West Virginia Cemetery Preservation Association

Cemetery Reading

Cemetery Name:

Tillis

 
Tillis Cemetery, Mason Co., WV
  Tillis Cemetery, Mason Co., WV

Click images to enlarge

County: Mason
USGS Quad: Robertsburg
Coordinates: 38.6980ºN  -81.9255ºW
Maintained by: unknown
Land owner: unknown
Date added to WVCPA register: April 2004
Condition of cemetery**: Excellent (November 2011)
Accessibility: The cemetery is located right along Tribble Road, on the right hand side as you drive in from Hwy 62, barely 2 miles in. Very limited parking, though there is room for about one car across the road at the entrance to the Ezekiel Sayre Cemetery. The cemetery sits about 6 feet above the roadbed, and literally right up to it.  It's a rather steep, albeit very short, climb up onto the mound where the graves are. 

** 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:

Coulter John abt 1818 24 July 1892 [See note below]   Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004 and notes from "Mason County, W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions"
Coulter Nancy   1 October 1883 "Wife of Jno Coulter"
Aged 59 ys, 10 ms, 8 ds"
[See note below]
Click for photo of tombstone
Click for photo of tombstone
Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004
Tillis Lewis 1863 1889 [Son of Clark & Eleanor Pontsler Tillis - See note below] Click for photo of tombstone Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004
Tillis Ella  1844 abt 1883 [Eleanor Pontsler Tillis, dau of Serick Pontsler, Sr. and wife of Clark Tillis - See note for Lewis Tillis below]   Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004 and notes from "Mason County, W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions"
Tillis Emily Jane Sayre 1862 1944 [See note below]   Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004 and notes from "Mason County, W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions"
Tillis Richard 1809 1891 [Husband & wife - See note below]   Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004 and notes from "Mason County, W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions"
Tillis Elizabeth 1802 1883
Tillis Sarah 1885 abt 1891 [Dau. of Lewis and Emily]   Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004 and notes from "Mason County, W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions"
Unidentifiable Graves:

Click for photo of tombstoneClick for photo of tombstoneClick for photo of tombstoneClick for photo of tombstone

Source: WVCPA reading of the cemetery April 2004
Notes from entries above:

John & Nancy Coulter's graves: According to "Mason Co., W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions", Nancy Kimberling Coulter was buried at Arbuckle Cemetery, and this tombstone was not present at this cemetery at the time of publication of that work - it is obvious that the stone has been brought to this cemetery (noting the newer cement base on this stone), though the reasons for the move are unknown by WVCPA.  In one of the overview photos of the cemetery at the top of this page, Nancy's tombstone is the only one visible from a distance (being the only one that remains upright) - it was what caught my eye the first time Joel & I drove past, giving indication that this was indeed a cemetery. The note, as it is recorded in the above text, is as follows: "COULTER, John died July 24, 1892, age 74 yrs., a monument to this man stands in the Craig Cemetery at Arbuckle where his wife Nancy Kimberling Coulter lies."

Lewis Tillis' grave: Not certain that this headstone is Lewis', but if you look on the lower left corner of the stone as it is in the photo, the hand-carved date appears to be 1889 or 1881.  According to the research of Violette Machir, as published in "Mason Co., W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions", the person in this family cemetery with a death date of 1889 or 1881 is Lewis Tillis.  There is some mystery in this too, however, as according to her research in the late 1960's, the only remaining tombstone in this cemetery at the time was that of Emily Jane Sayre Tillis, born in 1862 and died in 1944. Neither of those dates match what is clearly visible on this very old stone.  This may also be the stone of Ella Pontsler Tillis, if her death date was actually 1881.  According to Violette's research, her death date was about 1883 - it might be possible that she died as early as 1881, and this is her stone.  Any Tillis or Pontsler family researchers have any information that would help identify this stone positively?

Emily Jane Tillis' grave: Though a monument was know to be present in 1969 when this cemetery was last recorded, it was no longer present in April 2004.  Either it has fallen down and been covered by the soil and moss, or it has been removed.  We have yet to explore this cemetery with any type of probes to locate stones buried by a shallow covering of soil.  When this is done, it is possible that Emily's stone will again be found and placed upright to mark her burial place.

Richard & Elizabeth Tillis' graves: Notes from Violette Machir: "Richard and wife, known as Grandpa and Grandma Tillis, in all probability Richard 1809-1891 and wife Elizabeth Greenlee Van Bibber, dau. of Rachel Greenlee and Jesse Van Bibber, born 1802 died 1883.  Death records 2nd Dist. page 576, line 53, 'Elizabeth Tillis, May 15, 1883 age 81 dau. of Jesse and R. Van Bibber, Richard Tillis hb. giving info.' "

 

Comments: We'd driven past this cemetery many times on our way to visit family and friends up the Thirteen Mile Creek valley, and finally stopped to photograph the cemetery in April 2004.  This appears to be a quite old cemetery, with several unmarked graves, easily identifiable by the deep depressions in the relatively flat knoll that is the cemetery.  Many of these are marked only with field stones.  We have posted here photos of all of the graves marked in some manner, even where no inscriptions were legible or ever present.  For those that were legible, the inscriptions are noted above.  Additional notes have been added from "Mason Co., W.Va. Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol III" to aid family researchers visiting this page.

This is an unassuming, well cared-for little cemetery that we will continue to watch over through the years, because of its simple beauty, and because of our family ties to those buried here.  Because of its location so close to the road, and the fact that it sits on the smaller of the banks along the roadbed, it would only take the threat of a modest widening or re-routing of the road to put its existence into jeopardy.

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 Updated: 07 September 2012