WestVirginiaCemeteryPreservationAssociation

Cemetery Reading

Cemetery Name:

Gillispie Family 

No photos available

County: Putnam
USGS Quad: Winfield
Coordinates: 38.nnnnºN  81.nnnnºW - no longer in existence
Maintained by: no longer maintained
Land owner: State of West Virginia
Date added to WVCPA register: February 2007
Condition of cemetery**: Destroyed (May 2007)
Accessibility: This cemetery was located in the path of the new roadbed for Route 35 highway and the graves have be relocated out of harms way by the WV Division of Highways. While this is a listing of the cemetery as it was originally catalogued, where known, relocation sites for each of the graves will be noted as soon as they are identified.
** 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/Notes: Photo: Source:
Gillispie Roland 1839 1911 [Son of William and Mary Gillispie - Civil War veteran of the 7th WVa Cavalry.  His grave was relocated to the Civil War section of Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington, WV on May 12, 2007 with a Civil War burial ceremony - for information on that, see the Comments section below]   Source: WVCPA contributor and Gillispie family researcher
Gillispie William   9 July 1855 [Buried in an unmarked grave - died of small pox]   Source: WVCPA contributor and Gillispie family researcher
Gillispie Preston   3 June 1855 [Buried in an unmarked grave - died of small pox]   Source: WVCPA contributor and Gillispie family researcher
Gillispie Mary   20 February 1863 [Buried in an unmarked grave]   Source: WVCPA contributor and Gillispie family researcher
Roach Lillie Mae 1894 1968 [Dau. of George W. and Missouri (Gillispie - not this line) Poar - wife of Elmer Clay Roach, the son of John William and Rose Ann (Quinn) Roach, Rose Ann being the dau. of Hugh and Martha (Gillispie) Quinn]   Source: WVCPA contributor and Gillispie family researcher
Quinn Ira S. 1877 9 July 1878 [Children of William Hugh and Mary Elizabeth (Handshaw) Quinn - William was the son of Hugh and Martha (Gillispie) Quinn and grandson of William Gillispie]   Source: WVCPA contributor and Gillispie family researcher
Quinn Sona C. 1886 13 March 1895

 

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.

The following are notes received from a Gillispie family researcher 

The cemetery in question is located on property purchased by William & Mary Gillispie in 1846. William Gillispie was my 3rd great grandfather. 
I first visted the cemtery over ten years ago. There are only 4 marked
graves in the cemetery, they are: Roland Gillispie, Lillie Mae Roach & Sona C. & Ira S. Quinn. Roland Gillispie was the son of William Gillispie and is not buried in the main area of the cemetery. His grave is located to left and just down the hill from the main body of the cemetery. Roland was b. 1839 / d. 1911. Sona C. & Ira S. Quinn are the children of William Hugh & Mary Elizabeth (Handshaw) Quinn. Sona & Ira share a marker. Sona was b. 1886 / d. 1895. Ira was b. 1877 / d. 1878. William Hugh Quinn was the son of Hugh & Martha (Gillispie) Quinn and the grandson of William Gillispie. Lillie Mae (Poar) Roach was the daughter of George W. & Missouri (Gillispie) Poar. Missouri Gillispie was the daughter of David & Catherine (Davis) Gillispie and is not of William Gillispie's line, a different set of Gillispies. Lillie Mae's connection is through her husband, Elmer Clay Roach. Elmer was the son of John William & Rose Ann (Quinn) Roach. Rose Ann Quinn was the daughter of Hugh & Martha (Gillispie) Quinn & the grandaughter of William Gillispie. Lillie Mae Roach was b. 1894 / d. 1968.
In 1846 William & Mary Gillispie purchased 472 acres from John Bowyer. They sold 72 acres to William Jones in 1847. The cemetery is located about 120 yards just up the hill from the site where William Gillispie's home once stood. There are maybe 20 graves in the entire cemetery. William died 9 July 1855 of small pox. His son Preston Gillispie died 3 June 1855 also of small pox, both are buried in the cemetery, graves unmarked. After his death William's property was divided among his children & wife Mary, with each child & Mary receiving approx. a 36 acre tract. Mary Gillispie died 20 Feb. 1863 and is buried here. Her 36 acres was sold by her children in 1866 to William Handshaw. This deed leaves a quarter acre provision for the cemetery.

In addition to Lillie Mae Poar marrying Elmer Clay Roach there are a couple more intermarriages between the Gillispies & Roaches. Rose Ann Quinn married John William Roach, son of George & Sarah (Davis) Roach, 28 Dec 1877. George Harrison Roach, son of George & Sarah (Davis) Roach, married Lelia A. Gillispie, daughter of James McFarland & Peachy (Taylor) Gillispie, 3 July 1884. Henrietta "Nettie" Roach, daughter of George & Sarah (Davis) Roach, married Bryant Dickinson Gillispie, son of James McFarland & Peachy (Taylor) Gillispie, 7 Oct. 1897.

While there is sometimes confusion in the name of this cemetery, the Roach family never owned or lived on the property on which this cemetery is located. I do not believe that George & Sarah Roach are buried in this cemetery. Perhaps because of Lillie Mae Roach's grave being marked here, there arose the confusion as to who might actually be buried here and the "Gillispie/Roach Cemetery" name has also become attributed to this cemetery. There is however a "Roach Family Cemetery" located a few miles away just off Hurricane Creek Road. 

The following is from an article printed in the Gallipolis Tribune regarding the re-burial of Roland Gillispie's remains - a ceremony befitting a Civil War veteran:

Local group will lead Civil War soldier's reburial
Monday, April 23, 2007 6:08 PM EDT

GALLIPOLIS - The path of progress of the new U.S. 35 through Putnam
County, W.Va., recently found an unusual obstacle that the West Virginia
Division of Highways had to manage - an old cemetery containing a Union
Civil War soldier, Pvt. Roland Gillispie.

The Gillispie Cemetery, or by some called the Roach Cemetery, lies
directly in the path of the new highway.

Gillispie, of Company F of the Seventh West Virginia Cavalry, will be
reburied with military honors in the Springhill Cemetery at Huntington
on May 12. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in front of the
Ferrell-Chambers Funeral Home in Huntington. The public is invited to view the
procession and pay respects to Gillispie and veterans of all wars.

The Sons of Union Veterans is a national, state and local organization
dedicated to honoring and remembering the sacrifices of the men and
women of the American Civil War. The ceremony is under the direction of
the Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 of the SUVCW in Gallipolis, along with
Matthew Chambers of the Ferrell-Chambers Funeral Home.

The ceremony will consist of a horse-drawn hearse, circa 1900, provided
by Schneider-Griffin Funeral Home of Chesapeake. The hearse will be
driven by Bill Archibald of Briar Patch Stables, Clendenin, W.Va., with
twin Golden Percheron horses.

The procession will form in front of Ferrell-Chambers Funeral Home,
20th Street and Ninth Avenue, and proceed to Springhill Cemetery. Leading
the hearse will be an honor guard, carrying the SUVCW flag along with a
34-star Union Flag, and Civil War military re-enactors, all led by a
fife and drum unit.

Following the hearse will be the casket honor guard, the descendents of
Gillispie, along with ladies in mourning. This will make up the rest of
the procession. Upon reaching the cemetery, the simple pine box casket
with rope handles will be removed from the hearse and placed over the
grave.

The casket will be draped with a 34-star flag and will be folded and
presented to Joyce Saunders, the great-granddaughter of Pvt. Gillispie.
The ceremony is taken from the 1890 Ritual & Ceremonies Manual of the
Sons of Union Veterans.

The Cadot-Blessing camp chaplain will speak along with Junior Vice
Commander Henry Myers Sr., Vice Commander Roger Caldwell and Commander
James Oiler. Leila McClintock will provide period violin music. Military
Commander of the Brigade will be Ron McClintock.

Oiler will introduce Robert Leith, instructor in history of the Ohio
University Southern Campus, for remarks about the Civil War. Christopher
Saunders, great-great-grandson of Pvt. Gillispie, will read the eulogy.

The firing of the salute will be by Battery L of the Ohio Light
Artillery Regiment along with other artillery, about six cannons in all, and
firing of muskets by the various infantry units in rank.

Ken Freshly, the Ohio Department commander of the SUVCW, will present a
wreath in honor of all the Union soldiers of this conflict.

The Cadot-Blessing Camp has issued its thanks to the city of Huntington
for its cooperation, Oiler said.

“We also would like to thank Ivan Kapp of the West Virginia
Department of highways, Sen. Robert Byrd's office, Ferrell-Chambers Funeral
Home, Schneider-Griffin Funeral Home, Briar Patch Stables and the
Guyandotte Civil War Committee, Madie Carroll House Preservation Society Inc.and
John Belcher of the Huntington Historical Preservation Commission, Ohio
Department of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and to all
the re-enactors for making this ceremony possible,” Oiler said.

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