thedrifter
05-05-07, 07:46 AM
Road project unearths Union Civil War soldier
By Jake Stump - Charleston Daily Mail via AP
Posted : Friday May 4, 2007 15:12:26 EDT
WINFIELD, W.Va. — If not for the U.S. 35 project in Putnam County, Joyce Saunders might never have found the burial grounds of several ancestors — including a Union Civil War soldier.
Last summer, West Virginia Division of Highways workers uncovered an abandoned family cemetery overgrown with weeds and brush while surveying land that will eventually be the new U.S. 35.
The site contained 42 graves, most of which were unmarked.
But one marked grave belonged to Pvt. Roland Gillispie, who served in Company F of the 7th WV Cavalry, a regiment that was organized in the Kanawha Valley in 1861.
State officials then tracked down a descendant, Saunders, 71, of South Point, Ohio.
Saunders did not oppose state crews reburying the bodies at another location to make way for the new road.
But Saunders, a genealogy enthusiast, was ecstatic to learn about the whereabouts of the graves of several ancestors, including Gillispie.
“If you would have given me $1 million, I wouldn’t have been as excited,” said Saunders, the soldier’s great-granddaughter.
She already had spent several years tracing the history of her family. She had known nothing about Pvt. Gillispie until requesting his military and medical records from various historical and government agencies.
Receiving the phone call last August about the discovery of the cemetery was just the latest chapter in her search.
Saunders immediately called nine of her cousins, also descendants of Gillispie, and they went out to the cemetery for the first time. She brought with her a plastic flower bouquet and a small American flag.
“I can tell you, I cried,” she said. “These people become real to you.”
Pvt. Gillispie will be reburied Civil War-style — with military honors — May 12 in Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington. The public is invited to view the procession, which begins at 10 a.m. in front of the Ferrell-Chambers Funeral Home.
A horse-drawn hearse, circa 1900, will carry Gillispie to his new resting place. An honor guard, carrying a 34-star Union flag, and Civil War military re-enactors led by a fife and drum unit will accompany the hearse.
At the cemetery, a pine box casket with rope handles will be draped with the 34-star flag before it is folded and presented to Saunders.
The Sons of Union Veterans, Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 of Gallipolis, Ohio, is organizing the ceremony. James Oiler, of Camp 126, said reburials aren’t common, but when they do occur they are modeled after burials described in the 1890 Ritual & Ceremonies Manual of the Sons of Union Veterans.
At the family cemetery in Putnam County, crews let descendants on site as they exhumed the bodies for reburial.
“Sometimes, I have mixed emotions about disturbing the remains,” Saunders said. “But I’m happy now that we know where to go.”
A backhoe dug into the ground before workers switched to shovels to unearth the remains. Workers uncovered mostly bones because the family back then was poor and the deceased were buried in wooden coffins, if anything, Saunders said.
She noticed Gillispie’s skull was relatively small compared to that of an average man. She knew it was his based on prior research into his medical record.
“He had the head of maybe a 12- or 14-year-old boy,” Saunders said. “He was only 5’5”, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and light hair.”
According to military documents, Gillispie was 25-years old and weighed 135 pounds when he enlisted at Red House in 1861.
Saunders also discovered he was wounded in a skirmish and spent the rest of his life disabled.
On June 21, 1864, a small cannon shot through the muscles of Gillispie’s left leg during a fight near Salem, Va. Some historians refer to it as the Battle of Hanging Rock.
A day before, Gillispie had suffered an uncomfortable accident when his horse threw him onto its saddle horn and injured his groin, according to records.
The soldier spent much of his life as a poor, illiterate farmer in Putnam County.
“He couldn’t read or write his name,” Saunders said. “There’s always an X on the signature line of his documents.”
There are no known photos of Gillispie. But over time, Saunders has developed her own image of him.
“After learning so much about him, I’ve put a face and personality to him,” she said. “I had an uncle who would’ve been his grandson, who was a farmer living in Winfield. He could not read or write. Next to my father, he was my favorite.”
Uncle Jack, as Saunders had called him, also had blue eyes, a light complexion, and was a man of smaller physical stature.
Saunders said Pvt. Gillispie had two brothers who also served in the 7th WV Cavalry. He also had two daughters and three sons and was married three times.
He died Oct. 26, 1911, at age 75. Medical records show he died of “paralysis of the bowels.”
The state is footing the bill for the reburials. The cost was not immediately available.
Saunders said state officials have treated the process with respect.
“The only bad part is having the remains disturbed,” she said. “But now I can rest knowing where Roland [Gillispie] is.”
Ellie
By Jake Stump - Charleston Daily Mail via AP
Posted : Friday May 4, 2007 15:12:26 EDT
WINFIELD, W.Va. — If not for the U.S. 35 project in Putnam County, Joyce Saunders might never have found the burial grounds of several ancestors — including a Union Civil War soldier.
Last summer, West Virginia Division of Highways workers uncovered an abandoned family cemetery overgrown with weeds and brush while surveying land that will eventually be the new U.S. 35.
The site contained 42 graves, most of which were unmarked.
But one marked grave belonged to Pvt. Roland Gillispie, who served in Company F of the 7th WV Cavalry, a regiment that was organized in the Kanawha Valley in 1861.
State officials then tracked down a descendant, Saunders, 71, of South Point, Ohio.
Saunders did not oppose state crews reburying the bodies at another location to make way for the new road.
But Saunders, a genealogy enthusiast, was ecstatic to learn about the whereabouts of the graves of several ancestors, including Gillispie.
“If you would have given me $1 million, I wouldn’t have been as excited,” said Saunders, the soldier’s great-granddaughter.
She already had spent several years tracing the history of her family. She had known nothing about Pvt. Gillispie until requesting his military and medical records from various historical and government agencies.
Receiving the phone call last August about the discovery of the cemetery was just the latest chapter in her search.
Saunders immediately called nine of her cousins, also descendants of Gillispie, and they went out to the cemetery for the first time. She brought with her a plastic flower bouquet and a small American flag.
“I can tell you, I cried,” she said. “These people become real to you.”
Pvt. Gillispie will be reburied Civil War-style — with military honors — May 12 in Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington. The public is invited to view the procession, which begins at 10 a.m. in front of the Ferrell-Chambers Funeral Home.
A horse-drawn hearse, circa 1900, will carry Gillispie to his new resting place. An honor guard, carrying a 34-star Union flag, and Civil War military re-enactors led by a fife and drum unit will accompany the hearse.
At the cemetery, a pine box casket with rope handles will be draped with the 34-star flag before it is folded and presented to Saunders.
The Sons of Union Veterans, Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 of Gallipolis, Ohio, is organizing the ceremony. James Oiler, of Camp 126, said reburials aren’t common, but when they do occur they are modeled after burials described in the 1890 Ritual & Ceremonies Manual of the Sons of Union Veterans.
At the family cemetery in Putnam County, crews let descendants on site as they exhumed the bodies for reburial.
“Sometimes, I have mixed emotions about disturbing the remains,” Saunders said. “But I’m happy now that we know where to go.”
A backhoe dug into the ground before workers switched to shovels to unearth the remains. Workers uncovered mostly bones because the family back then was poor and the deceased were buried in wooden coffins, if anything, Saunders said.
She noticed Gillispie’s skull was relatively small compared to that of an average man. She knew it was his based on prior research into his medical record.
“He had the head of maybe a 12- or 14-year-old boy,” Saunders said. “He was only 5’5”, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and light hair.”
According to military documents, Gillispie was 25-years old and weighed 135 pounds when he enlisted at Red House in 1861.
Saunders also discovered he was wounded in a skirmish and spent the rest of his life disabled.
On June 21, 1864, a small cannon shot through the muscles of Gillispie’s left leg during a fight near Salem, Va. Some historians refer to it as the Battle of Hanging Rock.
A day before, Gillispie had suffered an uncomfortable accident when his horse threw him onto its saddle horn and injured his groin, according to records.
The soldier spent much of his life as a poor, illiterate farmer in Putnam County.
“He couldn’t read or write his name,” Saunders said. “There’s always an X on the signature line of his documents.”
There are no known photos of Gillispie. But over time, Saunders has developed her own image of him.
“After learning so much about him, I’ve put a face and personality to him,” she said. “I had an uncle who would’ve been his grandson, who was a farmer living in Winfield. He could not read or write. Next to my father, he was my favorite.”
Uncle Jack, as Saunders had called him, also had blue eyes, a light complexion, and was a man of smaller physical stature.
Saunders said Pvt. Gillispie had two brothers who also served in the 7th WV Cavalry. He also had two daughters and three sons and was married three times.
He died Oct. 26, 1911, at age 75. Medical records show he died of “paralysis of the bowels.”
The state is footing the bill for the reburials. The cost was not immediately available.
Saunders said state officials have treated the process with respect.
“The only bad part is having the remains disturbed,” she said. “But now I can rest knowing where Roland [Gillispie] is.”
Ellie