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.

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.

To honor those who have served our country, we now have a Veterans Album in our Photos Section.

If you have a photo of a Roane County Veteran that you would like to honor, please take a moment to add it to the album.

(Click here to view the album.)

Longtime state archives & history director dismissed without warning.