Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery is an
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
in
Romney,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The cemetery is located along the
Northwestern Turnpike
The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia (Virginia at the time the road was created), important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the ...
(
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...
) below
Indian Mound Cemetery
Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The ceme ...
overlooking Sulphur Spring Run.
Historically known as the Romney Colored Cemetery and more recently as the Romney African-American Cemetery, the cemetery was created for African-Americans in the
South Branch Valley who were not permitted to be interred in the city's Indian Mound Cemetery. The cemetery has been in use since the early 19th century and continues to serve Romney's African-American community.
The cemetery is the final resting place of Alfred Whiting Sr. A marker on his grave claims that he served in the Confederate States Army, although Historic Hampshire website notes his obituary states that he was a body servant, and no evidence exists to suggest that he had any formal position in the CSA.
The cemetery is currently maintained by the Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church, from which it takes its name. The town council of Romney has reportedly sought to secure the deed of the cemetery, as of November 2023.
See also
*
List of historic sites in Hampshire County, West Virginia
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
Indian Mound Cemetery
Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The ceme ...
References
External links
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*
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Wayne McGahuey's Hampshire County Cemetery Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery
African-American cemeteries in West Virginia
African-American history of West Virginia
Cemeteries in West Virginia
Northwestern Turnpike
Protected areas of Hampshire County, West Virginia
Romney, West Virginia