The Crosier Cemetery - Continued

CROSIER

FRANK T.                    EVERETTE LEE

JUNE 20, 1895                    AUG. 7, 1927

AUG. 18, 1896                    JAN. 2, 1928

SON OF                    SON OF

GEORGE H.                    ROY L.

**Note: this is a rather unusual stone, in that bother of these are infants, and have different fathers, still while sharing a stone.

Frank T. Crosier was born on 20 June 1895 to George Henry Crosier and Emma Jane Miller, in Monroe County. He was one of at least 4 children.

He died 18 Aug 1896, in Monroe County. Cause of death is unknown. No records found.

Everrette Lee Crosier was born 7 Aug 1927 to Roy L. Crosier and Bessie Fay Humphreys. It is currently unknown if he had any siblings.

Everette died 02 Jan 1928. Cause of Death: "Unknown - Possibly Croup".

**NOTE: Frank T. Crosier and Roy L. Crosier were brothers. Thus the relationship between the two little boys were that of Uncle and Nephew.

CROSIER

EMMA J. MILLER                    G.H. CROSIER

HIS WIFE                    [unknown symbol]

1872 - 1951                    1865-1928

Emma J. Miller was born July 1872 to Jefferson Miller, in West Virginia. [Her mother is unknown at present.] She married George H. Crosier in 1890. The couple had at least five children: Harvey, Frank, Roy, Deber and Anne.

Emma died 01 Oct 1951 in Monroe County.

George Henry Crosier was born 24 Mar 1865 to Philip B. Crozier and Agnes Clark, near Zenith, Monroe, West Virginia. He was one of at least four children.

George died 05 Dec 1928 in Zenith, Monroe, West Virginia.

CROSIER

INFANT SON OF

CHARLES A.

AND MINNIE B.

1902

This unnamed son is not found in the birth or death records thusfar. He was born in 1902 to Charles Andrew Crosier and Minnie B. Shirey. He was one of at least two children born to the couple.

According to this stone, we know he died in 1902 as an infant.

ONE OF SEVERAL BROKEN OR ILLEGIBLE STONES IN THE REAR OF THE CEMETERY.

CROSIER

MARSHALL EZRA

APR. 5, 1883

JULY 5, 1956

Marshall Ezra Crosier was born 05 Apr 1883 to Samuel Houston Crosier and Sarah "Maggie" Weikle, in Monroe County. It is unknown at present if he had any siblings.

He married Lula White [b. 1910] on 02 Dec 1937 in Union, Monroe, West Virginia, at the Presbyterian Manse. The were wed by Rev. Robert R. Gray. It is unknown if they had children.

Marshall died 05 Jul 1956 in Ronceverte, Greenbrier, West Virginia. Cause of Death: Myocardial Infarct. He was buried on 07 July.

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The Crosier Cemetery

The Crosier Cemetery is located near Zenith, Monroe County, West Virginia. From Route 3 in Gap Mills, you will turn onto the Zenith Road, and follow this road approximately 6 miles. The cemetery sits in a small clearing on the left-hand side of the road, and is marked clearly with a sign.

Crosier Cemetery Sign

The cemetery is fenced and gated, however each time I have been here, it has not been locked. You will need to park just off the edge of the road, and walk a short distanced to reach the cemetery.

On my last visit, caretakers were attempting to remove dead debris from a storm, and several of the older stones were covered by fallen trees and limbs.

I hope to get back over there this spring and do a proper cataloguing of the cemetery. When I do, this site will carry that update.

Anderson C. Crosier

Oct. 29, 1856                       [illegible]

According to birth records, Anderson Clark Crosier was born on 23 Oct 1856 in Zenith, Monroe, [West] Virginia to Phillip B. Crosier and Mary Ann Brown. He was one of at least three children born to this couple.

He died 08 Jun 1949. It is unknown at present if he ever married.

Charles A. Crosier

June 25, 1877

Feb. 13, 1935

Charles Andrew Crosier was born according to Monroe County records on 14 Jun 1877, to Philip B. Crosier and Agnes Clark.

Charles married Minnie Shirey, it is believed in Monroe County. The couple had at least one child, Staley Benton Crosier [1910-1924]. Charles died 13 Feb 1935.

CROSIER

I could not tell if this family stone was representative of a single Crosier family buried here, or for the entire cemetery. It is a beautiful, large, granite stone. Engraving on the side seen here only.

CROSIER

DEBER J.                    IVA H.

1899-1977                    1909-2001

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN

Deber J. Crosier [aka: Dever] was born 1899 to George Henry Crosier and Emma Jane Miller, probably in Zenith. He was one of at least 5 children born to the couple.

He married Iva H. [Unknown]. She was born in 1909 and died 2001.

No other information is known of this couple at present.

The Bean Cemetery

The Bean Cemetery is a private family cemetery, located off of the road on a knoll in the middle of the woods on the Bert William's road, near Waiteville in Monroe County. A few years ago, DOug Woods and his wife marked the trail to the cemetery, but when I was there last summer, I was unable to see any markings that remained. A small wooden sign at the edge of the road will alert you that you have arrived. You will need to pull your car off the edge of the road as much as possible, park, and walk across the field and into the woods to reach this cemetery.

We believe that the first graves here pre-date 1852, when Archibald Beane's first wife, Amanda Shires Beane [1826-1852], was buried here. Family legend states that slaves were buried around the perimeter of the fence, while family members were buried inside. While there last summer, my Dad and I did locate the remains of a very old fence in places. Rotting timbers indicated where the nearly 200 year old fence posts did stand. In some places, the wire was lying on the ground, covered over by years of falling leaves and forest debris.

At one point, [as late as 1940's], the cemetery was clear, but it is now overtaken by the forest. Large trees are noted to have rocks in their trunks that may actually be the remnants of old stones.

It is impossible to tell who was buried where. Graves are marked in some areas only by sunken depressions in the ground. Others have a bit of rock, or old stone at their heads. On all of the old stones, we found only a single legible marking. The letter "C". A new stone was placed in the 1990's to commemorate the patriarch and matriarch of the Bean family, who are buried here, William Bean and Rachel Wiseman. It was placed on the 207th birthday of William.

Here is the commemorative stone:

Back of the stone

Front of the stone

William M. Bean was born 18 Sept 1792, it is believed in Baltimore, Maryland. He was one of at least two children born to William McBean and Sarah Bane. He was indentured at the age of 12 [on his 12th birthday] in Monroe County.

Two months after his indenture release, when he reached the age of 21, William married Rachel Wiseman, born 23 Apr 1790 to Joseph Wiseman and Elizabeth Bateman in Rockbridge County, Virginia. The couple were married on 20 Nov 1813 in Monroe County. They had 13 children: Emily, Nancy, Lucinda, Elizabeth, Sarah, John, Thomas, Margaret, Archibald, Joseph, James, William and Martha Caroline. [Nancy is buried here.]

Rachel died 7 Nov 1856 [one month after daughter Nancy]. She died from a fever of unknown origin which brought on a stroke. William was killed not far from here. He was in the "Home Guard" during the Civil War, being too far advanced in age to participate. After trailing a group of renegade desserters, who stealing from the local populace, he lead the posse into Wiseman's Hollow, and as he approached a cabin, one of the desserter's shot from the loft of a cabin. The bullet stroke his head and killed him. [In an ironic copy, his namesake son, William, was a US Marshall, and was also shot unawares by a county constable, from behind, in the head and died.] The date was 01 Jan 1864.

We know of at least 2 slaves buried here.

The remainder of the stones follow:

This is the only stone with a legible marking. Looking at the top left you can just make out what looks like a "C".

Another shot of the stone with the "C".

Here you can see remnants of the old wire fence. There are still some old fence staples holding the fence to this tree.

Fallen along the perimeter of the cemetery we noted this rotting fence post.

The remnants of another rotting fence post along the perimeter of the cemetery.

Still another fallen fence post. Look closely and you will see this one still has remnants of the wire fence attached.

An old stone. You can clearly make out the grave to this stone.

Another grave marker.

This stone marks a grave that is depressed a great deal. [About 8" at the center.]

The remnant of another stone.

Another grave marker.

Another stone marker.

Stone marker.

No marking are visible on this larger stone.

This upright stone marker again has no markings that remain visible or legible.

Walter Beane, great-grandson, of William and Rachel, tells stories of William and Rachel to visitors in August 2009.

Great-great-great-great granddaughters of William and Rachel tour Monroe County with Walter Beane and his daughter, Cyndi, in August 2009. Here Walter tells them lore about the cemetery. Walter remembers the cemetery from when he was a young boy, visiting it with his father, John Monroe Bean, and tending to the graves. This was open then, with only one or two trees. As you can see here, it is forested now.

The cemetery faces the old Bean homestead, which remains standing, across the Bert William's road.

Neel Cemetery - Continued

The following grave stones do not have any legible markings on them. So it is impossible to know who they belong to. There are only a few, and except for the cairn, who do not know who is buried in the little cemetery.

The cemetery as seen up close as approaching from the road.

This stone rests directly beneath a tree that appears to be about 250 years old.

This is the only stone that has retained its shape. However, if there were any engravings, weather, and time, have worn them away.

This stone has kept part of its original shape, however, it is rough and no engravings are visible.

This stone is partially embedded in the ground, and is sticking up only about 4-inches.

Another stone that has been worn away by time and weather. No markings visible.

And the last stone: at first I thought this was just a rock, but when you look closely, you can see it has been chiseled and is actually a grave stone. No markings are visible.

Another view of the stone beneath the tree. This is looking out toward the road. As you can see, across the road is an old abandoned farmhouse. How appropriate that the two face one another.

It is a sad, sad place.

Another view of the only complete stone at the cemetery. This is looking toward the east, and Gap Valley, shortly after sunrise. It appears that most of the stones are set in an east to west point in the cemetery. [The odd looking shape on the right is a tree stump, from where a tree was cut down many years ago, and its stump never cleared away.]

This concludes all of the stones at the Neel Cemetery.

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The Neel Cemetery

The Neel Cemetery is located in Gap Mills, of Monroe County, West Virginia. From Route 3, turn onto the Zenith Road. Travel approximately 1/4 mile and then turn left onto the Rowan Road.

You will travel approximately 0.7 miles up this road, just before a very sharp curve to the left [if you come to the curve, you've gone too far!], when you will see a small clump of very old trees in the middle of a rather large field. [Here you can see the trees from the road.] You will need to pull your vehicle as far off the road as possible, and hike to the cemetery. [Watch for burrows and other critter holes, as well as long ago plowed furrows!]

This view is at approximately half-way between the road and the cemetery. You can just begin to see the top edge of the memorial cairn in the center of the trees here.

Here you can see the southern side of the memorial cairn, as you approach from the road.

As you approach, you will see a couple of tombstones to the right [east] of the memorial cairn.

Facing northwest toward the memorial cairn.

The front of the memorial cairn, with its' plaque commemorating the Maxwell sisters and their husbands, who all but one are buried here.

The Memorial Plaque [Placed about ca. 1905-1910.]

ANDREW CROSIER

ELIZABETH MAXWELL CROSIER

ROBERT DUNBAR

HANNAH MAXWELL DUNBAR

OWEN NEEL

ISABELLA MAXWELL NEEL

THOMAS STEELE

MARGARET MAXWELL STEELE

THE FOUR MAXWELL SISTER AND

THEIR HUSBANDS CAME FROM LANCASTER

COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AND SETTLED

IN THIS VALLEY ABOUT 1799. THIS IS

THE RESTING PLACE OF ALL THESE PIONEERS

EXCEPT ANDREW CROSIER WHO DIED IN

TENNESSEE.

The four Maxwell sisters and their husbands are considered some of the original settlers into "Gap Valley" [now known as Sweet Springs Valley and Gap Mills].

The remainder of the cemetery will follow tomorrow.