progress or external links to cemetery pages on the Jackson, Putnam and Mason County cemetery list pages.  
  • We're getting ready for our upcoming summer trip to WV for research and photographing - most work will be done in Jackson, Putnam and Mason County, though we also have plans to visit Mercer County this trip and other areas along the way from our place in Mason County to a family gathering in Tennessee.  We hope to also work on some preliminary rescue work on the Greenlee Cemetery in Union District of Mason County during our trip - at least getting a start on clearing out some of the worst briar 'infestations'.  More work on Greenlee Cemetery will likely be done on this in early October when the weather is more moderate and the 'critters' (ticks, chiggers, snakes, etc.!) are a bit more docile. If you try and contact us by email during the remainder of June and into early July, it may take us a while to reply, as we'll be online infrequently. 
4 June 2006:
  • Added a page for Casto Cemetery in Fairplain, Jackson County, thanks to the contribution of a reading by James "Cam" and Joan Crane. Photos still needed for this cemetery - volunteer(s) needed! Contact us at if you can help.
3 June 2006:
  • Added a page for Barnett Chapel Cemetery in Putnam County
  • Completed posting of all photos submitted for Concord Baptist Church Cemetery in Mason County
  • Working on photos for Old Antioch Church Cemetery in Putnam County
  • Continuing work on Henderson Cemetery and Old Town Board Baptist Church Cemetery in Mason County.
17 May 2006:
9 May 2006:
8 May 2006: 
7 May 2006:
6 May 2006:
22 April 2006:
  • Added a page for the Painter-Bethel Cemetery in Putnam County, thanks to the research provided by WVCPA contributor Penny Tucker - Thank you, Penny!
18 April 2006:
  • Added a page for Wayne County Cemeteries
  • Continuing work on Concord Baptist Church Cemetery, Henderson Cemetery and Old Town Board Baptist Church Cemetery in Mason County.
15 April 2006:
13 April 2006:
  • Added a page for the Coleman-Lovejoy Cemetery near Liberty in Putnam County - this page has some great photos of the process for making an aluminum foil 'rubbing' of a tombstone - one of the safest ways to do a rubbing of a stone, not at all damaging like chalk, shaving cream, soap, and all the other methods that may be recommended by those who don't realize how those things can hasten the wearing away of the tombstone surface.  Even if you don't have family buried in this cemetery, have a look at the bottom of the cemetery page and see how aluminum foil rubbings are done!
8 April 2006:
  • Added a page for the Lewis Greenlee Cemetery in Union District of Mason County - this cemetery is a particularly dear one to Joel and Donna, as it holds the grave of one of the founders of their home church in Leon, Wolfe Valley Baptist Church.  Lord willing, and many hands become available to us to help, we'll see this cemetery rescued and beautiful once more before this year is out.  If you're interested in lending a helping hand, get in touch with us at
7 April 2006:
  • Added a page for the McLain Cemetery in Mason County, thanks to photography and research from long-time WVCPA contributor, Herman Gray - thanks a bunch, Herman!
2 April 2006:
  • For those of you with family buried at Emma Chapel Cemetery in Putnam County:  This announcement was seen recently in a local newspaper that you may find of interest - perhaps you will be able to attend:
Emma Chapel Cemetery Holding Luminary

"Emma Chapel Cemetery will be holding their annual luminary on Sunday, April 9, between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Due to inclement weather in December, it was suggested to have the luminary in the spring. All families are invited to come and light the candle on the gravesite of loved ones. The cemetery is located on Rt. 34, near Liberty, WV"
25 March 2006:
  • Added a page for the Jacob Snider Family Cemetery near Martinsburg in Berkeley County - thanks to information and photograph from family researcher and new contributor to WVCPA, Robert Longbottom. 
23 March 2006:
  • It may seem like little has been posted here lately, well that may be true.  However, we're busy behind the scenes right now working on pages for Concord Baptist Church Cemetery in Mason County and Hickory Grove Church Cemetery in Jackson County, thanks to the generous volunteer efforts of WVCPA contributor Alice Proffitt.  We're also working on pages for Henderson Cemetery and Old Town Board Baptist Church Cemetery in Mason County, thanks to great photos and video sent to us by WVCPA contributor Veva Scott (and her charming video star, Arlona!). There have been many updates made to several of the Mason County cemeteries after much research on obituaries from the past 20 years, adding many names that were not included in previously published readings.  We are also working on final proofreading of pages and noting of additional photographs (or retakes) needed for Craig and Craig/Douglas Cemeteries in Mason County - we've been waiting there on dry, non-snowy days when we're in WV to get out into those two cemeteries.  We're hoping on the first weekend in April, but long-range forecasts don't look promising at this point. We might have to wait on those until we're back in June. Dunn Cemetery updates have kept us busy as well - several hundred additional names have been added to the earlier-published reading, with many of those being added the past month, thanks to all the hard work of Sally Fish, the researcher scouring the pages of death records and the like in the nearby counties to get as complete a listing as possible.  We continue to be awed and inspired by the work of Dr. Hudson and the other members of the Dunn Cemetery Association who are working so hard to preserve their beloved cemetery for their loved ones who rest beneath its soil.  Joel and I are proud to help them in their efforts on behalf of WVCPA.

So, fear not, more new pages will be added before too long!  In the meantime, you might want to take the time to visit your family cemeteries that we do have online and check to see if there have been any updates made that will help you in your research!

18 March 2006:
  • The folks of the Dunn Cemetery Association (Dunn Cemetery in Cannelton, Kanawha Co., WV) are planning a first annual memorial service at the cemetery - see our "In The News" page for more details!
13 March 2006:
  • Added page for Ridgway Cemetery in Preston County, thanks to information provided by WVCPA contributor Robert Rosier.  We still need a current reading and photos of the tombstones in this cemetery - any volunteers?
5 February 2006:
22 January 2006:
  • Added pages for Schowen Cemetery in Putnam County, thanks to the volunteer research efforts and photography of Mike Shaffer (note: unidentified graves and their locations have yet to be added to the last page -  this work is still in progress)
  • Several additions have been made to the Dunn Cemetery in Kanawha County, thanks to the ongoing research and contributions of the Dunn Cemetery Preservation Association
9 January 2006:
  • Added a significant number of names and made corrections to the page for Craig Cemetery at Grimms Landing in Mason County, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Teresa Bonecutter, Barbara Mills, Carolyn Miller and Holly King (Holly also provided a number of corrections and additional information for Thornton family entries at Warner Chapel Cemetery, also in Mason County). Our thanks to these ladies for all their hard work and willingness to share the information with those who visit out web site!


To view current "What's New" log entries, Click Here 
To view "What's New" log entries from 2010-11, Click Here

To view "What's New" log entries from 2009, Click Here
To view "What's New" log entries from 2008, Click Here
To view "What's New" log entries from 2007, Click Here
To view "What's New" log entries from 2003-2005, Click Here

WVCPA Home Page


Adopted Cemeteries Adopted Churches Cemetery Readings Current Projects Favorite Inscriptions In The News Our Mission Resources Our Vision What Can I Do? What's New? Who Are We? WV Cemeteries


 Updated: 07 September 2012