Another "lost" Cemetery Found!

Indiana Bones our resident "cemetery geek" has found yet another "lost" cemetery.  Well, it was not exactly lost... it was just unknown to a large group of family members that did not know it even existed until just very recently.  Indiana did not go on a field trip to stand in the cemetery, but he did find a great land plat online showing the plat of the property and the cemetery.  The cemetery is also long distance in Chatham County, North Carolina.

As many of you know Indiana Bones is my alter-ego that is far more adventurous than I am... it is like Superman and the mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent!  Putting it another way, when Indiana gets involved things get done.  This West Cemetery is listed on Find-A-Grave and was visited back in 1990.  Here is some of the info that Indiana found:
065    WEST [D54.1]
Location - Hadley Township. 1500 feet south of SR 1547, Rock Rest Road, 1.3 miles east of SR 1520, Old NC 87
Coordinates: 35d 48m 17.0s N; 79d 11m 31.0s W Click here for Google maps
On 14 July 1990, the cemetery was visited by Will Heiser, with David and Judith Peterson, property owners, Jerry and Cathy Markatos, neighbors, and Lamont Norwood. On 2 February 2000, Judith Peterson sent to Will Heiser a transcription of the grave markers with supplemental information on dates and family relationships furnished by Dr. C. Nash Herndon, a descendant of the West and Mann families.
Owner: David W. and Judith S. Peterson.
Legal Description: Deed 556-75, 27 Mar 1990, Plat 90-13, 12 Jan 1990.
Topo Quadrant: Bynum.
Family owned: Yes.
Abandoned: Yes.
Number of graves: 30.
Cemetery size: 70' x 100'.
White: Yes.
Restricted access: Yes. Accompanied by owner
Overgrown and easy to identify: Yes.
Not identified explanation: Current owners plan to maintain.
Enclosed: No.
Enclosed conditions: Evidence of old cedar gate posts.
Markers: Yes.
Markers with inscriptions: Yes.
Number of readable markers: 17.
Last burial: 1885.
First burial: 1814.
Markers damaged: Yes.
Damage from vandalism: Yes.
Other damage explanation: Weathering of soapstone.
Significant events: Original West plantation dating from 1780s.
Miscellaneous information: Dr. C. Nash Herndon, Winston-Salem is descendant of Mann and West families.


Curl, Jean (West)   (b. 14 Jul 1789 - d. 19 Jun 1814)
Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. 5th child. Location row 2. column 5.
Durham, Cynthia Jane (West)   (b. 8 Aug 1834 - d. 23 May 1857)
1st Wife of Sidney Franklin Durham. Daughter of Isaac and Sabra Petty West (7th child). "The spirit is not dead though low the body lies buried from pain and sorrow to dwell beyond the skies. Meet me in Heaven.". Location row 2. column 4.
Durham, D. E.   (b. 16 Jul 1870 - d. 30 Jul 1870)
Child of Dicea Lucinda West and Sidney Franklin Durham. Footstone: DED. Location row 2. column 1.
Durham, Dicea Lucinda (West)   (b. 11 Jun 1838 - d. 17 Jul 1870)
2nd Wife of Sidney Franklin Durham. Daughter of Isaac and Sabra (Petty) West (8th child). Location row 2. column 2.
Durham, Sidney Franklin   (b. 16 Apr 1833 - d. )
Husband of Cynthia Jane West and Dicea Lucinda West Durham. Location row 2. column 3.
Mann, Isaac H.   (b. 12 Apr 1815 - d. 2 Jun 1848)
Footstone: IHM. Location row 1. column 7.
Mann, John Jones   (b. 21 Mar 1790 - d. 13 Jul 1875)
Husband of Karenhappuch (West) Mann. Son of Roland and Barbara Holstein Mann. Footstone: JJM. Location row 1. column 8.
Mann, John W.   (b. 9 Aug 1827 - d. 1 Nov 1862)
Footstone: JWM. Location row 1. column 5.
Mann, Karen Happuch (West)   (b. 5 Jun 1797 - d. 16 Jul 1856)
Wife of John Jones Mann. Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. "Happy". Location row 1. column 7.
Perry, Kezia (West)   (b. 4 Feb 1792 - d. 30 May 1814)
Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. 6th child. Location row 2. column 6.
Powell, Lucy (West)   (b. 14 Mar 1779 - d. 2 Jul 1824)
Wife of Obed Powell. Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West (1st child). Location row 2. column 7.
West, Ignatius   (b. 13 Dec 1750 - d. 1 Jun 1831)
Husband of Elizabeth Meacham West. Son of Thomas, Sr. and Lucy West.
West, Ira   (b. 16 Jun 1821 - d. 24 May 1852)
Husband of Susan Dark. 2nd child of Isaac and Sabra Petty West. "Blessed are the dead which die in he Lord from henceforth yea sayeth the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them. Rev. XIV:13.". Location row 1. column 3.
West, Isaac   (b. 11 Oct 1794 - d. 28 Oct 1862)
Husband of Sabra (Petty) West. Son of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. Location row 1. column 2.
West, Kezia   (b. 10 Feb 1830 - d. 13 Nov 1853)
Child of Isaac and Sabra Petty West. 6th child. Location row 1. column 4.
West, Sabra Petty   (b. 7 Mar 1796 - d. 2 Sep 1885)
Wife of Isaac West. Location row 1. column 1.
West, William H.   (b. 16 Oct 1856 - d. 28 Apr 1857)
Son of Jesse B. and Julia (Petty) West. Footstone: WHW. Hand lettered. Location row 3. column 4.
Ignatius West (marked in blue above) was born in 1750 and died in1831 was a brother to Thomas West, Jr. and Richard West (along with other siblings).  A cousin Ron Roy & Indiana Bones worked together, online, to put this all together.  [Ron is a descendant of Richard West.]  Ron found several of the deeds where Ignatius West owned the property (it is in metes & bounds, which is much harder to use, especially 200 years later).  Then using a handy topographic map of Hadley Township (Bynum, NC) we could easily see where Dry Creek empties into Haw River as the deed describes.  This map shows a high area (hill) that is about where the plat shows the cemetery to be.  A search on Google Maps shows the area to be covered by trees.

- Reported by Indiana Bones

"Darrah's Genealogical Seminar at Willard Library"

' Yesterday, I attended a genealogical seminar at Willard Library where a fellow Indiana Society SAR member, Ron Darrah, presented two programs on immigration routes into the Midwest & Indiana. He mentioned "National Roads" that made migration easier. He suggested reading William Dollarhide's "Map Guide to American Routes, 1735-1815" (published in 1997). Afterwards, I decided to check out this book of Dollarhide's (I have his U.S. Census book for 1790 to 1920 showing county changes). This is what I learned about one road that clearly links a strong probability of how my WEST family came to Granville Co., NC. During the decade of the 1740's, the water transportation routes were no longer adequate to gain access to new farming areas. The upgrading of trading trails to full-fledged roads for wagon traffic was necessary. Filling this need was the Upper Road which began at Fredericksburg, VA (on the King's Highway that continued along the coast line) and continued across Virginia to North Carolina, but lying west of the Fall Line Road. In the mid-1740's, the propriety governor of the Granville District began issuing land grants to Quakers, Scotch-Irish and others from the tidewater counties of NC & VA. From Fredericksburg, the general route of the Upper Road was west of present day Interstate 85... and then at the state line the road followed closely to Interstate 85 southwesterly to Charlotte, NC & into Spartanburg & Greenville, SC. In VA this road went through current counties of Caroline, Louisa, Amelia, Lunenburg & others right into Granville County, NC. For those of us who claim Thomas West, Sr. to be their ancestor (or apparent ancestor), all of the above just might be extremely important. Thomas West, Sr. born before 1718 and died in Chatham Co., NC in 1808 can first be found in Granville Co., NC in 1750 when his son, Ignatius, claims to be born there in 1750. There is no earlier record of Thomas prior to this date. There exists tax lists & deed records that establish Thomas in Granville Co. during the 1750's with several of his sons. At least some of this line of the WEST have connections to Quakers. Migration routes from VA would bring many farmers from the Louisa Co. area directly to Granville Co. Three children of William Meacham from VA. married offspring of Thomas West, Sr. including Ignatius and two daughters of Thomas West, Jr. Another family inter-marrying West family members was the Buckners who also migrated from Caroline Co., VA where the Meachams were from. Caroline County was south of Fredericksburg adjoining Hanover County which adjoins Louisa Co., VA. This all suggests that (possibly) Thomas West, Sr. migrated along the Upper Road from the Caroline/Hanover/Louisa County area of VA to Granville Co., NC between the 1740's to just before 1750! From y-DNA, we have learned that we have West family connections to Hanover & Louisa County areas. Further, it would seem that Thomas West, Sr. should be found in this Caroline/Hanover/Louisa County area of VA in the time frame of the 1730's thru 1740's. Sometime before 1739, Thomas became an adult; and, we know he was in Granville Co., NC by 1750 making a window of time of about 10 to 20 years! This information may be very helpful to many who might read this since this is how many that ended in Kentucky, Tennessee or Georgia migrated from Maryland,Virginia & the Carolinas. - Compiled by JGWest

"Using Family Names For Computers!"

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The backyard Garage is finally torn down!

With all of the rain this year (plus not feeling well & a sundry of other excuses), it has taken me almost the whole year to finally tear it down. But, yesterday, a friend & his boys helped me. Busy from 6AM until the friend got here, I was tired, cold and really out of the mood to go through with it. But, with others to motivate me, we were done in about three hours. I still need to haul the debris to the dump, but the garage is down.

This is why I did not have time to post anything yesterday, nor for today. However, I was reading Facebook posts and one of my friends is Bill West (no known relation to me) who puts out a very nice genealogy related blog of his own... had an interesting topic about naming computers. Bill named his computers after TV show characters. One of the comments came from a Diane who said she named her computers for family members citing her two aunts. I got the idea that it would be cool to name my computers after my ancestors. So, I added the following comment to Bill's Facebook entry: "Diane, that is a neat idea... naming computers after family! Ignatius West was born in 1750 in Granville Co., NC and is the brother of my direct ancestor Thomas West, Jr. Thus, Iggy (my nickname for him) is an Uncle many "greats" back. So, I, hereby name my computer "Iggy"!"

We all have some cool names in our ancestry that are interesting, neat, special or highly unusual like my direct ancestor Littleberry Woodis. I could name a computer "Littleberry" or even "Woodis"! I could name one "Cincinnati" after my Great, Great Grandmother Cincinnati O. [Williams] West (I still do not know what the "O" stands for and it was used many times in records). My father, brother & nephew were all named "Gaither Glennis West" with either of the given names would make great names for a computer. Mom's name was Bernadine... not a bad computer name. Powerful names like James Tobias Long or Mary Bright Rogers. Another one John Barton Haynes. My favorite is Arthur Sylvester Mays husband of Susan Apalone Lewis. The name Ap(p)olone was used a lot in my Mattingly family.

We could name all sorts of items for our ancestors. Since we travel a lot to Ohio to see the grandkids in the Cincinnati area... I think I will name the car in honor of my GGGrandmother "Cincinnati!" My cell phone "Littleberry!" (Well, they have "Blackberry" phones, don't they?) Davy Crockett named his long rifle "Old Bess" - so, why not name important items we use? I wonder what is showing on "Tobias" today?

Oh, if I still had a garage, I could have named it "Woodis!"

- Written by JGWest