Throughout the upper Ohio Valley, one will find numerous cemeteries that serve as monuments to the regions history.One of the more famous cemeteries in the area is the Greenwood Cemetery which is located along the historic National Road between Elm Grove and Wheeling, WV. Greenwood Cemetery was incorporated in 1866 and is the resting ground for some of Wheeling’s most prominent residents. Greenwood Cemetery was established first as a walking cemetery; a park where people could walk, sit, and relax among their friends and relatives. Today the thought of doing this is unthinkable. While on a field trip to the Greenwood Cemetery for my history of Wheeling class my classmates shuddered as we walked through the crunchy leaves and light mist while I had my eyes wide open to observe the special tombs that told stories of the dead. For example, Jacob C. Thomas stated in his will that he “wanted a suitable granted monument at a cost of not less than $15,000 to be first paid by him out if his estate.” That’s close to $300,000 in today’s dollars. 
Thats old Jacob above and his “suitable granted monument.” He’s been standing like that for nearly 110 years. Jacob C. Thomas was founder the famous Stone & Thomas Department stores. Hundreds, possibly thousands of people drive by the gates the Greenwood Cemetery everyday without knowing little gems like this exist. This is one of the uglier monuments (sorry Jacob), but an interesting example. These days we don’t rely on the cemetery for recreation, but it’s a shame we don’t pay tribute to these neighborhoods of the deceased. One of the lesser known cemeteries in the area is the West Liberty Cemetery. 
Perhaps it’s because of its location. Aside from the point that West Liberty, WV is located in rural Ohio County, the cemetery is also hidden behind a few houses. I only wish that it was in a better location so it’s stunning iron gate could be enjoyed by passer byers. On the day I visited the West Liberty Cemetery my dad happened to be with me and I said since we were in the area, lets stop and look around. His reply was something like, “But … why… it’s a cemetery.” I jested and said, “Don’t worry; the Munster family wouldn’t be caught there in the daylight, and besides their friendly.” So as we parked along side the road and nervously walked through someone’s yard to reach the cemeteries gates, we entered one of the most famously unknown cemeteries in the United States. Unfortunately I can’t verify this (yet), I’ve only heard this through word of mouth, but The West Liberty Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in the United States that contains veterans from American Revolution, defenders of Fort Henry (remember Fort Henry days blog?), and the Civil War. It would take a little more research, but it’s possible there’s a veteran from the War of 1812 also buried at the site which would set it apart from many of the others. With a search on the web I expected to find some more information on the West Liberty Cemetery, but I failed to find a documented history. The true information most likely rest in a book that was written about the town; West Liberty Yesterday and Today by CC Regier (1939). It’s a rare book that can be purchased on the web, and it may be my Christmas gift to myself hehe.
Anyway, besides being the resting grounds for our countries veterans it also severed as the burial ground from some of West Liberty’s early residents, some quite young. One can only imagine what it would have been like to follow a horse drawn wagon to the cemetery to lay your loved one to rest. The cemetery was in no means meant to be an elaborate walking cemetery such as Greenwood, but instead a simple place for the small towns deceased to rest in peace. Except for the fact that the cemetery hasn’t been used for burials in nearly a hundred years, it still remains a simple place, but sadly a forgotten place by many.
On this particular day the sight of beer bottles and cans was present throughout the yard. The cemetery is maintained by a group of volunteers who cut the grass every few weeks and do their best to maintain the headstones. As you can see from the photographs, many of the stones are either broken, illegible, or dislocated from their original resting place.
One will notice there are no statues of angels or anything of the sort because graveyard bandits have already taken them if any existed. This raises the question of preservation. With the historical West Liberty State College located just a mile away it’s a shame that more isn’t done to link to the storied grounds together in a joint effort for preservation. Without volunteers it’s hard to tell what would happen to the West Liberty Cemetery. Without the preservation of small cemeteries we’re destroying a past that others, whether it be history buffs or relatives will want to uncover. The role of the cemetery is an interesting angle to teach from when investigating social studies. Just the simple observation of headstones and their way of words in comparison to contemporary headstones is liable to catch the attention of students. Where did these people come from? What brought them to the wilderness of West Liberty? These are some of the questions that I asked myself while walking along the sunken rows of the West Liberty Cemetery. These people seem like their gone, but they’re not. Their stories still live through their headstones that tell a brief history of their lives. Even if the only thing that represents their life is decayed, just the presence of it is something for us to build off of, to document, and preserve. Part of educating about the social studies is teaching about your own community and its history, and one place to start is by examining the forgotten monuments that tell the personal histories of so many.
