Glad you stopped by!

We had a great reunion tour this year beginning at the Central Cemetery. From there we went to the Clem’s Branch School house, a community school attended by all pupils in the Central Community from 1870 (shortly after the Civil War ended) until 1941 (shortly before America entered World War II). Shade Mecum, current owner of the school, gave us a brief history of the building. It has been a school, a hardware store and a workshop for a previous owner, Levin Smith. Many former students have come by to tell tales from their school days. One common thread seems to be the “water fountain” which was not a fountain at all. It was a water “barrel.” Each student had his or her own metal cup that hung along the rim of the water bucket. Drinking water from Clem’s Branch must have been good for you as many of the students of the school lived long and successful lives!

From the school we proceeded “up the hill” to the new location of the Everett Cornett house (most of us “younger folks” know it as the Arthur Cornett house). The house was built by Timothy Anderson and Jim Ross just west of the Clem’s Branch School on the opposite side of the road. In 1994-95 the house was moved approximately half a mile south to it’s present location. The house has been beautifully restored and updated by Shade and Suzanne Mecum who graciously gave us a tour. Most of the house has been restored to it’s original splendor. Some improvements and upgrades were made, but they blend in beautifully with the old house. An example is the expansion of the original porch from a “shed roof” to a full wrap around porch. We had visited the home about a dozen years ago and it is even better today. Thank you Shade and Suzanne!

The caravan then moved west to the Jacob Anderson family cemetery. The cemetery contains over one dozen graves marked with field stones. We have no way of determining which of the graves belongs to Jacob, his wife Susannah Buchanan, or others. A bronze memorial plaque for Jacob Anderson was dedicated in the John Anderson cemetery (Jacob’s son) behind Garnett Anderson’s house at the Anderson Cornett reunion on August 24, 1974. Jacob Anderson (1756-1825) was a member of the Montgomery County Virginia militia in the Revolutionary War. Montgomery County was formed in 1777 from Fincastle County (1772) and encompassed a broad area, including present day Grayson County. Montgomery County was subdivided into Wythe County (1790) and eventually Grayson County in 1792-93. Jacob was approximately 20-25 years old during his service in Osborne’s Company. Accompanied by his brother, John, and probably other kinsmen, Jacob had arrived in Grayson County from his birthplace in the Deleware River Valley (New Jersey) in order to acquire new lands. – From Anderson Cornett newsletter by Paula Anderson Green.

The Jacob Anderson Cemetery is owned and maintained by Jason Funk and family who also shoulder the mowing duties at the Central Cemetery. Great-great-great-great grandsons of Jacob expressed interest in moving the memorial plaque for Jacob from its present location to Jacob’s gravesite, perhaps as early as this fall. We will keep you posted.

From the Jacob Anderson gravesite the wagon train rolled east to the home of Garnett Anderson (great-great grandson of Jacob). The house was built by Garnett in 1942 after he returned from his adventure in Tennessee. Chris and Leslie Stevens, the new owners, have worked really hard over the past year to turn the overgrown home place into a working farmstead. Bushels of poison ivy have been harvested and sent to market… In other words they have cleaned up many of the out buildings and made the place look like it did when I was a child – a remarkable accomplishment! They have a beautiful garden out front, chickens roaming the “back 40” and even 3 bee hives. The place looks great. So does the house. The Stevens’ graciously allowed the group to tour the inside of their home. I will post pictures soon. It was great!

As usual, we got busy talking and enjoying one another’s company so much that we got behind on the schedule so we had to cut the tour short. We did not get to visit the Archelous Cornett Cemetery… but we did eat. Not in Elk Creek but in Independence. After a nice meal and some more socializing we headed to the Grayson County Heritage Foundation for some serious research. Ginger Ballard was very helpful in helping us track down Rufus Anderson, and other “lost” individuals. It was a really nice day. Don’t you wish you had been there! Maybe next year:

Archelous Cornett Cemetery on the property of Randall and Hilda Sutherland in Comers Rock.  James Cornett, b. 1760, d. 1824 and his brother, David, b. 1750, d. 1847 are buried here.  The location of David and his wife, Adaline’s stones is unknown, their names appear with the notation, “Cemetery Unknown”.   However, because this cemetery is on the land on which James and David grew up, David could be buried in this cemetery too.

Hope to see you Saturday!

We are happy to announce the NEW web presence of the Central Cemetery in Grayson County Virginia. This website is brand new so check back often as updates will be appearing often in the coming days. We hope to add pages of photographs, family histories, minutes of Board meetings and much more.

The CENTRAL CEMETERY DECORATION was terrific.

Central Cemetery celebrated Decoration Day on June 23, 2013. We had a nice turnout on a beautiful summer morning. It is always nice to see families and friends get together and “catch up” as they stroll through the picturesque Cemetery grounds. The scenic view of the surrounding countryside from “on top of the hill” makes it easy to understand why our ancestors chose this spot to memorialize the departed.

          

The grass was neatly trimmed and the headstones shone brightly in the morning sun. Many of the graves were beautifully decorated with flowers in every color. At 11:00 we began our service with some updates over the activities concerning the Cemetery over the past year. David Trent gave an inspired service featuring Scripture reading from John 14:2. David and his wife had just finished a week of Bible School at their church and we appreciate them coming out to deliver our Sunday morning message.

CLEANUP DAY AT CENTRAL was a huge success – June 22, 2013

On Saturday, June 22, 2013 friends of the Central Cemetery met at the Cemetery for a workday to help keep it sparkling. It is inspiring to see “the regulars” who come out year after year on the Saturday before Decoration to clean and maintain the graves of their loved ones. These family stones are beautifully kept with not a speck of moss or algae to be found on the markers. The graves are always beautifully decorated as a tribute to the memory of their loved ones. THANK YOU!

     

This year we had enough “strong backs” to do some heavier maintenance work. We were able to straighten and repair over a dozen leaning headstones. Some were completely “lifted and leveled,” while others were leveled and re-tamped on their low side. A couple of stones had their bases repaired with cement and caulking. It was a good day for Central!

                  

This year we had enough “strong backs” to do some heavier maintenance work. We were able to straighten and repair over a dozen leaning headstones. Some were completely “lifted and leveled,” while others were leveled and re-tamped on their low side. A couple of stones had their bases repaired with cement and caulking. It was a good day for Central!  Some of the graves attended to include:

Charlie Anderson, b. September 23, 1931 d. February 16, 1934 – son of Earnest Anderson – Row “E” #1

Nelson Munsey Anderson, b. February 12, 1891 d. March 28, 1900 – son of Timothy A. Anderson – Row “E” #9

Sebert Anderson, b. March 23, 1912 d. July 29, 1913 – son of Elijah Anderson – Row “E” #8

Vivian Lee Anderson, b. January 8, 1914 d. March 1, 1914 – child of Eli Roscoe Anderson – Row “E” #7

Eugene Anderson, b. November 21, 1914 d. December 31, 1914 – son of Eli Roscoe Anderson – Row “E” #6

D. L. Robinson, b. February 10, 1862 d. November 28, 1862 – child of Elias & Margaret Robinson – Row “I” #12

Virginia Evaline Livesay Cornett, b. February 25, 1847 d. October 17, 1904 – Row “F” #14

Muncey Dean Cornett, b. April 13, 1894 d. April 23, 1824 – son of Wiley & Rose Cornett – Row “F” #9

We had a cook out at noon featuring hot dogs and hamburgers. After lunch we traveled to Garnet Anderson’s home now owned by Chris and Leslie Stevens. They have done a terrific job of restoring the farm to its Garnet era splendor. The out buildings have been cleaned and repaired and there are even chickens running around the place! Leslie shared some artwork she found of various buildings around the Anderson farm drawn by Orrin Morris back in the 1980’s. After visiting with the Stevens’ we cleaned off the cemetery behind the house where John Anderson and family are buried.

Thanks especially to Andy Anderson and Ronnie Russell for their hard work on Saturday (Ronnie even brought his 4-wheeler and trailer to haul dirt and remove some stumps). These gentlemen worked hard at Central and at the John Anderson site. A slideshow of Saturday’s activities appears below.

Electronic versions of the newsletter have been emailed to folks who have provided email addresses. In my haste to get the newsletter out there were a couple of errors. The most serious error was my mistakenly naming Betty Conyer as deceased. I was attempting to give credit to Myrtle “Katie” Scruggs who remembered Central Cemetery in her will by leaving us a generous gift. Betty Conyer was the executrix of Mrs. Scruggs estate and I placed her name in the newsletter in error. I apologize for my carelessness. The Central Cemetery Committee truly appreciates all donations to the Cemetery and wish to recognize all those who support our work. Here is a link to a corrected PDF version of the 2013 Central Cemetery Newsletter