The Squire

My 3rd great grandfather, Uriah Duckworth (1799-1891), was a Westernport magistrate for 50 years. While a magistrate, his decisions were rarely overturned in a higher court. He taught school in Lonaconing where many of his pupils remembered him with affection. He was a great hunter, always carrying a rifle and was a dead shot.

Uriah and his wife Nellie are buried in a small cemetery-Duckworth-on Stoney Run Road close to the Baptist Church.
 

Sinclair Family Graveyard

 

Bob's 3rd great, grandfather is buried here near Watters Smith State Park. On private land off Pooh Bear Road, Anna Sinclair was William Maddox' daughter.

William Maddox, born in Eastern Virginia, came to Clarksburg young and became part owner of the Old Point Mill. He married Sarah Gaston and settled on Duck Creek. In 1825, he erected a log house. William and Sarah raised a large family. There were farmers.

May, 2021

Back to Grasslick

 

When we visited the Grasslick Baptist Church Cemetery years ago to view the graves of Bob's great grandparents, we did not realize the 2nd great grandparents are buried here too.

During the Civil War, Thomas Maddock was a soldier who likely required medical treatment. He married Martha M. Goodwin in 1846. They had nine children in 18 years. He died on March 13, 1901, in West Virginia having lived a long life of 81 years, and was buried in Kenna, West Virginia. Martha and Thomas were farmers.

William Rufus Maddox and Rosetta Casto are Bob's great-grandparents, married in 1883. Like their parents, they were farmers. W.R. and Rosetta had seven children. 

2021

Webster Cemetery on Angel Ridge Road

 

Though the plot was just past Poverty Ridge, it was fenced and maintained with azalea bushes in full bloom. Elmore Casto (Bob's 2nd great grandfather) and his wife Phoebe Cunningham, who had 13 children together, are buried here. Elmore lived to the ripe old age of 92. His inscription is on the opposite side of the tall marker.

 

"Farewell my husband and children all

From you a mother Christ doth call

Weep not for me, it is in vain 

To call me to your sight again"

2021

Pringle Casto Cemetery

On a pretty spring day, we visited 3 cemeteries near Ripley WV where we viewed grave sites of Bob's 7 grandparents. This family plot was on a hill overlooking the Fairplain exit of 77 where we parked by a road we didn't want to navigate and walked. 

 

James Casto is Bob's 3rd great-grandfather. He served in the War of 1812 when he was 29 years old. In 1817, James married Sidney Kessel. They had 12 children. James died in 1866, having lived a long life of 80 years. There is no marker for Sidney though records say she is buried here too. Sidney was 18 years younger and died in 1883.

2021 

Sunset Memorial

 

Bob's paternal grandfather, Augustus "A.B." and A.B.'s mother Victoria are buried here. The map indicates the lots where he and his mother are buried. Victoria Mease Gay, A.B.'s mother, married Harvey Hanson after A.B.'s father, George, died. Victoria is buried with her second husband. No one knows why she was called "Queen Victoria" though the 1880 census lists a white servant in her house.

Victoria's sister Octavia and Harvey's brother Charles (pictured) had been married for 30 years when Victoria and Harvey married.  

A.B.'s father George W. Gay was born in 1844 and died in 1899. George was the first husband of Victoria Mease. He was a miner. George married Victoria Mease on December 29, 1869. He is buried at Littlepage Cemetery (now overgrown) in West Charleston.

 

Augustus

 

 

Bob's paternal grandfather, Augustus, was a lifelong resident of Kanawha County and owner of a Charleston trucking company. In his younger days, A.B. was a chauffeur for John Ringling of Ringling Brothers Fame in Florida. Bob's mother Maxine worked at Montgomery Wards in Charleston when she met her future father-in-law delivering furniture. A.B. is buried at Sunset Memorial Park in South Charleston.