Indian Mound Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 located along the Northwestern Turnpike
Northwestern Turnpike
The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia , important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 1830s. In modern times, west of Winchester, Virginia, U.S...

 (U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

) on a promontory
Promontory
Promontory may refer to:*Promontory, a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of water*Promontory, Utah, the location where the United States first Transcontinental Railroad was completed...

 of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain
Mill Creek Mountain
Mill Creek Mountain is a continuous mountain ridge that runs northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Rising to its greatest elevation of 2,648 feet above sea-level at High Knob, Mill Creek is a folded mountain ridge,...

 in Romney
Romney, West Virginia
Romney is a city in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,940 at the 2000 census, while the area covered by the city's ZIP code had a population of 5,873. It is a city with a very historic background dating back to the 18th century...

, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The cemetery is centered around a Hopewellian
Hopewell culture
The Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BCE to 500 CE. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related...

 mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...

, known as the Romney Indian Mound. Indian Mound Cemetery is also the site of Fort Pearsall
Fort Pearsall
Fort Pearsall was an early frontier fort constructed in 1756 in Romney, West Virginia to protect local settlers in the South Branch Potomac River valley against Native American raids...

, the First Confederate Memorial
First Confederate Memorial
The Confederate Memorial in Indian Mound Cemetery at Romney, West Virginia, is considered the first official memorial to Confederate dead to be erected anywhere in the United States of America.-History:...

, 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.

Indian Mound Cemetery is the burial site of two governors of West Virginia, a United States House Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, a United States Secretary of the Army
United States Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official within the Department of Defense of the United States of America with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and...

, an owner of the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

, and descendants of the family of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

.

History

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
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

, according to the site marker. Since this marker was erected, further research indicates the mound has been opened at some point in the past. It is the largest of the remaining mounds discovered in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

's Eastern Panhandle
Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is a narrow stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia, United States. The Eastern Panhandle Board of Realtors and other local civic organizations consider only the three Easternmost counties, Jefferson, Berkeley and...

. The Romney Indian Mound is representative of thousands of small Middle and Late Woodland burial mounds that occurred throughout much of eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Throughout its history, the Romney Indian Mound has traditionally been covered in pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 trees, of which several remain as of 2010.

Origins

The Romney Indian Mound was constructed at what was once the crossroads of the Shawnee Trail
Shawnee Trail (West Virginia)
The Shawnee Trail was the white settlers' name for an American Indian trail in what is now eastern West Virginia, USA. It was a segment of the much larger Indian trail network known as the Great Indian Warpath, which stretched from New York to Alabama. The GIW was referred to from this point north...

, running north and south, and the east-west Indian Road (later the Northwestern Turnpike
Northwestern Turnpike
The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia , important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 1830s. In modern times, west of Winchester, Virginia, U.S...

 and U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

) leading to the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...

.

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. For this reason, the city has never allowed the mound to be excavated. The Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 suggests the Romney Indian Mound possibly dates from between 500 and 1000 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

 given the ages of similar mounds it excavated in the Eastern Panhandle. The mound was likely constructed by peoples of the Hopewell culture, who resided within West Virginia between 500 BC and 1,000 CE.

The Romney Indian Mound is perhaps the only accessible mound east of the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...

 that has been preserved. 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.

Indian Mound Cemetery Company and Association

Several years prior to the onset of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, 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.

Indian Mound Cemetery was incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...

 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...

 around 1859. The land was conveyed to the Indian Mound Cemetery Company by David Gibson on 31 May 1860. The land conveyed by Gibson had previously been a tract of his nearby Sycamore Dale
Sycamore Dale
Sycamore Dale is a 19th-century Greek Revival plantation home overlooking the South Branch Potomac River southwest of Romney, West Virginia. Sycamore Dale is one of several historic estates along South Branch River Road...

 plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

. 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 American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

s. The latter separated from Indian Mound Cemetery and became known as the Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery
Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery
Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery is an African-American cemetery in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The cemetery is located along the Northwestern Turnpike below Indian Mound Cemetery overlooking Sulphur Spring Run...

, which is currently maintained by the Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church.

On 22 May 1869, a meeting was held at the Hampshire County Courthouse
Hampshire County Courthouse (West Virginia)
The Hampshire County Courthouse is a Neoclassical edifice in the center of downtown Romney, county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia. The present building was constructed in 1922 to replace the previous 1833 Neoclassical courthouse that had been destroyed by fire in 1921...

 to elect a board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of the Indian Mound Cemetery Company. The company operated the cemetery until it was incorporated by the state of West Virginia on 25 August 1925 as the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc. The association has been administered by a self-perpetuating board of directors since 1925.

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

American Civil War

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
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. On 22 October 1861, Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 General Scott ordered General Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Benjamin Franklin Kelley was an American soldier who served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in several military campaigns in West Virginia and Maryland....

 to concentrate his forces at New Creek (now known as Keyser
Keyser, West Virginia
Keyser is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...

) and attack and capture Romney. Kelley left New Creek early on the morning of 27 October and the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 at Romney began preparations for his arrival. The Confederates planted a twelve-pound rifle cannon
Twelve-pound cannon
The twelve-pound cannon is a cannon that fires twelve-pound projectiles from its barrel, as well as grapeshot, chainshot, shrapnel, and later shells and canister shot. It was first used during the Tudor period and reached its production top in the Napoleonic wars...

 and a mountain howitzer in Indian Mound Cemetery ready to fire at the lead of the Union Army column
Column (formation)
A military column is a formation of soldiers marching together in one or more files in which the file is significantly longer than the width of ranks in the formation...

 as it emerged from Mechanicsburg Gap
Mechanicsburg Gap
Mechanicsburg Gap is a water gap mountain pass through Mill Creek Mountain in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia....

 in Mill Creek Mountain
Mill Creek Mountain
Mill Creek Mountain is a continuous mountain ridge that runs northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Rising to its greatest elevation of 2,648 feet above sea-level at High Knob, Mill Creek is a folded mountain ridge,...

. 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. A severe cannonade took place between the artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 of both the Union and Confederate forces for an hour.

Burials

Also during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Indian Mound Cemetery was used as a burial ground by both Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 and Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 armies. The majority of soldiers killed in the vicinity of Romney were buried in blankets in the cemetery, many whose names are unknown. Captain Richard Ashby, the brother of Confederate General Turner Ashby
Turner Ashby
Turner Ashby, Jr. was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War. He had achieved prominence as Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's cavalry commander, in the grade of colonel, in the Shenandoah Valley before he was killed in battle in 1862...

, was interred with all the honors of war under a giant oak tree
Oak Tree
Oak Tree may refer to:*Oak, the tree*Oak Tree, County Durham, a village in County Durham, England*The Oaktree Foundation, a youth-run aid and development agency*Oak Tree National, golf club in Edmond, Oklahoma...

 on 4 July 1861 in Indian Mound Cemetery shortly after his death at nearby Washington Bottom Farm
Washington Bottom Farm
Washington Bottom Farm is a 19th century Greek Revival plantation house and farm on a plateau overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, West Virginia, United States. The populated area adjacent to Washington Bottom Farm is known as Ridgedale...

 on 3 July from wounds received in a skirmish on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

. 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: Ashby's body was removed from the cemetery to Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 in October 1862 where it was reinterred next to Ashby's brother General Turner Ashby. Their grave is marked "The Brothers Ashby."

First Confederate Memorial

The First Confederate Memorial
First Confederate Memorial
The Confederate Memorial in Indian Mound Cemetery at Romney, West Virginia, is considered the first official memorial to Confederate dead to be erected anywhere in the United States of America.-History:...

 was erected by local ladies in honor of Hampshire County's Confederate dead and dedicated in Indian Mound Cemetery on 26 September 1867. It is considered one of the oldest, if not the first, permanent memorials to Confederate dead in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Notable people interred at Indian Mound Cemetery

  • Stephen Ailes
    Stephen Ailes
    Stephen Ailes was a prominent member of the District of Columbia Bar and a partner in the firm of Steptoe & Johnson. He served as the United States Under Secretary of the Army from February 9, 1961 to January 28, 1964 and as United States Secretary of the Army from January 28 ,1964 to July 1, 1965...

     (1912–2001), United States Secretary of the Army
    United States Secretary of the Army
    The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official within the Department of Defense of the United States of America with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and...

  • William Armstrong
    William Armstrong (Virginia)
    William Armstrong was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.Born in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Armstrong immigrated to the United States in 1792 with his parents, who settled in Virginia....

     (1782–1865), United States House Representative
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

     from Virginia
    Virginia
    The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

  • John Rinehart Blue (1905–1965), West Virginia House Delegate
    West Virginia House of Delegates
    The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates.-Historical:-Current:-District organization:...

     from Hampshire County
  • Edna Brady Cornwell
    Edna Brady Cornwell
    Edna Brady Cornwell was the wife of former Governor of West Virginia John J. Cornwell and served as that state's First Lady, 1917-1921. She was born May 26, 1868, at Romney, West Virginia. In 1891 she married John J. Cornwell, publisher of the Hampshire Review. As first lady, she hosted social...

     (1868–1958), First Lady of West Virginia
  • John Jacob Cornwell
    John J. Cornwell
    John Jacob Cornwell was a Democratic politician from Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Cornwell served as the 15th Governor of the US state of West Virginia...

     (1867–1953), 15th Governor of West Virginia
  • Marshall S. Cornwell
    Marshall S. Cornwell
    Marshall S. Cornwell was an American newspaper publisher, writer, and poet in the U.S. state of West Virginia.-Early life and education:...

     (1871–1898), newspaper
    Newspaper
    A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

     editor
    Editor
    The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...

     and publisher
    Publishing
    Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...

    , poet
    Poet
    A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

    , and author
    Author
    An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

  • Dr. William Henry Foote (1794–1869), Presbyterian clergyman and historian
    Historian
    A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

  • John Jeremiah Jacob (1757–1839), first ordained Methodist
    Methodist Episcopal Church
    The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

     minister in Hampshire County
  • John Jeremiah Jacob
    John J. Jacob
    John Jeremiah Jacob was a Democratic politician from Green Spring , West Virginia. Jacob served two terms as the fourth Governor of the US state of West Virginia...

     (1829–1893), 4th Governor of West Virginia
  • George Preston Marshall
    George Preston Marshall
    George Preston Marshall was the owner and president of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League from 1932 until his death in 1969.-Contributions:...

     (1896–1969), owner and president of the Washington Redskins
    Washington Redskins
    The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

  • Gilbert Proctor Miller (1866–1927), orchard
    Orchard
    An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

    ist; founder of Hampshire County's fruit industry
  • George William Washington (1809–1876), gentleman farmer
    Gentleman's farm
    A gentleman's farm is an extremely small or non-operative farm. They are generally small acreages that are not used to produce large amounts of food, grain, or livestock for major markets. Gentleman's farms are also used as hobby farms, for horse rearing, or as bed and breakfast establishments...

     and diarist
    Diary
    A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...


See also


External links

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