Published: November 29, 2008 09:36 pm      

Debris cleared from cemetery near Mount Hope

MOUNT HOPE — The graves of numerous local individuals have long perched on a hillside overlooking one of the highways leading into Mount Hope, with most passers-by oblivious to their existence.

That has changed drastically in recent months.

Volunteers, along with a crew of workers from the Fayette County Community Corrections Program’s day report center have already cleared a large amount of debris from the old MacDonald Cemetery.

The cemetery is a final resting place that includes the remains of at least 100 individuals whose deaths occurred primarily in the early 1900s.

Bob Dorado, a local businessman, says that the project was necessary.

The idea for it germinated last spring when the local merchants association was kicking around ideas for possible projects.

Dorado and a city worker took some tools to the site and cleared enough debris to create a path.

Dorado said he thinks the city at least partly cleared the cemetery about 15 years ago, but it was hard to tell that it was even there in recent years.

He says it’s been amazing to watch the progress as the cemetery has been uncovered in the summer and fall.

“I didn’t realize the cemetery was as big and huge as it is,” he said. “We found out it was going to be a massive project.

“It was an absolute jungle.”

The presence of the community corrections crew has been a major boost to the successful work so far, Dorado said. “They have been a blessing. They’ve been real helpful.”

City employees and the Mount Hope Fire Department have provided solid assistance in the cleanup efforts, he added, as well as local volunteers.

Part of Mount Hope was formerly known as MacDonald, according to the Rev. C. Shirley Donnelly’s 1958 book “Historical Notes on Fayette County, W.Va.” Donnelly wrote that MacDonald derived its name from Symington MacDonald, a wealthy native of Scotland who purchased mineral leases from Thomas McKell and started developments that eventually led to the formation of the New River Co.

Presently, the last known interment at the cemetery was in 1971, according to Dorado.

Before that, it was 1956. Most of the burials occurred in a three-decade span in the early part of the 20th century.

At least one grave holds the remains of a Civil War soldier, Abner Vernon.

According to Jeannette Fox, president of the Southern Cross chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Vernon was a Union soldier who served in Company C, 6th Regiment, W.Va. Infantry, in 1864 and 1865.

Among the local individuals watching the progress has been Tom Stafford, who has a great-grandfather buried in the cemetery.

Stafford has helped feed the corrections work crew as the members have gone about their chores in recent weeks.

Dorado said such support from families with relatives buried there, as well as local individuals and businesses, will keep the project, which he estimates as 75 to 80 percent complete, going.

“We’re not going to let it get in that shape again,” Dorado said

The merchants association has created a fund to help with the project, Dorado said.

To make a donation to the project or find out more details, call Dorado at 304-877-6441 or stop by his downtown business, American True Value Hardware, which is located just down Main Street from the cemetery.

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The cemetery cleanup is one of several projects the merchants group has remained involved in, Dorado said.

The association, which meets on Mondays, has also been involved — with other church and civic groups — in repainting and adding to signs on entrances to the city.

Also, the organization hopes to work the Coal Heritage Highway Authority to create a memorial for the old Siltex Mine portal, where an explosion in 1966 resulted in the deaths of seven miners.

— E-mail: skeenan@register-herald.com