Continue
process of identifying and photo-documenting cemeteries, including latitude & longitude,
for Mason, Jackson, & Putnam counties, now expanding to include
Greenbrier, Kanawha, Marion, Monongalia, Monroe and Wirt counties
through the work of WVCPA contributors across the country, as well as
work done by WVCPA staff personally.
Continue
the process of collecting photos and historic information of pioneer
churches in the Mason, Jackson, and Putnam Counties. Expand to cover ever-outward
counties from this central starting point. Post this information
on the web as soon as it is assembled.
Continue
to proactively respond to postings for help with cemetery preservation
or "rescue" on message boards at Ancestry.com and Genweb Genealogy
forums, and those received by email, phone or mail contact.
Continue
to maintain
contact with families with cemetery access and maintenance projects in
specific family cemeteries across the state.
Accomplished
Spring-Summer 2004:
Continued
process of developing the WVCPA website
Continued
process of identifying cemeteries, including latitude & longitude,
for Mason, Jackson, & Putnam counties, as well as any nearby or
associated pioneer church buildings. Expanded to cover ever-outward
counties from this central starting point. A basic listing of all
named cemeteries clearly identified by the USGS was posted for all WV
counties by end of calendar year 2004, meeting our goal.
Continued
reading & photo-documentation of the following cemeteries in Mason,
Putnam & Jackson Counties and posting on the WVCPA website: In focus
this Spring were Barnette-Ward, Big Spruce, Pine Grove (Leon) and Brown
Cemeteries in Mason Co.; Hicks, Mt. Zion Chapel, Walker Chapel, Centerpoint
and Big Cherry Cemeteries (among others) in Putnam Co.; and Mt. Olive
Chapel, Pleasant Hill, Mt. Moriah Church and Otterbein Cemeteries in Jackson
Co. Other cemetery photo surveys and readings from these three
counties, and other counties across the state, were received regularly from
our growing legion of "Tombstone paparazzi".
Continued
the process of collecting photos and historic information of pioneer
churches in the Mason, Jackson, and Putnam Counties. Expanded to cover ever-outward
counties from this central starting point. Posted this information
on the web as soon as it was assembled.
Continued
to proactively respond to postings for help with cemetery preservation
or "rescue" on message boards at Ancestry.com and Genweb Genealogy
forums.
Continued
to maintain
contact with families with cemetery access and maintenance projects in
specific family cemeteries across the state. In
particular, worked with C. Fielder of Mason Co., WV in encouraging the
volunteer effort to restore Brown and Welsh cemeteries of Hartford, Mason Co.,
WV. The first on-site work on the Brown Cemetery project
took place November 15, 2003, and Welsh Cemetery in April 2004. Watch this website for updates and
photos of the work accomplished. From this past Spring:
The
Brown Cemetery rescue will be continued on Saturday, April 24, 2004 from
9:00-3:00 or 4:00. Lunch will be provided. An energetic and
enthusiastic AmeriCorps team will be on site to help lead the volunteer
community effort.
Follow-up
Note: Due to greater need, and the fact that Brown Cemetery is doing pretty
well, the cemetery for the April 24 project day was changed to the nearby
Welsh (a.k.a. Hartford) Cemetery by the local coordinators. Be
watching on the Mason
County Cemetery page for a new page for Welsh Cemetery sometime this
summer.
Continued
tracking web site statistics to determine which aspects of the WVCPA site
are most frequently visited by guests, and which pages appear to be of the
most interest to our guests.
Accomplished
Winter
2003/2004:
Continue
process of developing the WVCPA website
Continue
process of identifying cemeteries, including latitude & longitude,
for Mason, Jackson, & Putnam counties, as well as any nearby or
associated pioneer church buildings. Expand to cover ever-outward
counties from this central starting point.
Continue
reading & photo-documentation of the following cemeteries in Mason
County and posting on the WVCPA website: Wolfe Valley, Kimberling-Sayre,
Myers, Smith Church, Baden Baptist, Riffle, Gray-Smith, and Promised Land.
October
2003: photographed over 500 tombstones in the above cemeteries. Locations and general conditions of numerous other family or
otherwise private cemeteries noted for future documenting. Work
continuing through the summer and early fall to edit the photos and post
them to the WVCPA website for researchers' use.
Continue
reading and photo-documentation of cemeteries in Parchment Valley, Jackson
County.
October
2003: photo surveys done of Given Cemetery, Pleasant Hill Cemetery, and Mt. Moriah Church
Cemetery, over 500 photos taken.
Photos currently being edited and pages being constructed. Completed photo survey
of Rock Springs Cemetery. See WV Cemeteries
link below to view web pages for each as editing work is completed.
Begin
the process of collecting photos and historic information of pioneer
churches in the Mason, Jackson, and Putnam Counties. Expand to cover ever-outward
counties from this central starting point. Post this information
on the web as soon as it is assembled.
In
progress - many new cemetery pages have been added over the winter months.
Continue
to more proactively respond to postings for help with cemetery preservation
or "rescue" on message boards at Ancestry.com and Genweb Genealogy
forums.
Being
done actively.
Continue
to maintain
contact with families with cemetery access and maintenance projects in
specific family cemeteries in Kanawha County and Mason County. In
particular, working with C. Fielder of Mason Co., WV in encouraging the
volunteer effort to begin to restore Brown Cemetery of Hartford, Mason Co.,
WV to its original grandeur. The first on-site work on this project
took place November 15, 2003. Watch this website for updates and
photos of the work accomplished.
The
Brown Cemetery rescue will be continued on Saturday, April 24, 2004 from
9:00-3:00 or 4:00. Lunch will be provided. An energetic and
enthusiastic AmeriCorps team will be on site to help lead the volunteer
community effort.
Begin
tracking web site statistics to determine which aspects of the WVCPA site
are most frequently visited by guests, and which pages appear to be of the
most interest to our guests.
Being
done - hence the "WebStat" logos at the bottom of each web page,
which provide us with counts of unique hits (viewings) of each web page.
Pursue
membership in the National Trust for Historic Preservation for WVCPA, in
addition to the existing membership with the Buffalo Historical
Society. Look into other opportunities for encouraging local
historical and preservation-oriented organizations in the Mason- Putnam- and
Jackson County areas, near where we have chosen to establish our permanent
office.
December
2003 - WVCPA joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the
Upper Vandalia Historical Society.
Recent
Activities (archive):
Read
& photo-document the Withers-Harbour Cemetery (Mason County, Clendenin
District) & photograph nearby Mud Run Chapel (reportedly being used as
storage building). Report on its condition following winter storms to
family contact in Ohio.
May
2003:This was completed by a descendant of those buried there. There
is still more work to be done to fully restore this cemetery, but it is well
underway, thanks to a great crew of family volunteers that fought the
chiggers and the underbrush one day in July to start the process of bringing
this cemetery back to life. See photos of the cemetery at its page via the
WV Cemeteries link below, listed under Mason County cemeteries.
Continued/completed
reading & photo-documentation of the following cemeteries in Mason
County: Wolfe Valley, Kimberling-Sayre, Harrison graves & Hill Cemetery
in Elmwood, Smith Church, Sayre, Leon, Baden Baptist and Promised Land.
May
2003: photographed over 1000 tombstones in the some of the above cemeteries
and more. Locations and general conditions of numerous other family or
otherwise private cemeteries noted for future documenting. Work
continuing through the summer and early fall to edit the photos and post
them to the WVCPA website for researchers' use.
Continued
reading & photo documentation of the following cemeteries in Putnam
County: Emma Chapel, Walker Chapel and Buffalo Memorial. Posting to Web.
See
note above. Did a complete photo survey of Emma Chapel Cemetery, Martin
Cemetery, and Manila Chapel Cemetery, and at least 100 photos at Walker
Chapel Cemetery. Partial photo survey done of Rock Spring
Cemetery, southeast of Emma Chapel on Dog Fork. See WV Cemeteries
link below to view web pages for each as editing work is completed.
Start
reading and photo-documentation of cemeteries in Parchment Valley, Jackson
County.
Partial
photo surveys done of Given Cemetery and Mt. Moriah Church Cemetery.
Photos currently being edited and pages being constructed.
Evaluate
possible locations of a permanent West Virginia office.
Looking
to settle in southern Mason County. Just have to find jobs to transfer
to! The search continues...
