Accessibility
is very poor - the
cemetery is located just off Gay Road (State Route 26). Heading
south towards Gay from Ripley on SR26, drive 6 tenths of a mile beyond
the first bridge that you cross and park just beyond the steel guard
rail on the left (north) side of the road (see photos above from WVCPA
contributor Frank Hyre). He explains that you'll need to walk about
150 yards straight ahead up the hill (see photo on the right above)
and start looking for the headstones. As John House wrote in
1904; "the graveyard was on a little point between two small
hollows and sloped sharply to the south. The older graves were
at the lower side, the cemetery, which was a private one, having been
extended up the hill. It was four by nine rods, fenced with
sawed locust posts, three barbed wires and plank at top. It stood out
in a field of fifty or one hundred acres, which was well sodded with
blue grass." At the time, he estimated the age of the first
burial there to have been in the late 1820s or early 1830s. He noted
that the graveyard, though steep against the hill, held the graves
straight in terraced fashion up the hillside. This is the family
cemetery of primarily the Rader and Smith families, their allied
family members, and yes, their slaves. There are said to be several
large monuments, many of marble, and many more of flagstone, or
unmarked altogether.
The cemetery is now completely
overgrown, so dress accordingly and perhaps plan to visit at a time of
year when less likely to encounter undesirable wildlife (ticks,
snakes, etc.). There are few people living in the immediate
area, but those that do may well be able to help you find the cemetery
if your search is unsuccessful.
** Condition of cemetery as observed on the given date -
may not be representative of care at other times of the year Scale: Excellent - Good - Fair - Poor - Abandoned
Last Name:
First Name:
Born:
Died:
Inscription:
Photo:
Source:
Allen
William
[Father of
Hannah Allen Rader - aged ca. 60 years]
Bord
Sarah
"Dau.
of H.B. and S.E. Bord"
[Dau. of Hart Rader, wife of Henry B.
Bord - shares a tombstone with her daughter Sarah]
Bord
Sarah Elizabeth
"Sally"
1842
1875
Clifford
William
3
August 1842
6 May?
1879
[Husband
of Emma Jane Rader, dau. of Hart and Ruanna Rader]
Hyre
John A.
20
December 1812
29
January 1852
Hyre
Miriam
Rader
1
August 1816
4 June
1850
[Daughter of
James and Hannah Allen Rader, wife of John A. Hyre]
R.
L.
29 April 1838
[Located near
the lower side of the cemetery, headstone of sand stone and hand carved
"April 29, 1838 L.R."
Rader
Catherine Long
[Wife of
Michael Rader]
Rader
Edward
Hart
14 April 1819
31 October 1909
Rader
Everett
1860
[Son of W.A.
and L.M. Rader]
Rader
Hannah G. Allen
19 January 1781
27 April 1861
[Dau. of
William Allen, wife of James Rader]
Rader
Infant
1833
"Infant
of M.C. and R. Rader"
[Grandchild of James and Hannah Rader]
Rader
James
28 January 1782
12 June 1839
"Aged
57 ys 4 ms 14 ds"
[Son of
Michael Rader, husband of Hannah Allen Rader]
Rader
James M.
3 December 1824
28 April 1842
[Son of James
and Hannah Rader]
Rader
Dr. John
26 November 1810
15 April 1887
[Son
of James and Hannah Rader, husband of
Polly Ruddle Rader]
Rader
Julia D.
12 July 1853
[Aged 1 year,
dau. of J. and M. Rader]
Rader
Mary I.
14
April 1855
"Dau. of E.H. &
R. Rader" "Aged 4 ___"
Rader
Edmund G.
(Edward?)
__
____ 1860
"Son
of E.H. & R. Rader" "Aged
6 ys 10 ds"
Rader
Lena A.
__
June 1861
"Dau.
of E.H. & R. Rader" "Aged
1 y __ ms, 2 ds"
Rader
Dora Dove
1870
"Aged
12"
Rader
Lida F.
21 October 1876
"Aged
15"
Rader
Ferdemand F.
1876
"Son
of E.H. & R. Rader" "Aged
12 ys __ ms __ ds"
Rader
William C.
1876
"Aged 9"
The
above are children of Hart and Ruanna Wright Rader, each had their own
marker originally, but sometime before 1904, these were replaced with a
large marble one that they now share
Rader
Michael
8 March 1751
18
June 1839
[Married
Catherine Long December 25, 1769 - he and Catherine being born near
Harrisonburg in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia - settled in the Elk
Fork area of Jackson County in the early 1800s]
Rader
Robert
18 November 1812
14 February 1842
[Son of James
and Hannah Rader]
Rader
Ruanna Wright
10 April 1827
3 July 1911
[Wife of Hart
Rader]
Rader
Sandusky V.
28 September 1838
"Son of
M.C. and R. Rader"
[Grandson of James and Hannah Rader]
Rader
William Allen
8 April 1806
23 June 1860
[Oldest child
of James Rader, grandson of Michael Rader]
Smith
Ann
6 October 1810
20 October 1883
"Wife
of Geo. W. Smith"
"Aged 67 ys, 14 ds"
[Dau. of Jacob
Staats and his wife ___ Evans Staats, granddaughter of Abraham Staats]
Smith
George H.
8
November? 1860
"Son of George
W. and Ann Smith"
"Aged 14 Ys, 4 Ms 2 Ds"
[Died the fall of 1860 at 14 years of age]
Smith
George W.
14 August 1814
19 February 1860
[Husband of
Ann Staats Smith]
Smith
Nancy
4 October 1793
1 March 1852
[Possibly
George W. Smith's mother]
Walker
Macklin
1844
[Husband of
Maria Rader, dau. of Joseph Rader - they married in abt. 1832 - Maria is
buried with her second husband, Levi Pickerell, in Roane Co.]
Adam
J. House writes of the
above grave; "In the southwest corner, under the shade of the
stately trees growing just across the fence, I discovered a flagstone
marker at the head of a just traceable grave on which was rudely
engraved the name Adam. Here, canopied by the newly fallen oak
leaves, reposed the ashes of the negro, who chased the elk from which
the creek took its name.
L.B.
30 October 1848
H.
J House continues his
writing of the above grave and other nearby; "Next in the row was
a fallen stone when cleaned of earth and lichens seemed to read L.B.
(perhaps) J. 1848, died October 30, 1848. But it was hard to
distinguish the carving of man from those of nature on the rock.
There were many other graves with only flagstone markers and
doubtless, many more without. Even these, probably most of these
lowly mounds, were the negroes last home. One, at the upper side
of this section was marked with the single letter H.
Possible Burials:
Rader
Isador Trainer
1849
1869
[Son of Hart and Ruanna Rader]
Rader
Lizzie Allen
23 June 1860
23 June 1860
Unidentified
Markers:
Image14
[Looks
like it says "Sarah E." and perhaps "wife of"
under that, and the age is 29 years and some months of age... that
wouldn't be quite right for Sarah E. Bord, so not sure exact identity
of this grave]
Image 17
[Illegible
in photo]
Image 18
[Unidentified
- not enough legible clues to identify whose marker this is]
Image 19
[Unidentified
- not enough legible clues to identify whose marker this is]
Image 20
[Unidentified
- not enough legible clues to identify whose marker this is]
Image 23
[Unidentified
- not enough legible clues to identify whose marker this is]
Image 25
[Unidentified
- not enough legible clues to identify whose marker this is]
Comments:
Dates
in Red are not inscribed on the
tombstone and have either been calculated based on death date or are as a
result of research on the individual.
WVCPA
thanks Rader and Hyre family researcher Frank Hyre for his photos and
directions to this cemetery. It
is important to note that not all of the burials in this cemetery are in
all likelihood listed above - these entries are a collection of what has
been gleaned from various family researchers records (much from Mr. Hyre),
early work from Jackson County historian John House, as well as WVCPA
research in old obituary and death records for the area. If you know
of someone that should be included in this roster, please contact us with
the details, including the source of the information (family bible, death
record, etc.).
For further
information on the Michael Rader family, click here to view a family
history file provided to WVCPA from Rader family researcher Jeanne
M. Howell, one of his descendants. She has also generously provided
'zipped' copies of his Revolutionary
War papers with which she applied for membership in the Daughters
of the American Revolution. You may also want to visit her family history
site, located at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~elyandra/revolutionarywar.htm If
you would like to share information on the Rader family history, please
contact Jeanne via her family history website.
