Published: September 19, 2008 04:13 pm      

Preserve our heritage! Help locate graves of our Confederate soldiers

For the past 11 years, I have been searching local pioneer cemeteries that contain the graves of our Confederate soldiers (ancestors) from Mercer County.

I have, to date, identified some of these soldiers and have taken over 400 photos of their grave markers. This includes graves in Mercer, Summers, Raleigh, Giles and all over the United States, including burial sites in Northern POW camps.

Mercer County had over 1,100 of its citizens who joined the Confederate States of America during the War Between the States — more than any other county in Virginia during that time. They are buried everywhere, and I am doing my best to document the location of our Confederate soldier ancestors. I plan to account for every last one of them. They may be found in a lone grave in the woods or in a community or church cemetery, which is hallowed ground.

We need to unite and preserve these pioneer sites for future generations. These cemeteries represent a heritage resource worldwide. Too many graves (and some entire cemeteries) are being neglected and destroyed. I have witnessed such desecration and I say “shame on us!”

In 2011, the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States will be celebrated across this great country, and the graves of these courageous soldiers must be found and honored for their service during that war.

I want to express my deepest appreciation to those who are already preserving these old pioneer cemeteries and the many graves that are in them. God bless you!

I challenge you to join me in my search for the final resting places of our Confederate soldiers (ancestors). If you locate or know of a cemetery that contains Confederate grave(s), I urge you to send the information to me at the following address: P.O. Box 1846, Princeton, WV 24740.

Ken Hylton, Ed Dodson (with the help of Frank Thomas), and I have worked diligently to locate and save these Confederate grave sites, and I again plead for you help.

Someone once said, “One of the noblest duties of the living is to represent the virtues and memories of the dead.”

I mean to do just that.

— Richard D. Lockhart,

Adjutant West Virginia Division,

Sons of Confederate Veterans C

Camp No. 1694 — ‘Flat Top Copperheads’

Princeton, W.Va.