Based on information supplied by Jane McDonald Jamison, the one cemetery at Peach Creek is called the McDonald Cemetery but there’s also a McDonald Cemetery at Crooked Creek. Dodie (Smith) Browning has also identified one of the cemeteries at Crooked Creek as the Whitman Cemetery. There is also a third cemetery at Crooked Creek. Kathy Winters reported that it’s called the Hainor Cemetery
(Note: The original name for this post was Peach Creek WV Cemeteries.)
If you wish to leave a comment about a cemetery photo, please mention the name on the headstone or the photo’s reference number.
Note: This is a multi-page gallery. After you view the last photo, move to the bottom and select the next page.
The photos below (courtesy of Kathy Winters) are from cemeteries at Crooked Creek.
Hello everyone, wonderful job on the headstones. A suggestion for you when doing Hungarian headstones, please go to translate.reference.com.
RE: Headstone of Joseph Nagy in the Crooked Creek Cemetery, the words Lesza Keszi mean, I will be ready. Joseph in Hungarian is written as Jozsef.
RE: Headstone of Mrs. Joseph Ratti Nee, it was a Hungarian custom for the wife to honor her deceased husband when she died, thus in this case using Joseph. The dates appear to be, born- July 15,1912 & died July 11,1937. The word Gyongyosi, has something to do with death. You have the grave as #157.
Years ago, a man cleaned some family graves for me in Yuma WV Cemetery and he used a special type of acid for the headstones. He said that he bought it at Baisden Brothers. Take care. Bob Piros
Thank you very much for the information and help. I’ve updated the image descriptions.
Hi Kathy,
Did you photograph ALL the graves at the old McDonald Cemetery on Crooked Creek? My wife has some relatives (Medley and Doss) reportedly buried there whose tombstones are not pictured. We were already planning a trip to the cemetery when we found your pictures.
Thanks for your help.
Rick
These are wonderful photographs. Maltravars McDonald and Scott McDonald are the brothers of my greatgrandfather, Astynax McDonald. I think, but am not sure, that the grave that has the fence around it is the grave of “Fat” Brooks’ daughter. I don’t know his real name, and it may not be the same grave, but he had a fence around it and always kept in in wonderful condition. My father’s sister, Evelyn McDonald, is buried right next to the grave if it’s the same one. Thanks all of you for such research and memories.
My Grandmother, Lola McDonald Hall, was the daughter of Maltravers
Kathy, These pictures are fabulous! I have a tip for the next time you visit an old cemetery where writing is hard to read though. Bath powder (or baby powder, talc. etc.) will bring the old writing out and no damage will be done to stones. My husband and I made several trips to Tazwell County VA back in the 1980s, trying to get dates from old tombstones. One trip I worked for hours on the stone of one of my ancestors (Rosannah Fannin) Steele, using a very expensive rubbibg kit with no luck. I tried several different “products” and no luck. I knew that she died in 1856, but didn’t have a birthdate for her. I have the family Bible, but that writing was faded too. I took a box of bath powder with a “powder puff” to Va on my last trip and lo and behold, as soon as I lightly dusted it, there was her birthdate-Dec. 17, 1779!! Even the Tazewell Historical Society couldn’t bring up the date when they recorded the graves in that old cemetery. Frank, don’t forget to take some powder and a “puff” with you when you climb that old Peach Creek Cemetery on your trip this winter. It works like a miracle!
I am just glad to share them with everyone. Dodie that is a great idea about the powder but I wonder if it will do damage to the stone? I had a DAR member tell us to use shaving cream as it would make the lettering stand out so it could be read & will do no harm to the stone. After doing some research I found out that some of the chemicals in the shaving cream cause the stones to breakdown faster. I just wonder if that would be the case with the powder. I will have to research it but thanks for the great tip!
Kathy,
I never liked the idea of shaving creme- too messy and hard to remove from the stone. The amount of bath powder you need to bring up the writing on a stone is minimal. Just be careful not to inhale any. You can also use cornstarch, but it is usually not as fine as commercial bath powder. As far as damaging the headstones, the first wind blows it away and/or the first rain washes it away. It is best to use a large fluffy powder puff. The stones I used it on were limestone and so old and crumbling that a light dusting of powder surely wouldn’t do any more harm than nature had already done. If I’m not mistaken, the natural minerals in talc are found in stone??
Dodie,
Sheryl and I will be going to Logan next week-end (Oct. 29/30) we will of course be making a trip to Peach Creek – we will check to see if the steps, going up the hill, by your old house, are still there. We won’t climb them, (Sheryl might) but I will take a few pictures.
Fran,
That would be great! Even if you could just get a picture of the steps, it would show Frank how to get up to the Peach Creek Cemetery when he goes this winter. Wonder if those houses on the hill in back of my house are still there? Those steps were the only way that the residents on the hill could get to their houses. I remember Mrs. Bostwick (Julia) lived up there and she was in her eighties when we left there, but still climbed those steps! She died in a nursing home 1959 at age 86.
WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE CEMETERY ON THE BEHIND WHAT USED TO THE BASEBALL FIELD DOWN PAST MRS ADAMS’ HOUSE? I WAS BORN AND RAISED ON CROOKED CREEK IN 1958. WAS THE CEMETERY NEAR THE FORKS OF THE ROAD; DOWN FROM THE OLD MINES ALSO A MCDONALD CEMETERY? SOME OF THE FLEMING AND VERNATTERS ARE BURIED THERE ALSO.
My grandparents, Clarence (Red) & Orpha Stephens lived at Crooked Creek. I remember a cemetery on the hill behind their house. It could also be accessed from the ramp road.
Kathy, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. Wish I could have been there. The small cemetery at Peach Creek is up on the hill from the back street. There are only two streets in Peach Creek. I don’t know of a Peach Creek cemetery close to a mine. The mine is up Peach Creek Hollow and I was never up there. The other mines were at Crooked Creek. If you go to this page http://loganwv.us/peach-creek-west-virginia-a-doorway-to-america/ and count down 11 pictures there is a very good picture of the old post office. You can see a house up on the hill and the cemetery is up on top of that hill. Since Jane told us who was buried there, I think we should call that one the Astynax McDonald Cemetery. There used to be steps up that hill in back of my house, but that was in the 1950s and I don’t know if they are still there. My house was the 3rd house in back of the old post office. I would be especially interested to know where John and Elizabeth (Henderson) McDonald are buried. They were the first McDonalds to settle there (Crooked Creek) and were the ancestors of all the others. As well as I can tell, they settled there about 1834 and John died sometime between 1853 and 1860. Can’t wait to see the rest of your pictures!
Dodie,
Thanks for the great info! I know where you are talking about now. Saw the street but didn’t think anything was up there. I probably won’t get back to Logan until spring time & I will definitely check it out. I don’t know if Frank will put all the pictures up so if you want to send me a mailing address I will be happy to send you a disk as well. Let me know.
I remember a cemetary up Peach Creek holler. It was on the left side of the road right before you got to the tipple. I can’t remember how many graves were there, but they had stone markers.
Pertaining to your Question as to the gravesite of John McDonald, I posed that very question to my father now deceased, (Joseph McDonald) back about ten years ago. He said he found the answer the hard way years ago when he was a child when he chose to play hookie from school on a pretty spring day. He said that he came upon the cemetery accidentally and saw the huge tombstone with the names on it, this after having actually sat on it to rest. Later on in the day when he saw his father Joseph Floyd McDonald he asked him if he knew about the graveyard and about those graves. His father’s response was what do you know about them. He said his face got red and he confessed where he had been. My Grandfather told him that that was his Grandfather and Grandmothers grave. After which he got the switch, Dad always said he took it for the sake of posterity, (not that he had much choice). Anyway the cemetery that he referred to is located on High Street in Logan. I asked dad if he knew specifically where that grave was and he said it had been to many years to remember. But even up until just several months before he died he held to the story that there is where John is buried. In the summer of 2005 my brother and I went to the cemetery. It is very old and I found that not to many people know of it. I sure didn’t, I had no luck in finding the graves because it was so overgrown. This cemetery is surprisingly large but only certain parts were cleared. I was told the name of it by a local resident (a German name) and they told me the cemetery is now owned by the First Baptist Church of Logan. I followed up with the church to try and confirm the burial plots but they had no accurate records as to the names. So I guess the only way to confirm the reality of this claim would be to physically clear the entire cemetery.
Dodie & Frank
I was talking to 2 elderly gentlemen (that lived at the end of Peach Creek Road) while I was on Peach Creek Road about the cemetery in Peach Creek . They said you would take the road all the way to the end where it becomes dirt & once you were on it you took the road to the left & went down that road about a 100 yards or so & it was up the mountain – he also said that this road lead down to the old mine. When I couldn’t find it he walked me to it. His name was Paris (sp?) & he stated that the old mine office building sat to the right of it & that there were no longer any headstones left there he stated something about it being a mine cemetery – not sure what he meant. I walked up the mountain about halfway to the spot he showed me & could not find anything. I took a few pictures of the area & will send those on the disk to Frank also. Can you tell me approximately where the old post office was on Peach Creek?
I thought that the main cemetery that I sent the pictures of was the Crooked Creek Cemetery but I was at the McDonald family reunion & those that I spoke with said some referred to it as the Crooked Creek or McDonald Cemetery. One of the ladies was sweet enough to drive with me & show me where the Hainor Cemetery was (her family is buried there) showed me the McDonald Cemetery – which was down the road from the Hainor Cemetery & the Whitten Cemetery was on the opposite side of the road. She thought there was a 4th one towards the end of the road but could not remember exactly where & said it could not be seen from the road. I went back a couple of days later but could never spot the 4th one. If anyone can tell me where the 2nd McDonald Cemetery is I would love to explore it.
I want to say that everyone that my sister (she was on the journey with me) & I came across & spoke with were wonderful, friendly & tried to help us in any way they could & we really appreciated it! I want to especially thank the McDonald Family for inviting us to the reunion & all the help & memories that they shared with us.
Yes, it probably should be Crooked Creek Cemeteries. Maybe add the Peach Creek one after you climb that hill on your trip this winter?
Will do. Thanks.
Frank and Kathy, there is only 1 cemetery at Peach Creek. It is on the hill in back of the old Post Office. The others (including the one in these pictures I suspect) are at Crooked Creek. I finally figured out why the confusion about locations of cemeteries. It depended on the mailing address at the time a person died. Some death records say Hughey, some say Crooked Creek and some say Peach Creek. There is definitely a difference. It was the same for residents of West Logan when they used to get their mail at Peach Creek. I think The Genealogy Society made the same mistake when they recorded a Crooked Creek Cemetery and called it Peach Creek. It is my understanding that there are two McDonald Cemeteries at Crooked Creek, a Whitman Cemetery and a Hainor/Hainer Cemetery- ALL at CROOKED CREEK, not Peach Creek.
So, should I rename this to Crooked Creek Cemeteries? When I looked the Google map, I also realized the mistake. Thank you, Dodie.
Frank,
It is my opinion that it should be called Crooked Creek and Peach Creek Cemeteries, since we began by discussing the cemetery at Peach Creek, we don’t want to forget that one! The one at Peach Creek was not at Crooked Creek.