Just want to let everyone know that the small Cottrill Cemetery off Rte. 119 on Speed Rd., 6 miles south of Spencer is being restored. The cemetery is the resting place for Rachel Hughes Cottrill and some of her descendants. Rachel (1779-1860) Hughes Cottrill was the daughter of the West Virginia frontiersman & Indian fighter Jesse and Grace Tanner Hughes. She and William Cottrill (1770-1825)were married May 19, 1794 in Harrison Co., VA(WV) and were the parents of 9 children, many of whom settled on Spring Creek area of present-day Roane County.

Every marker in the Cottrill Family Cemetery had been vandalized, broken, and otherwise made illegible. The cemetery grounds were strewn with barrels of unknown materials, tires, broken bottles, overgrown with trees, etc. & was basically being used as a trash dump.
Plans are underway to restore the cemetery by reassembling & resetting the markers, fencing the area and possibly getting a new marker for Rachel Hughes Cottrill. Her marker has been found but broken into over 50 pieces!

The picture posted with this article is from Fall 2007. All of that undergrowth has now been removed and the individual markers have been identified with numbered stakes.

Help is needed with further cleanup and financial help is needed for the project. If you have questions, you may contact me, Linda Cottrell Liss, at WVRoots@aol.com
Restoration donations may be sent to me & made payable to Cottrill Cemetery Restoration Project, 262 Pine Circle, Dunbar, WV 25064-1240.

Roane County Historical Society is proud to announce the 14th Annual Genealogy Fair will be held Saturday, September 27, 2008 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Heritage Park in Spencer.

If you have never been to our Genealogical Fair, you might want to check out pictures from last years fair. You'll find a room filled with people with an interest in the genealogy and history of the Roane County area. Various organizations from the surrounding area and many individuals will have displays, selling publications or just sharing information. There will be people not only willing, but excited to talk to you about your family history. You might discover a lost cousin, and you can almost count on meeting new friends. It doesn't matter if you have been researching your lines for years, or are just thinking about getting started, join us and you won't be disappointed.

From the Weekly Bulletin
Roane Couny, WV
March 30, 1887

Jesse Tanner, of near this place, died on last Saturday morning in his ninety-first year. On Tuesday before he apparently died for a few minutes but soon revived and was in his right mind. Among other things he said "I will have this all to do over again" evidently referring to his death on Tuesday.

We extend our congratulations to long time Roane County Historical Society member Jack Nida, who was honored as a History Hero by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.

Jack, a retired business man who maintains a home in Amma, as well as in Atlanta, earned this award for his significant contributions during the past year to preserving the history of Roane County.

The following is a transcription from the family Bible of Nathan S. Keen.

FLYLEAF:
Nathan S. Keen
Newton
W Va

FLYLEAF REVERSE:
Mr N S Keen

PAGE HEADED "MARRIAGES:"
Nathan S. Keen and
Blanch M Upton Was Marryed
June the 22 1876
Nancy J Nichols was born Nov 21 1878
Died July the 4 1900

PAGE HEADED "BIRTHS:"
Charles N Keen was borned
June the 1st 1877 Nancy J Keen
was borned Nov the 21 1878
Mary F Keen was borned Nov
the 17 1881 Isaac E Keen was borned
July 31 1883 Leonia H Keen was
borned oct the 9th 1885 Virginia S
Keen was borned Nov the 28th 1887
Robert L Keen was borned feb the
9th 1890 Linna M Keen was borned
June the 17th 1892
Cora Keen July 22 1896

PAGE HEADED "DEATHS:"
Nancy J Nichols Died July 4 1900
Virginia S Keen Died may the 3 1906

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
The records of the marriage of Nathan Keen and Blanch (sic) Upton, and all of the births except that of Cora Keen, are written in a greenish ink, and would appear to have been written at the same time. All other writings are in black ink.

The latest copyright date in this Bible is 1885, which is therefore the earliest possible date that Mr Keen could have obtained it. If the green-ink records were indeed written all at one time, that must have been sometime between 1892 and 1896.

Transcribed by David W. Griffith, February 2008.