West Virginia Family Locations

When my father and I did our tour of West Virginia, we stayed off the Interstate, and we stopped at a few critical places. Some were a bit challenging to find.

One was my grandparent’s funeral plot, just outside Princeton, West Virginia.

For the record, dad plans to donate his remains to science, and is not a cemetery fan.

The cemetery is Roselawn Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, located at 450 Courthouse Road, Princeton, WV 24740. There are two large cemeteries there, and they are buried in the second area, not the one with the main office. However, that main office is very good at helping you locate individual plots. The phone number is (304) 425-8103.

One of the key landmarks in locating their marker is a large stone bible, shown in the picture below. As you enter the cemetery, it is off to the left.

Here is a photo of their grave marker.

Grace McCue Bobbitt – 14 Feb 1899 – 7 Apr 1970

James Sterling Bobbitt – 30 Dec 1895 – 28 Mar 1975

Here is my father at the site, and in the background the street and a large tower that also helps to locate the spot.

Interestingly, there is a McCue Cemetery also in the area, though we did not visit.

Grandfather Sterling taught High School in Spanishburg, West Virginia, just up the road. That was where he met my grandmother, Grace. Their’s was a secretive romance for a while.

And as they might actually recognize it:

My Aunt Lola was at one point dubbed “The Queen of Gauley Bridge.” That she was. One vivid memory I have was during the time I was in school at West Virginia University. I was driving through the neighborhood and gave her a call at my father’s urging.

She was thrilled to have a guest, and I was thrilled at the prospect of a good meal and comfy bed. Just my luck that it was also Derby Day, and the broadcast from Kentucky had just started when I arrived. We sipped iced tea and watched the race with much fanfare. She knew her thoroughbreds. We had a feast, topped off with Strawberry Rhubarb pie. I became a rhubarb fan there and then. She told many wonderful family stories, and I regret not pulling out a notebook.

That night, I snuggled down into that comfy bed and could hear the rough and tumble of the Gauley River, seemingly just below my window. It is a world-class whitewater challenge, only rafted for a month every year. Just below the window it was joining forces with the New River.

It was a delightful visit, and I loved spending time with the Queen.

Papa and I visited Gauley Bridge and found the house above the roiling waters, although it had been extensively modified since my lovely Aunt Lola reigned there.

One of our next stops was Summersville, where the family history is well established. We started out at another cemetery, Walker Memorial, located behind Memorial United Methodist Church and a Hardee’s restaurant. It was also known as Old Groves Cemetery.

Interestingly, just behind the sign one can see “family.”

Samuel McClung and his wife Anna are in front, with the gray stone. Charles E. and Phyllis Summers are also relatives. Uncle Charlie was one of our rowdier relatives, always enlivening family reunions and delighting his nephew. Behind them is another Bobbitt stone, memorializing Elijah Bobbitt and his wife, Rowena. They were my great-grandparents.

The McCue family burials were further toward the back of the cemetery. Both the Bobbitt Family and the McCue Family have a significant presence on the hillside.

The cemetery’s website lists 14 Bobbitts and 23 McCues.

• Anna Lauretta Newlon Bobbitt – 7 Sep 1884 – 14 Jun 1960
• Charles Bobbitt – 1853 – 1856
• Elijah Bobbitt – 22 May 1855 – 9 Apr 1931
• Flossie Mabel Baker Bobbitt – 21 Dec 1897 – 30 Dec 1982
• Joanna Susan Bobbitt – 14 Jan 1845 – 15 Dec 1863
• John William Bobbitt – 11 Dec 1922 – 15 Oct 2018
• Lee Otis Bobbitt – 25 Aug 1883 – 25 Dec 1963
• Leona C Bobbitt – 1884 – 1901
• Mary Elizabeth Williams Bobbitt – 8 Nov 1826 – 8 Oct 1866
• Matilda Irene “Tilda” Bobbitt – 1847 – 13 Apr 1867
• Maude Bobbitt – 1882 – 1900
• Rowena Davis Robinson Bobbitt – 12 Apr 1857 – 2 Oct 1931
• Rufus Bobbitt – 1826 – 1872
• Samuel McClung Bobbitt – 1 Jan 1889 – 18 Mar 1936
• Beatrice Thomas McCue – 15 Apr 1905 – 8 Mar 1983
• Carrie Wiesenfield McCue – May 1864 – 2 May 1949
• Cecilia McCue – 10 Feb 1907 – 21 Aug 1974
• Charles Vail McCue – 17 Jul 1917 – 13 Jul 2002
• Dollie McCue – 1875 – 1971
• Emma Elizabeth Dooley McCue – 23 Feb 1896 – 20 Feb 1967
• Ethel Virginia McCue – 29 Oct 1923 – 1 Sep 2013
• Irene McCue – 3 Mar 1921 – 10 Oct 1993
• James Edward McCue – 27 Nov 1915 – Mar 1970
• Jerry Allen McCue – 6 Aug 1942 – 20 Jul 2019
• Joe McCue – 5 May 1913 – 17 Dec 1977
• John Bruce McCue – 17 Feb 1896 – 4 Aug 1967
• John McClung McCue – 27 Oct 1828 – 31 Aug 1904
• Junior McCue – 1924 – 1975
• Kimberli Jeanne McCue – 8 Oct 1961 – 29 Jun 2010
• Kyle Bright McCue – 9 Jul 1854 – 13 Mar 1933
• Martha E McCue – 1 Aug 1857 – 28 Feb 1892
• Mary Jane Burr McCue – 2 Oct 1829 – 12 Mar 1858
• Nellie McCue – 1906 – 1989
• Paul McCue – 14 Oct 1911 – Sep 1982
• Ralph Gordon McCue – 29 Dec 1945 – 23 May 1948
• William D McCue – 1903 – 1982
• William David McCue – 10 Jul 1940 – 25 Oct 1996

Much more interesting than where they now rest is where they lived.

Next stop was the location of the Bobbitt Family Farm. Please note that the family does not live there anymore, so please respect the current owners. We started driving out of Summersville on the Old Route 19, headed roughly north toward the town of Muddlety, and my father pointed “That way!” Unfortunately, the road had been blocked.

However, after driving on the NEW Route 19 a way, we found an exit for Old Route 19. Here is a closer view of that route. Note that north is to the right.

Driving up old Route 19, we came to Peach Orchard Rd. On the map above, it is labeled 19/8. Here is what that turn-off to the left looked like.

As you drive up Peach Orchard Rd., you will go past four significant left bends and then a slight one, then a big bend with a road in middle, headed off to the left. That middle road, Trout Run Road, goes down to what used to be the Bobbitt farm. Trout Run is the lower road, headed down to the bottom of the hill on the left in the photo. There is a Y at the end of Trout Run, and houses and trailers to the left and right. Again, please do not disturb the latest residents.

Next stop was the McCue Farm.

You can drive up the NEW Highway 19 until you reach Muddlety. There, you will leave Rte. 19 and get on Scenic Highway 55.

Here is what the scene looked like recently. I miss the beautiful old trees that used to shade the house and front yard.

Here are several photos of the farm as I first knew it.

Dear vegans, like my wonderful son, avert your tender eyes.

Our last stop on this portion of the trip will be the 4H Camp Caesar. It was the site of many, many family reunions until the golfing set switched us over to Pipestem, a fancy resort with all of the amenities and some of the most impressive vistas I’ve seen of West Virginia – and I have seen a good many. The number for Camp Caesar is (304) 226-3888.

You can find Pipestem on line as well.

A very early memory is meeting more cousins than I had ever dreamed of, and gathering for the big group photos with my grandparents. I also vividly remember the night they decided to show the movie Treasure Island, and being petrified. When young Jim Hawkins climbs the mast and pirates surely follow, terror overwhelmed me. I found that hiding under a bench was not nearly as effective as under a bed!