The
cemetery is located on a hill above 18-Mile Creek. Accessibility is
somewhat limited, in that there is barely room to park one car along the
road at the gate, then you'll need to cross the field (at times inhabited by
livestock), then walk across 18-Mile Creek (no bridge), then up an often
muddy, pretty rough and steep jeep trail up along the cliff face to the
cemetery. When we last visited the cemetery in April 2004, the grass was
high and ground uneven. Use caution if you are at all unsteady on your feet.
** 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:
Bowles
Cansadia O.
26
February 1876
24
October 1878
"Dau.
of J.W. & L. Bowles"
"Aged 2 Y. 7 M. 28 D."
[Dau. of James & Lieucetia (Casto) Bowles - granddau. of N.B. Casto]
Casto
George Whitfield
1867
1913
[Husband
and wife - George was the son of N.B. & M. Casto]
Casto
Emma Jividen
1869
1939
Casto
"Infant
daughters of G.W. & E. Casto"
Casto
Homer H.
6
December 1897
18
June 1899
"Son
of G.W. & E. Casto"
"Aged 1 Y. 6 M. 12 D."
Casto
Lewis H.
1858
1942
[Son
of N.B. & M. Casto]
Casto
Lorenzo Dow
11
June 1860
26
August 1878
"Son
of N.B. & M. Casto"
"Aged 18 Y. 1 M. 15 D."
Casto
Rev.
Nathan B.
17
January 1822
16
October 1885
"Aged
63 Y. 8 M. 29 D."
Casto
Margaret Parsons
7
May 1828
29
April 1892
"Wife
of N.B. Casto"
"Aged 63 Y. 11 M. 22 D."
Casto
Effie Bernice
11
June 1882
2
August 1883
"Dau.
of W.M. & L.J. Casto"
"Aged 1 Y. 1 M. 2 D."
[exact age from research - dau. of Wm. Mack and Levisa (Parkins)
Casto, granddau. of N.B. Casto]
Casto
Infant Son
25
November 1895
25
November 1895
"Infant
son of C.O. & M.J. Casto"
[Charles and Melissa Jane (Jividen) Casto - grandson of N.B. Casto]
Casto
M. Ethel
19
J__ 1891
"Dau.
of _____"
"Aged 9 M. 23 D."
[Possibly Martha E., dau. of George and Emma Casto - more research
needed]
Unmarked
or unidentified graves:
Grave
marked by a fieldstone
Unmarked
grave
Buried
nearby in unmarked graves:
Greene
John*
ca.
March
1815
[*Some
historians name him as Ed Greene and the death year as 1817 - research
is ongoing to determine his exact name, and from WVCPA research, the
event more likely occurred in the spring of 1815]
Harrison
Alexander
12
November 1797
ca.
March
1815
[Son
of Reuben and Mary Harrison]
Comments:
Above is a photo from
the road and the first gate - the Casto Cemetery is seen at the top of
the hill (see the taller, brown grass within the fenced area), and
almost directly below it in the photo on the far bank of the creek is
the rock that fell and pinned John Greene and Alexander Harrison (click
on photos to enlarge).
Below is a closer shot of the rock fall - note the somewhat level area
directly above the rock ledge - it may be here that John and Alexander
have their graves, or they may actually be farther up on the hill,
closer to the location of the Casto Cemetery.
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.
This little family cemetery is located on the
hill above a rocky outcropping along 18-Mile Creek that was the location of a
historic hunting tragedy in the region that occurred in March of 1815. It was here
that early settler John Greene and Alexander Harrison (the son of Reuben H.
Harrison) met with a slow and painful death on the banks of the creek as they
were pinned beneath a large slab of rock that had broken away above them as
they camped there. Though John's son Ned and Alexander's younger brother Zebulon
were with them (and were fortunate to have not been pinned by the rock fall), there was
little the two young men could do for the dying men. Ned (only a young lad of
10 or so) was suffering from a
broken leg, and young Zebulon (he was only 12 at the time) did what he could
to make the three injured men comfortable. Sadly, Alexander died soon after
from his injuries, and John would die three days later after a search party led
by Alexander and Zebulon's brother Josiah was able to free him from under the
slab of stone. It is told that the search party buried Alexander and
John
above the cave-in on a flat piece of ground above the rock ledge, not far from
the present-day Casto cemetery. When you look at the hillside above the rock
fall, you can picture where their burial location may be.
While
John and Alexander are not known to be buried in the Casto Cemetery proper, we
felt it appropriate that their names be listed here.
