Home > United States of America > Michigan > Berrien County > Buchanan > Virginians Burying Ground

Virginians Burying Ground

Memorials	:	2
Location	:	Buchanan, Berrien County, USA
Coordinate	:	41.8373070, -86.3694077
Description	:	---------------------------- The "Virginian's Burying Ground" was named from the fact that a number of the early Virginian settlers were buried there (the family of Jacob and Isabella Dragoo, and their daughter-in-law's brother Samuel Barnhouse). ----------------------------- This cemetery is also known as the "Dragoo Cemetery". (It was "incorrectly" listed as the McCoy Cemetery when it was recorded in 1980). ------------------------------ This Dragoo "family" cemetery was originally located on a farm. The farm property was later annexed to the City of Buchanan, Michigan as part of the "Treat and Howe Addition", and was then divided up into "city" lots. This pioneer cemetery is located in Section 26 of Buchanan... Read More	---------------------------- The "Virginian's Burying Ground" was named from the fact that a number of the early Virginian settlers were buried there (the family of Jacob and Isabella Dragoo, and their daughter-in-law's brother Samuel Barnhouse). ----------------------------- This cemetery is also known as the "Dragoo Cemetery". (It was "incorrectly" listed as the McCoy Cemetery when it was recorded in 1980). ------------------------------ This Dragoo "family" cemetery was originally located on a farm. The farm property was later annexed to the City of Buchanan, Michigan as part of the "Treat and Howe Addition", and was then divided up into "city" lots. This pioneer cemetery is located in Section 26 of Buchanan Township, just within the city limits of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. ------------------------------ This cemetery is "now" located in the backyard of a private residence at 936 Chippewa Street (between Remus Drive and Walnut St.), on the North-West side of town. (See map below). Note: This cemetery is on PRIVATE property. Please be courteous, and ALWAYS ask permission from the property owners, before entering upon this private property. ------------------------------ There were known burials in this Dragoo "family" cemetery for 53 years, from 1837 to 1890, spanning four generations of the Dragoo family. ------------------------------ An Officer in the Civil War named William Harrison Barnhouse (who married Jacob Dragoo's granddaughter Isabel Dragoo), is also buried here with his parents (Samuel and Nancy Barnhouse), and two of his children. William's father Samuel Barnhouse was the brother of Ewell Dragoo's first wife Jane (Barnhouse) Dragoo. ------------------------------ The other surnames in this cemetery are also, all related (by marriage), to the family of Jacob and Isabella Dragoo, who came from Barrackville, Monongalia County Virginia, to the settlement of "McCoy's Creek" (now known as Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan), in 1834. ------------------------------ The names of the 28 people who are known to be buried in this cemetery, were taken off of the old headstones found there many years later. There may have been additional people buried there, for whom no headstones were later found. ------------------------------- Note: In addition to the 28 people known to have been buried in this cemetery, there were five other children of this family, not listed (for whom no headstone was found), who died during this time period, who "possibly" could also be buried here with no headstone (or possibly just had a wooden cross/marker which deteriorated over time). 1. Lavina Dragoo, the daughter of John Fleming Dragoo Sr. and his wife Barbara. Died between 1843-1850. 2. Edith Dasie Kirkendall, age 4, the child of John Fleming Dragoo Sr.'s daughter Lurinda and her husband William "Van" Kirkendall. Died in 1873. 3. Lucinda Ann Tomlinson, the two-year-old daughter of Benjamin F. Tomlinson and his wife Harriet A. Barber. Died in 1872. 4. Philo W. Smith, the 19 year old son of Charles Smith and his wife Fanny Weaver. Died in 1874. 5. Infant son McCoy, the son of William McCoy and his wife Catherine Weaver. Died between 1853 and 1859. ----- Also...Louisa (Hunter) Dragoo (the first wife of Ewell's son John Irving Dragoo), who died between 1862 and 1865, and their first child Lorina. Lorina died between 1860 and 1870. -------------------------------- Another child of this extended family who is "unaccounted for" is: 1. Mariah Barnhouse, the daughter of Samuel Barnhouse and Nancy Upton. ---------------------------------- Headstones that were once found in this cemetery, and recorded, but could not be found in 2012, are: 1. Samuel Barnhouse. 2. Catherine (Hines), wife of J. B. Price, and dau. of Christina Dragoo and John Hines. 3. Harriet A. (Barber) Tomlinson, the wife of Benjamin F. Tomlinson. 4. Libby A. Warfield. ---------------------------------- UPDATE: In the spring and summer of 2012, several members of "Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery" in Buchanan, MI (with permission from the new landowners), cleaned up the large pile of brush and poison ivy around a tree, found many of the old and broken headstones (and "dug up" a few more), cleaned them, and "reconstructed" this pioneer cemetery. A special "THANK YOU" to Bob Cooley, Tom Lister, Donna Lace, and Robert D. Brown. To them we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude, for preserving a piece of Buchanan's history! --------------------------- Written by Nancy Heib (a descendant of Jacob and Isabella Dragoo). --------------------------------------------

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Where is Virginians Burying Ground?
Virginians Burying Ground is located at Buchanan, Berrien County ,Michigan ,USA.
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2 memorials
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Latitude: 41.8373070
Longitude: -86.3694077

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Virginians Burying Ground

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