Westfall Family, Mt. Heavner Cemetery, Buckhannon, Upshur County, West Virginia |
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Heavner Cemetery, Buckhannon, West Virginia |
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Daughter Tonya and son-in-law Joey in the older part of Heavner Cemetery with the large red marble Henry Fry Westfall obelisk center, April, 2008. |
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Henry Fry Westfall was a prominent citizen and post master of Buckhannon. During the Civil War he was appointed as Colonel of a infantry regiment of federal militia in Upshur County and was often referred to as Colonel Westfall. |
Henry F. Westfall was the son of Joel Westfall and Elizabeth White, daughter of the Indian fighter William White. He was born December 1, 1799 in Randolph County and died in 1884 in Buckhannon. |
On one side of the monument is the inscription for Henry and on the other his wife Mary (Simon) Westfall. They had no children. |
Son-in-law Joey Madia and me, April, 2008 |
Zebedee Westfall, son of Samuel Tenny Westfall and Clarissa Debar was born February 22, 1863 in Upshu County and died in Clarksburg on September 28, 1928. His wife was Mary Catherine Simon, born June 26, 1863 in Barbour County and died in 1921, probably in Buckhannon. |
The large monument to Lewis/Upshur County pioneers William White and John Fink. |
John Fink and his parents were amoung early white settlers near Fort Buckhannon, which was located on the site of today's Heavner Cemetery. While working in a field with his father John was shot and killed by Indians on February 8, 1782. He was buried in the Buckhannon fort. |
On March 8, 1782, William White was ambushed by a group Native Americans and killed as he was returning to Fort Buckhannon. He was buried in the fort next to John Fink. White fought at Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774 against Shawnee Chief Cornstalk during Lord Dunmore's War. Some time after the war He was arrested for ambushing and murdering an Indian hunter. Because of White's reputation as an Indian fighter and protector of Fort Buckhannon the charges were dropped. In 1815 Nicholas Heavner bought the land where the fort had been. The graves of White and Fink were unmarked but people alive then knew where the graves were located. Heavner's eleven-year-old son Elias, fascinated by their stories, marked two field stones, "Here lieth the body of John Fink who was killed by Indens in 1782 Feb. the 8th", and "William White Killed by Indens." William White's descendant Henry Fry Westfall tried unsuccessfully for years to have a memorial placed on the graves. In 1912, 28 years after Col. Westfall's death, the D.A.R. erected the monument we see today. Elias Heavner's crude stones were placed in the base of the monument. |
Revolutionary War period grave next to the Fink and White monument, located near the entrance to the cemetery. |
Ronald N. WallModified: 05 October 2024 |