FOLEY GRAVEYARD
Wood Co. WV

Some Pioneer Graveyards of Wood Co. by John A. House

Down the wide mysterious river
Flowing westward through the forests,
Ever westward toward the sunset
With its ripples all aquiver
In the sunset's latest glow,
Drifting, steering for the planting
Of cabin homes in vales enchanting
'Midst the wide unbroken forest;
Among the clustered hills of Wood.
(J. A. H.)

The "Old Foley Graveyard" I visited in 1917, and again perhaps
about 1920 or 1921.  It is about five rods square and is on the
hill back of Tavennersville, and at the head of a run.

When I saw it, it was all a tangle of bushes, burrs and weeds of
one of two years' growth, wound round and round together with
graveyard honeysuckle and blue myrtle, in the older parts.

A tombstone bears the inscription -
Harriet, the wife of John Davis, died May 29th, 1857, aged thirty-
one years, seven months.  She was a daughter of Scarlett Foley.
By her side lies her mother "Aunt Polly" Foley, the youngest
child of Captain Neal, and it is said "the first white child born in
Wood County".
By her, the grave of her husband, Scarlett Foley.  They were
married March 25th, 1811.
Martha L., daughter of J. H. and H. H. Foley.
Hannah H. Foley, daughter of Mason Foley, and wife of her
cousin, John H., son of Scarlett Foley, died October 6th, 1861,
aged forty-two.
Martha L., her child, died January 12th, 1842, when between
one and two years old.
George Foley was a son of John H. and lived in the same old
cabin his father had built.  (I think he is buried here.)
Elizabeth, widow of George Foley, died in July, 1921.  She was
seventy-seven years old.
"Aunt Jemima" - nee Wright - for years widow of John H. Foley,
died January 29th, 1922.  She was second wife of J. H. Foley, and
was buried at the Foley graveyard.
Other tombstones noticed read -
Isaac S. Ray, 1859 -1893.
Jasper N. Haddox, 1858 - 1908.
Bird E. Haddox, 1863 - 1908.
There is a flag rock rudely chiselled with the letters C. P. W.
Ninna, wife of Abraham Bradford, 1853 - 1904.

There is a cedar tree eight inches in diameter, and over twenty-
five feet high stands in one corner of the lot, and a white birch
near another.

The old part of the graveyard was a knoll.  Beyond the old
fence, the graves are unmarked, and continue down to the line
fence, between George Foley and Lawyer Merrick, which is
about twenty-five feet from the old grave lot.

Along a fence south of this graveyard is a row of graves
extending along the fence for quite a ways.
One is a child named Yoho, one a soldier's grave, but no name.

At the Scarlett Foley graveyard, on September 11th, 1926, I
noticed these names -
Michael Peters, Co. D., 185, O. V. I. 1842.
Catherine, his wife, 1850 - 1923.
Samuel L. Black, Co. D., 14th W. Va.
John Patterson, Co. E., 11th W. Va.
Obadiah Gates, Co. K., 3rd W. Va. Cavalry, May 29th, 1844 -
March 18th, 1916.
Elmore Tichnell, 1860.  He has a flag.
Amanda, his wife, 1853 - 1924.
Two graves in southeast corner, no names, have flags.
Bessie, wife of Andy Miller, 1853 - 1921.
Elvira Elmira Welch, 1844 - 1924.