Who Is Buried Beneath This Grand Old Tree ??
The Wayne County Genealogical and Historical Society called a special meeting Wednesday, September 15, 2010. The meeting was held at the fort gay school athletic field next to the Norfork Southern Railroad and Sunnyside road.
The Wayne County Board of Education is preparing to build a new school, kindergarten through eighth grade on this 8.5 acre tract of land.
The concerns of the W.C.G.H.S. is to identify, preserve, honor and protect the cemetery that is located on the north end of the football field, under a large hackberry tree. Years ago vandals removed the headstones and there is no visible evidence of a cemetery. C. Michael Anslinger, cultural resource analyst has verified, through testing, that there are at least two graves present. Mrs. Pauline Donnally Adkins, 86 years old, born 5-20-1924, graciously attended our meeting. She is a life long resident of the Fort Gay area. She remembers, and pointed out with her cane, five graves facing east under the hackberry tree. She related many conversations and events in which she was engaged over the years. We believe the following people are buried here:
I. Stephen (Stevie) Bartram, who died before 28 May 1821. He is reportedly a revolutionary war soldier and progenitor of the Bartram family.
2. John William Wellman, born 8-2-1779 and died 12-26-1865, who could be considered the father of Wayne County.
3. Nancy Webb Wellman, wife of John Wellman, born 8-22-1782 and died 4-7-1822.
4. Mary Mulligan Wellman, born 2-13-1755 and died 8-??-1847, mother of John Wellman and widow of Bennett Wellman, a revolutionary war soldier.
5. ??
Some other evidence used to help us to identify the above information was the book "Bartram Branches", by Violet W. Bartram and Kent Bartram, Jr., pages 337, 338 and 347.
The three volume set of books, "Descendants of Bennett Wellman", pages 20, 245, 312.
It has been rumored that the railroad moved these graves from their right-of-way sometime in the past. Roger Kelly has been in touch with Mr. Roger Powers in the railway real estate office and he is investigating the railroad archives for the validity of this rumor.
The deed for this property, dated 7-31-1947 in deed book 238 at page 478, is from W.C. Lovely to the Board of Education. This deed is for 8.5 acres, and reserves one-eighth acre as a cemetery.
The position of the Board of Education is to enclose the reserved area with a fence, and any other course of action will be left to the families and the public.
The W.C.G.H.S appreciates the help and cooperation that is being shown. In the future, we may be accepting donations to erect a marker, once we are reasonably sure of who has been laid to rest in this cemetery. We ask family and friends to look in old bibles, journals, etc. for corroborating evidence. We welcome any information anyone may have. Contact us at our web site, WCGHS.COM or email us at mail@wcghs.com or ozzie304@aol.com.
We want to thank the following people who attended our meeting:
Herbert Dawson, President of WCGHS.
Howard Osburn, Treasurer of WCGHS and also web master.
John Jarrett Peters, member of WCGHS.
Jerry Workman, Assistant Superintendent of W.C. Schools.
Donald Davis, Director of Maintenance of W.C. Schools.
C. Michael Anslinger, R.P.A.
David Ferguson, Z.M.M. Architects.
Bryan Estep, Z.M.M. Architects.
Roger Kelly, Member of the Wayne County Commission.
Kamala Wellman Stuart, Secretary of Fort Gay Elementary School.
Herbert (Buddy) Wellman, Jr.
Diane Pottorff, Staff Writer, Wayne County News.
Mark M. Grayson, owner of the Levisa Lazer.
Pauline Donnally Adkins.
Timothy Adkins.
Mark Bellomy.
Naomi Bartram Napier.
Larry Napier.
Patricia Frasher Wallace.
James Collins.
Ralph Michael.
Margaret Ann Wellman Michael.
Sincerely yours,
John Jarrett Peters
304-429-2033
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