West Virginia Cemetery Preservation Association: McDade Cemetery, Mason Co.

Cemetery Reading

Cemetery Name:	McDade	Click on photos above to enlarge
County:	Mason
USGS Quad:	Cottageville
Coordinates:	38.7527ºN -81.8590ºW
Maintained by:	unknown
Land owner:	unknown
Date added to WVCPA register:	April 2007
Condition of cemetery**:	Good (November 2011)
Accessibility:	The cemetery is located at the fork in the road on Gunville Ridge, 2½ miles from the location of the old Gunville Store, where Dale Lane veers off to the southwest. There is one lone tree marking the cemetery site, and it is easily missed if the grass has not been cut recently (we drove past it for years before realizing it was there!). It is somewhat accessible, in that it is right on the main road. However, to get up to the graves themselves, you have to scramble across a steep little road cut embankment, and then make your way up the short, but steep hillside up to the top of the knoll.
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:
McDade	Edward O.	1842	23 January 1863	"CO. E. 8th W.VA. INF." [Died at Buffalo, WV during the Civil War]
McDade	Mr. R.J.	24 March? 1887	18 February 1888	[Severe wear on the face of the stone in places - hard to read the birth date with accuracy - Click here* to view close-up photo]*
Probable Burials:
McDade	Andrew
McDade	Barbara		28 December 1859	[Wife of William McDade]

Comments:

Dates in Red above 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.

According to an earlier reading published in the Mason Co., W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions book for this district, there were three graves marked with stones and visible in the late 1960's/ early 1970's. When we visited the cemetery in October 2006, there were only 2 markers clearly visible. There was, what appeared to be another marker, broken and laying at the base of R.J. McDade's stone, though that may have been his footstone. There were no legible carvings on that stone, other than a large heart that you can see in the close-up photo of his stone. It is possible that this was the "third" marker identified 30+ years ago, though we cannot be certain. There was at least one fieldstone in the area, but there was no present indication that they were marking graves or if they were naturally occurring stones.

Are there any McDade family researchers out there that can help us understand more of this cemetery and those buried here or possibly buried here? Please email WVCPA.

Updated: 07 September 2012