Indian Mound Cemetery

Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States.^[1][2] The cemetery is centered on a Hopewellian mound, known as the Romney Indian Mound.^[3][4] Indian Mound Cemetery is also the site of Fort Pearsall, the Confederate Memorial, Parsons Bell Tower, and reinterments from Romney's Old Presbyterian Cemetery. The cemetery is currently owned and maintained by the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.^[1][4]

Indian Mound Cemetery
Indian Mound Cemetery entrance along U.S. Route 50
Details
Established	1859
Location	Romney, West Virginia
Country	United States
Coordinates	39°20′33″N 78°45′57″W / 39.3425909°N 78.7658481°W / 39.3425909; -78.7658481
Type	Private
Owned by	Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.
No. of graves	>2,500
Find a Grave	Indian Mound Cemetery
The Political Graveyard	Indian Mound Cemetery

Indian Mound Cemetery is the burial site of two governors of West Virginia, a United States House Representative, a United States Secretary of the Army, an owner of the Washington Redskins, and descendants of the family of George Washington.^[5]

Days before the 150th anniversary of the Confederate Monument's dedication was to be observed, it was vandalized.^[6] The vandalism read "reparations now", and was done using black spray paint. The damage to the monument has since been repaired.^[7]

History

 

Romney Indian Mound

Romney Indian Mound

Physical description

The Romney Indian mound is a burial mound that measures 7 feet (2.1 m) in height and approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter, according to the site marker. Since this marker was erected, further research indicates the mound has been opened at some point in the past.^[1] It is the largest of the remaining mounds discovered in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.^[1][4] The Romney Indian Mound is representative of thousands of small Middle and Late Woodland burial mounds that occurred throughout much of eastern North America.^[3] Throughout its history, the Romney Indian Mound has traditionally been covered in pine trees,^[8] of which several remain as of 2010. ^[9]

Origins

The Romney Indian Mound was constructed at what was once the crossroads of the Shawnee Trail, running north and south, and the east-west Indian Road (later the Northwestern Turnpike and U.S. Route 50) leading to the Allegheny Mountains.^[1][4][10]

The original owner of the mound, David Gibson, gave the site to the city of Romney on the condition that the mound would not be disturbed.^[1][4] For this reason, the city has never allowed the mound to be excavated.^[1][4] The Smithsonian Institution suggests the Romney Indian Mound possibly dates from between 500 and 1000 CE given the ages of similar mounds it excavated in the Eastern Panhandle.^[1][4] The mound was likely constructed by peoples of the Hopewell culture, who resided within West Virginia between 500 BC and 1,000 CE.^[1][4]

The Romney Indian Mound is perhaps the only accessible mound east of the Allegheny Mountains that has been preserved.^[10] This is mostly due in part to both its location high above the flood plain of the South Branch Potomac River and that it was never plowed over.^[10]

Indian Mound Cemetery Company and Association

Several years prior to the onset of the American Civil War, Romney's Old Presbyterian Cemetery at Gravel Lane and High Street had become full and the city of Romney sought to procure a larger tract for a new spacious cemetery.^[8]

Indian Mound Cemetery was incorporated by an act of the Virginia General Assembly around 1859.^[1] The land was conveyed to the Indian Mound Cemetery Company by David Gibson on May 31, 1860.^[1] The land conveyed by Gibson had previously been a tract of his nearby Sycamore Dale plantation. The cemetery's original design consisted of two plats: the higher plat around the Romney Indian Mound and the lower plat above Sulphur Spring Run reserved for the burials of African Americans.^[1] The latter separated from Indian Mound Cemetery and became known as the Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery, which is currently maintained by the Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church.

On May 22, 1869, a meeting was held at the Hampshire County Courthouse to elect a board of directors of the Indian Mound Cemetery Company.^[1] The company operated the cemetery until it was incorporated by the state of West Virginia on August 25, 1925, as the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.^[1] The association has been administered by a self-perpetuating board of directors since 1925.^[1]

On October 6, 1925, an additional five acres to the north were purchased by the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc. from Hiram C. and Katie Feidner Cooper.^[1][11]

American Civil War

 

Confederate Memorial

Battle of Romney

Due to its strategic location on a bluff commanding views of the South Branch Potomac River, the Romney Covered Bridge, and the Northwestern Turnpike for half a mile, Indian Mound Cemetery was an important lookout position during the American Civil War.^{[8][12][13][14]} On October 22, 1861, Union Army General Scott ordered General Benjamin Franklin Kelley to concentrate his forces at New Creek (now known as Keyser) and attack and capture Romney.^[8] Kelley left New Creek early on the morning of October 27 and the Confederate States Army at Romney began preparations for his arrival.^{[8][12][13][14]} The Confederates planted a twelve-pound rifle cannon and a mountain howitzer in Indian Mound Cemetery ready to fire at the lead of the Union Army column as it emerged from Mechanicsburg Gap in Mill Creek Mountain.^{[8][12][13][14]} The Union forces drove in and advanced to Indian Mound Cemetery where the Confederate forces made a stand and opened fire on the Federals with the twelve-pound rifle cannon and the mountain howitzer.^[12][13][14] A severe cannonade took place between the artillery of both the Union and Confederate forces for an hour.^[15]

Burials

Also during the American Civil War, Indian Mound Cemetery was used as a burial ground by both Union and Confederate armies.^[1] The majority of soldiers killed in the vicinity of Romney were buried in blankets in the cemetery, many whose names are unknown.^[1] Captain Richard Ashby, the brother of Confederate General Turner Ashby, was interred with all the honors of war under a giant oak tree on July 4, 1861, in Indian Mound Cemetery shortly after his death at nearby Washington Bottom Farm on July 3 from wounds received in a skirmish on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.^{[5][8][16][17][18]} Turner Ashby attended his brother's funeral at Indian Mound Cemetery where his behavior was described in Edward A. Pollard's Southern History of the War as touching:^[17][18]

He stood over the grave, took his brother's sword, broke it and threw it into the opening; clasped his hands and looked upward as if in resignation; and then, pressing his lips as if in the bitterness of grief, while a tear rolled down his cheek, he turned without a word, mounted his horse and rode away. Thenceforth his name was a terror to the enemy.^[17][18]

Ashby's body was removed from the cemetery to Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia, in October 1862 where it was reinterred next to Ashby's brother General Turner Ashby.^{[5][8][16][17][18]} Their grave is marked "The Brothers Ashby."^[5][16]

Confederate Memorial

See also: Confederate Memorial (Romney, West Virginia)

The Confederate Memorial was erected by local ladies in honor of Hampshire County's Confederate dead and dedicated in Indian Mound Cemetery on September 26, 1867.^[1][19][20] It is considered one of the oldest, if not the first, permanent memorials to Confederate dead in the United States.^{[1][10][19][20]}

Notable interments

 

Grave of Governor John J. Cornwell and his wife Edna Brady Cornwell

• Stephen Ailes (1912–2001), United States Secretary of the Army^[21][22]
• James Dillon Armstrong (1821–1893), Virginia state senator and West Virginia circuit court judge^[21][23]
• William Armstrong (1782–1865), United States House Representative^[21][24]
• John Rinehart Blue (1905–1965), West Virginia House Delegate and School for the Deaf principal at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB)^[21][25]
• William C. Clayton (1831–1915), West Virginia state senator^[21][26][27]
• Edna Brady Cornwell (1868–1958), First Lady of West Virginia^[21][28]
• John J. Cornwell (1867–1953), 15th Governor of West Virginia^[21]
• Marshall S. Cornwell (1871–1898), newspaper editor and publisher, poet, and author^[21][29]
• William B. Cornwell (1864–1926), railroad and timber executive^[21]
• John Collins Covell (1823–1887), WVSDB principal^[21]
• Dr. William Henry Foote (1794–1869), Presbyterian clergyman and historian^[30][31]
• Henry Bell Gilkeson (1850–1921), West Virginia state senator, West Virginia house delegate, WVSDB principal, and Hampshire County Schools superintendent^[30]
• John Jeremiah Jacob (1757–1839), first ordained Methodist minister in Hampshire County^[30]
• John J. Jacob (1829–1893), 4th Governor of West Virginia^[30]
• Howard Hille Johnson (1846–1913), WVSDB founder and educator^[30]
• James Sloan Kuykendall (1878–1928), West Virginia House Delegate^[32]
• George Preston Marshall (1896–1969), owner and president of the Washington Redskins^[32]
• Gilbert Proctor Miller (1866–1927), orchardist; founder of Hampshire County's fruit industry
• Alexander W. Monroe (1817–1905), Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates and Confederate States Army officer^[32]
• George William Washington (1809–1876), gentleman farmer and diarist^[5][32]
• Christian Streit White (1839–1917), Clerk of Court for Hampshire County^[32]
• John Baker White (1868–1944), Military officer and West Virginia Board of Control member^[32]
• Robert White (1876–1935), Prosecuting Attorney for Hampshire County and West Virginia State Senator^[32]
• Joshua Soule Zimmerman (1874–1962), West Virginia House Delegate, Hampshire County Prosecuting Attorney, and orchardist^[32]

Image gallery

•  
  Iron fence at the entrance
•  
  Entrance gate and Parsons Bell Tower
•  
  Parsons Bell Tower
•  
  Parsons Bell Tower
•  
  Caretaker's residence
•  
  Romney Indian Mound
•  
  Indian Mound Cemetery and U.S. Route 50 in 1942
•  
  Unknown Confederate graves, decorated for Confederate Memorial Day
•  
  Gravestones at Indian Mound Cemetery
•  
  Confederate Memorial
•  
  Confederate Memorial detail
•  
  Old Fort Pearsall historical marker
•  
  New Fort Pearsall historical marker
•  
  Washington family plot
•  
  Grave of Gilbert Proctor Miller, founder of Hampshire County's fruit industry
•  
  View of Mill Creek Mountain and the South Branch Potomac River
•  
  Harmison family marker

See also

• List of historic sites in Hampshire County, West Virginia
• List of Hopewell sites
• Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery

References

1. Kerns, Wilmer L.; Virginia Pancake; Roberta R. Munske; Hampshire County 250th Anniversary Committee (W. Va.) (2004), Hampshire County, West Virginia 1754–2004, Romney, West Virginia: The Hampshire County 250th Anniversary Committee, ISBN 0971573824, from the original on January 1, 2014{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. Cartmell, T. K. (1989), Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia from Its Formation in 1738 to 1908, Heritage Books, ISBN 1556132433, from the original on June 10, 2016
3. McDonald, Jerry N.; Susan L. Woodward (1987). McDonald & Woodward guide to the American landscape: Indian mounds of the Atlantic Coast: a guide to sites from Maine to Florida. McDonald & Woodward Pub. Co. ISBN 0939923033. from the original on January 3, 2014.
4. Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc. A Brief History of Indian Mound Cemetery. Romney, West Virginia: Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.
5. Wayland, John W. (1998). The Washingtons and Their Homes. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 0806347759. from the original on February 7, 2011.
6. Review Staff, "Monument Vandalized at Indian Mound" October 18, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Hampshire Review, September 18, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
7. WV Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, "Post" December 18, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Facebook, September 24, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
8. Maxwell, Hu; Howard Llewellyn Swisher (1897). History of Hampshire County, West Virginia. Morgantown, West Virginia: A. B. Boughner.
9. "Indian Mound Cemetery". from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
10. Morrison, Charles (1971). Wappatomaka: A Survey of the History and Geography of the South Branch Valley. Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company. ISBN 0-87012-107-3. from the original on July 27, 2014.
11. Singhal, Cheryl (1996), Hampshire County WVGenWeb Project: Indian Mound Cemetery, from the original on August 1, 2010, retrieved April 19, 2010
12. Stephens, Anna Sophia (1866), Pictorial History of the War for the Union: A Complete and Reliable History of the War from Its Commencement to Its Close ... Together with a Complete Chronological Analysis of the War, B.W. Hitchcock, from the original on December 18, 2017
13. Moore, Frank; Edward Everett (1862), The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc. Volume 3, G.P. Putnam, from the original on December 18, 2017
14. Bishop, John Soast (1864), A Concise History of the War, C. O. Perrine, from the original on December 18, 2017
15. Poland, Charles P. Jr. (2004), The Glories of War: Small Battle and Early Heroes of 1861, AuthorHouse, ISBN 978-1-4184-4067-1, from the original on June 24, 2016
16. Loretta Brinker; Katherine Jourdan (2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Washington Bottom Farm" (PDF). West Virginia Division of Culture and History, State Historic Preservation Office. (PDF) from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
17. Casler, John Overton (1906), Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade, Appeal Publishing Company, from the original on December 18, 2017
18. Pollard, Edward Alfred (1866), Southern History of the War, Volume 1, C. B. Richardson, from the original on May 15, 2016
19. Brannon, Selden W., ed. (1976). Historic Hampshire: A Symposium of Hampshire County and Its People, Past and Present. Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company. ISBN 978-0870122361. OCLC 3121468.
20. Johnson, Clint (1999), Touring the Backroads Series: Touring Virginia's and West Virginia's Civil War Sites, John F. Blair, ISBN 978-0895871848, from the original on January 3, 2014
21. "Indian Mound Cemetery, "A" through "C"". HistoricHampshire.org. HistoricHampshire.org, Charles C. Hall. from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
22. Barnes, Bart (July 6, 2001). "Stephen Ailes Dies". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
23. "Judge Armstrong Dead". Hampshire Review. Romney, West Virginia. September 7, 1893. p. 5. from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023 – via Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Mary F. Shipper Library, West Virginia Newspapers.
24. . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress Joint Committee on Printing and United States Government Publishing Office. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
25. "Prominent Citizen, John R. Blue, Dies Suddenly May 27". Hampshire Review. Romney, West Virginia. June 2, 1965. p. 1. from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023 – via Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Mary F. Shipper Library, West Virginia Newspapers.
26. "Memorial to Wm. C. Clayton: Adopted by the Mineral County Bar Association". Keyser Tribune. Keyser, West Virginia. April 30, 1915. p. 1. from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023 – via Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Mary F. Shipper Library, West Virginia Newspapers.
27. "Keyser's Grand Old Man Passes Away". Mineral Daily News. Keyser, West Virginia. March 11, 1915. p. 1. from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023 – via Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Mary F. Shipper Library, West Virginia Newspapers.
28. "Mrs. John J. Cornwell Died Monday". Hampshire Review. Romney, West Virginia. December 3, 1958. p. 1. from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023 – via Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Mary F. Shipper Library, West Virginia Newspapers.
29. Lewis, Virgil Anson (1904), History and Government of West Virginia, American Book Company, from the original on December 18, 2017
30. "Indian Mound Cemetery, "D" through "J"". HistoricHampshire.org. HistoricHampshire.org, Charles C. Hall. from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
31. Wayland, John Walter (1980), A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia, Genealogical Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0806380117, from the original on January 1, 2014
32. McGahuey, Wayne; Hall, Charles C. (February 2, 2008), The Cemeteries of Hampshire County, WV: Indian Mound Cemetery, Romney, WV, from the original on May 14, 2011, retrieved April 19, 2010

External links

•   Media related to Indian Mound Cemetery (Romney, West Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons
• Indian Mound Cemetery Inventory
• WVGenWeb Indian Mound Cemetery Page
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Indian Mound Cemetery
• Indian Mound Cemetery at Find a Grave