ALLEGHANY COUNTY, VA - CEMETERIES – Wolfe-Sively Cemetery ----¤¤¤---- Source: Library of Virginia Digital Collection LVA Titled Files: Survey Report, Wolfe-Sively cemetery: 1937 Sept. 27 Research made by L. Blanche Bess Cemetery Location: 21 miles southwest of Covington, Virginia on Routes #60 and #18. Alleghany County Owners: John Wolf – Charlotte Sivley – J. Armentrout heirs Description: This cemetery is beautifully located on a little rise just high enough to be pretty. It is in a quiet spot, removed from the dust of the highway and the noise of traffic. Situated in a grassy field, it is well fenced and very nicely kept. Here very near the home of one of the very early owners, John and Sallie Rayhill Wolf, was established the family burial ground. Historical Significance: There is no one living who knows just when this cemetery was established, or who was first laid to rest there, but it is known that John Wolf and his wife, who was before her marriage, Sallie Rayhill, daughter of Mathew and Esther Rayhill, who were among the early land owners of this section, are buried here. The graves were recently pointed out to the writer by the oldest resident of this section. There are no markers other than small, rude mountain stones, which mark the head and the foot of the graves. The lady told us that she had been told by Mrs. Charlotte Sivley, deceased, a daughter of John and Sallie Wolf, that her father’s body had first been buried very near the house and later disinterred and buried in this cemetery. The grave shown to us as that of John Wolf, is an unusually long one and we were told that when the body was moved it was not taken from the box and the new graves was made larger than the first one. Sallie, the wife of John Wolf, is buried by his side, and their children, or at least some of them, are buried here. The daughter Charlotte who lived in the home and cared for her mother until she was up in the forties, did not marry until after her mother’s death. Her mother objected bitterly to her suitor, Mr. Jackson Sivley, a widower who lived on the adjoining farm and had forbidden him to enter her house. After Mrs. Wolf’s death, Charlotte married Jackson Sivley. The ceremony was performed under an apple tree in the orchard. This was done because Mrs. Wolf had forbidden Sivley to come into her house. Charlotte always kept the cemetery as a sacred trust, and even when she became very feeble she would go with a butcher knife and cut weeds and sprouts. When she lost her home and all else, the cemetery was plotted out and left to her. Many others have been laid to rest there and it has become a neighborhood burial ground. The pathetic side of it is, that poor old “Aunt Charlotte” as she was called, who had spent her life in service for others, and who had by her own efforts kept the cemetery in decent order, was, after she became too old and feeble to work there or anywhere, her relatives and friends allowed her to be taken to the “poor house” where she was ill treated and undernourished until she languished and died, more of sorrow and grief than of ill health. The County authorities did have decency enough to bring the poor old worn out body back and lay it in her beloved cemetery with her father and mother. Of the husband who was not worthy of her, we do not know whether he was buried here, but think he was buried in Minnesota. One young man, Mr. Given Robinson, has, we feel sure, won a star in his crown by placing a monument to the grave of “Aunt Charlotte” at his own expense. This was a noble act and one which should make her own kindred quail in shame. Rev. George Jamison came into possession of this land, divided it into farms and deeded it to four of his sons. John W. Jamison lived on the Sivley land near the cemetery. He was buried there in 1931. His widow lives there at this time with Mrs. Emma Jarvis, a widowed daughter. There are a number of beautiful stones in this cemetery, most of them erected in recent years. The oldest graves are unmarked. As said in the beginning this burial ground belonged to Mrs. Charlotte Sivley and we have been told that after she married she in some way, lost her farm and had to sell out, but when the deed was drawn up she reserved the graveyard. Aunt Charlotte “mothered” many people and reared several children but had none of her own. After her death the people of the community continued to use the cemetery and so they do today. We have not been able to find any trustees, but it is kept a sacred spot for a burial ground. It is well taken care of and is held in reverence. Recently an addition of land was purchased from Mr. James Armentrout, now deceased, and all fenced in. Evergreens have been planted and also many beautiful flowers. Inscriptions: George Arritt Born May 15, 1845 Died Sep. 22, 1899 At Rest Victoria Simmons Born June 3, 1862 Died _____ Meet me in Heaven William Robinson 1835 – 1919 Mintie C. Robinson 1849 – 1930 Rev. John W. Jamison 1857 – 1932 Paris Jarvis 1992 – 1930 Sources of Information: Informants: Mrs. John W. Jamison ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joan Renfrow NOTICE: I have no relationship or further information in regards to this family. ___________________________________________________________________