The
cemetery is located on Sycamore Road south of Hurricane off Rt. 34 (see map
coordinates above for exact location). The cemetery is easily accessible.
** 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:
Brown
Mack
13
September 1870
10
January 1842
Collins
Abigail Warner
ca.
1809
April
1876
[Wife
of John Collins - see addition source information below]
Excerpt
from a 1948 Fizer family history c ompilation by Sylvia Rice Sowards:
"...Well, later on she was visiting relatives in Ceredo, W. Va. And
was stricken with heart attack while she and a little girl were watching
boats sail up and down the Ohio River, so Uncle Ben Griffith tells me.
This is in the month of April, 1876 while Uncle Ben and his mother were
living at the old Buck Thompson place now owned by Uncle Lum Fizer, and
Grandfather Mose was then living at the Charley Burdette farm then owned
by the Kirtley's. He got Cal Thompson, (Frank's father) a minister to
meet the train at Hurricane and bring the corpse out to Sycamore for
burial at the old cemetery above Nye or below the Mattie Smith place.
Grandfather Mose was following the wagon. Uncle
Peter Fizer was riding on the wagon with Mr. Thompson, Uncle Ben's
mother, Mrs. Griffith inquires of grandfather, "Who is the
corpse?" He advised her that it was his grandmother, Mrs. Abigail
Collins. They proceeded on their way to the cemetery, stopping for a
short time at her son's home, Peter Fizer, then living at the Clay
Mitchell place. That will be 71 years ago this April. Her body was laid
to rest with no mark or trace of her grave established."
Neil
Evaline (Smith)
17
December 1862
12
November 1941
"Aged
79 Yrs 10 Mos 25 Ds"
[Wife of Charley Neil, dau. of James & Anna Lakeman Smith]
Pratt
Mary Melvina
29 November 1849
11
November 1882
"Wife
of Joseph A. Pratt"
"Aged 32Ys. 11Ms. 13ds"
"Meet Me In Heaven"
"How ____ the___" [rest is illegible in photo]
Smith
Almeda
10
August 1929
[Dau.
of James and Anna Lakeman Smith - 82 (83?) years of age (not legible)]
Smith
Oat
31
October 1925
[ca.
46 years of age]
Along
with several unmarked graves, and graves marked with fieldstones.
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.
WVCPA thanks our contributor and cemetery
clean-up volunteer, Melissa Fizer Conley and her family for their photos of
this cemetery and dedicated interest in its care. We look forward to more
information and photos for this cemetery as they become available. Thank you,
Melissa!
April 2009 update from Melissa:
"We
found the headstone for Mary Melvina Pratt, wife of Joseph, and we have
cleaned the stone & reset it. Smith looks like a more proper cemetery now!
Unfortunately, we continue to clean trash (of ALL kinds) from the site. I
hope that the tombstone will register with folks, I know the small sign I
had placed didn't seem to do the trick."
Photo Gallery of the Rescue of this Cemetery (click on images below to view in larger format)
<< The cemetery, as seen from Sycamore Road - Rt. 34 S.
runs
parallel at the bottom of the hill - the photo on the left
was taken before
the Conley family started the clean-up
efforts.
The same area after much of the
clean-up work was done >>
<< Again, before the clean-up...
...and
afterwards: what a phenomenal improvement!
Well-done, Conley and Fizer families! >>
<<
Another "before" photo
Brandy
Bird Fizer, hard at work with the trash >>
<<
Brandy's husband Dana, manning the chain saw
The Conley family on their way
home for a well-deserved
break after all their hard work >>
<<
Smith Cemetery hasn't looked this good in a very, very
long time!
Melissa putting some elbow grease
into the winter's pile
of leaves and brush covering the cemetery -
great job, Melissa! >>