|
Mundell Pioneer Cemetery
The Mundell Pioneer Cemetery is located within the boundaries of 'Mundell's Choice', the original homestead property of James
Mundell. The cemetery is on the top of a hill, though there is very little to indicate it as such. No fence surrounds the
parcel, which has been left in perpetuity as a family plot, and ivies run rampant. Unfortunately, it's not the picturesque
ivy one might imagine climbing across an old English castle, or its grounds, with green and white leaves painting a naturalistic
canvas. Instead, the ivies are of the poisonous variety - oak, ivy, & sumac - and are firmly rooted within. The plot has
been neglected for so long that even trees have grown right out of the graves themselves.
For many years, old headstones stood silent vigil over the plot, but even mother nature wore them down to the point where
any trace of a name or date was no longer legible. There used to be a dozen or more of them, but now there are but three.
It has been speculated that someone one removed several of the stones and used them as pavers for a new walk for his house
(people remember seeing the new walk and its stones with suspiciously curved sides). Unfortunately, this person is said to
have been well-connected to a particular public official, thus making it pointless to try and lodge a complaint.
Perhaps someday a proper monument can be placed to memorialize all who lie in eternal rest there, with a fence to mark the
parcel and an obelisk with everyone's names engraved upon it...
To view pictures of the Mundell Pioneer Cemetery, click here.
Mundell Cemetery at Garard's Fort
This plot is probably the second most 'known' of all of the Mundell family plots. Located in the Goshen Baptist Church Cemetery
in Garards Fort, just east of the Church itself, the cemetery is well maintained and still in use.
Abner M. Mundell (3rd son of James & Margaret) and his wife, Mary Craig Barnhill, were originally buried in a family cemetery
in nearby Willow Tree, but were later reburied in this cemetery. Six of their descendants are buried here, as well.
A memorial plaque for Garard's Fort reads:
Site of frontier refuge in Revolutionary War. Station of a small detachment of Virginia militia in 1777, when this area was
claimed as part of Monongalia County, Virginia. Near here, on May 12, 1782, the wife and three children of the noted Baptist
minister, Rev. John Corbly, were killed while on their way to church; two of Corbly's other children were wounded in the same
Indian attack but survived.
To view pictures of the Mundell Cemetery at Garard's Fort, click here.
|
