| Description |
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Jacob Dragoo is the son of
John Dragoo Sr. (1746-47 - 1823),
and his first wife
Elizabeth ("Betsy") Straight
(1748-1786),
of Barrackville, Monongalia
County Virginia.
---
He was the fifth of their seven
children (six boys and one girl).
-------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
--------------------------------
Jacob's father John Dragoo Sr.
helped build "Prickett's Fort"
(East of Barrackville), near
Fairmont, West Virginia, for
protection from the Indians. It is now
part of "Prickett's Fort State Park"
and is a tourist attraction.
(After Jacob's mother Elizabeth was
killed, his father John Dragoo Sr.
later married Ann Prickett).
-------------------------------------
Note: Jacob's brother Peter Dragoo
(1776-1867), a Veteran of the War...
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|
Jacob Dragoo is the son of
John Dragoo Sr. (1746-47 - 1823),
and his first wife
Elizabeth ("Betsy") Straight
(1748-1786),
of Barrackville, Monongalia
County Virginia.
---
He was the fifth of their seven
children (six boys and one girl).
-------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
--------------------------------
Jacob's father John Dragoo Sr.
helped build "Prickett's Fort"
(East of Barrackville), near
Fairmont, West Virginia, for
protection from the Indians. It is now
part of "Prickett's Fort State Park"
and is a tourist attraction.
(After Jacob's mother Elizabeth was
killed, his father John Dragoo Sr.
later married Ann Prickett).
-------------------------------------
Note: Jacob's brother Peter Dragoo
(1776-1867), a Veteran of the War
of 1812, was buried in the Dragoo
Cemetery (next to their home),
near Barrackville,
in Monongalia County Virginia
(now Marion County West Virginia),
near other members of the
Dragoo, Ice, and Straight families.
(See his memorial on find-a-grave).
The Dragoo log cabin (shown on the
right), was originally located
next to the Dragoo Cemetery,
near Barrackville.
-----------------------------
Jacob's brother William ("Indian Billy")
Dragoo (1770-1856), moved to Licking
County Ohio with his second wife
in 1823, and he is buried in the
Pleasant Grove Cemetery, in Perry
township, on Briarcliff Road (TR267),
near Perryton, and Newark,
in Licking County, Ohio.
-----------------------------------
Jacob was born (on Finches Run,
which is a branch of Buffalo Creek),
near Barrackville, in Monongalia
County Virginia (South of Morgantown
and West of Fairmont).
(Note: This area later become part
of Marion County Virginia, and then
Marion County "West" Virginia).
------------------------------------
This Jacob Dragoo should not be
confused with his nephew, also named
Jacob Dragoo, the son of his brother
William (Indian Billy) Dragoo.
("That" Jacob Dragoo was born in
1815, and married Susanna Bright).
-----------------------------------
When Jacob was about four years old,
his mother Elizabeth was scalped and
killed in an Indian raid in 1786, by
about 9 Shawnee Indians, and his brother
William ("Indian Billy") Dragoo was also
captured in this Indian raid, and he was
then raised by the Indians. Elizabeth's
brother Jacob Straight, and a neighbor
Nicholas Wood, were also killed in
this raid. (Jacob's mother Elizabeth
was captured, and then scalped and
killed later, at another location).
Jacob's brother William ("Indian Billy")
Dragoo later married an Indian squaw
and became a "white" Chief of an
Indian tribe.
-----------------------------------
A roadside marker telling of this Indian
massacre was erected N.-W. of Fairmont,
near Barrackville, Virginia.
The sign disappeared during
resurfacing of the road about 1988
and has never since been located.
The "Dragoo Family Association"
has donated a plaque to the
West Augusta Historical Society,
of Mannington (West of Barrackville),
which contains the same exact wording
as the missing roadside marker.
It reads:
"INDIAN MASSACRE. Here Nicholas Wood
and Jacob Straight were killed and
Mrs. Elizabeth Dragoo captured during
Indian raid in 1786. Mrs. Straight and
daughter made their escape from the
Indians by hiding under sheltering
rocks near by".------------
This article was published in the
Fairmont Times - West Virginian.
Note: Jacob Straight was Elizabeth
Dragoo's brother (and Jacob's Uncle).
----------
The book titled
"Marion County in the Making"
on page 73 states the following:
"David Morgan settled on the Monongahela
[river] about five miles below Fairmont,
between the mouths of Prickett's and
Paw Paw Creeks, where in 1772 he and
Nicholas Wood(s) erected the first
cabins in Paw Paw District. Other settlers
of this and the years immediately
succeeding were Peter Straight, William
Snodgrass, Henry Button, Thomas Button,
John Dragoo, and the man Cochran before
mentioned. The Ices were prominent among
the early settlers on Marion County -
Frederick Ice, the first member of the
family in this part of the country, coming
to a place near the present town of
Barrackville from the forks of the Cheat
[river] in 1768. Here he took up for each
of his four sons - Adam, Abram, Andy and
William - a farm laid out in 200 acre plots,
for which $15 apiece was paid to the
Indians; and here, too, is buried his son
Adam, the first white person born west of
the Alleghanies".
-----------------------------------
The Parkersburg, West Virginia News
printed an article on March 18, 1993,
about the old Dragoo log cabin.
The log cabin that Jacob grew up in
(and several generations of his family
have lived in) near Barrackville,
W. VA. was moved to Middlebourne,
W. VA., and preserved, and it was
then used as a meeting place for
the Tyler County (West Virginia)
Heritage and Historical Society.
This Dragoo log cabin was originally
located next to the Dragoo Cemetery
near Barrackville, Monongalia County
Virginia (now Marion County, West
Virginia).
The two room cabin had started out
as a one room cabin about 1760. The
second room was built about 1825.
There were no nails in the structure.
The logs were cathedral style, a V-cut
commonly used in West Virginia. The
original puncheon floor was salvaged
and reused. The original white oak logs
were numbered as they were removed.
(The only structural changes to the
original two room cabin were the
addition of a front porch, a lean-to
bedroom and bath, and electricity and
plumbing). A "Heritage Day" event had
been initiated by the new owners, Glenn
and Ruth Moore. In 1989, Ruth Moore's
sister Edith Knowlton, began living
in the cabin.
-----------------------------------
Before Jacob's brother William
("Indian Billy") Dragoo died in 1856,
he dictated the story of his capture to
Mr. John White. Mr. White wrote the story
exactly as Indian Billy told it to him.
Indian Billy told of where the Indians
took him, how they treated him, and of
his life amongst them. This narrative
is now referred to as the "Pioneer
Papers No. 7". About 20 years later,
this narrative (of seven typewritten
pages), was read before the "Pioneer
Association of Licking County Ohio".
_____________________________
Jacob was married on Nov. 15, 1810
to Isabella Jones, the daughter
of Fleming Jones and his wife
Christianna ("Christena") Kern,
in Monongalia County Virginia,
by Rev. Joseph A. Shackelford.
She was listed as "Isabella" on
their marriage record, and as
"Isabell" on their headstone.
---
Isabella is the Granddaughter of
Michael Kern Sr., who built the largest
Fort in Virginia, now known as
"Kern's Fort", and as "Michael Kern's
Cabin". It is now listed on the
"National Register of Historic Places".
(See Isabella's memorial).
---
Jacob and Isabella named their
eldest daughter "Christena", possibly
after Isabella's mother.
They named their second son
"John Fleming", possibly after
both of their fathers, John
Dragoo and Fleming Jones.
------------------------------------
Jacob and Isabella had eight children
(four girls and four boys), all born
near Barrackville (West of Fairmont),
in Monongalia County Virginia.
(They are listed on the memorial
for his wife Isabella Dragoo).
------------------------------------
Virginia land records show that on
Sept. 20th, 1834, Jacob and Isabella
sold land on the waters of Finches Run
(which was a branch of Buffalo Creek),
near Barrackville, Monongalia Co. VA.
(This was the 237 acres of land Jacob
had obtained from his father
John Dragoo Sr. on Nov. 20, 1824).
------------------------------
In 1834, Jacob and Isabella Dragoo
moved their family from Monongalia
County Virginia, to a settlement named
"McCoy's Creek" in the "Territory
of Michigan", and bought a claim
of Robert Martindale. McCoy's Creek
is "now" known as Buchanan,
Berrien County Michigan.
Jacob's eldest son Ewell (nicknamed "Uel")
with his wife Jane and son John Irving
Dragoo, came a year later, in 1835,
and bought a claim of 80 acres next
to his parents.
Jacob's newly married daughter
Susanna (also listed as Susannah),
is believed to have stayed in Virginia
with her husband Enoch W. Dudley.
(All of Susannah's children, were
born in Virginia).
----------------------------------
Note: Marion County was formed
from Monongalia County in 1842,
and West Virginia became a
state in 1863.
Jacob's two daughters Susanna
and Margaret (who were both married
to Enoch W. Dudley), were both born
in "Monongalia County" Virginia, and
both died in the same area that they
were born, but then it was called
"Marion County" Virginia.
------------------------------------
The "History of Berrien and Van Buren
Counties, Michigan", by D. W. Ensign
& Co., 1880, states the following
on page 177:
Jacob Dragoo emigrated from Virginia
in 1834, and bought a claim of Robert
Martindale. He lived here about three
years when his wife died, and he soon
followed. Uel Dragoo, a son, emigrated
in 1835, with his wife and son, and
bought a claim of 80 acres, adjoining
his father of ___ Blake. He lived
there two years, when upon the death
of his father, he with his brothers
and sisters returned to Virginia.
The lands they had located having
been selected as seminary lands
[also known as "University lands",
which were used for the bennefit
of the "University of Michigan"],
$20 per acre was the price settled
upon, and they gave them up. After
about two years, or in 1840,
John F., Peter and Michael returned
to Buchanan. John F. settled near
Wagner's saw-mill, and in two or
three years bought on Moccasin Flat
on the [St. Joseph] river, and was
boating for several years. Michael
went to California [with Uel in 1853,
during the Gold Rush, to look for gold;
then he moved his family there].
Uel came back from Virginia in 1844
[or 1845, per article on his son
Tucker], and bought a claim on
Moccasin Flat of a Frenchman by the
name of Louis Cotoway, who married
an Indian women, and had lived there
many years. In 1835 [it "should"
say 1853], Uel went to California
[during the "Gold Rush", with
his brother Michael, and others],
but soon returned, and is now living
in the village of Buchanan.
-----------------------------------
About six sections of the South-East
corner of Buchanan township were
included in a tribunal Indian
reservation on which the Potawatomie
Indians lived during their later
residence in Berrien County MI. The first
cession of land that affected this part
of Berrien County occurred in 1828.
The greater part of Buchanan township
was in the tract ceded in 1828.
The rest was ceded in 1838. In the
late 1830's, fourteen sections of
the best land in the last cession
(ceded in 1838), were selected in
different parts of the township
by the County Commissioners for
University purposes, without regard
to the claims of the early settlers
(and mostly the valuable land along
McCoy's Creek). When the Commissioners
put a price of $20.oo an acre on the
land, the Dragoo family (and others),
could not afford them, and had to
give them up.
----
See the memorial for his son Ewell
Dragoo to read about them losing
this land, for the benefit of the
"University of Michigan".
----------------------------------
"A Twentieth Century History Of
Berrien County Michigan", by Judge
Orville W. Coolidge, 1906, states
the following on page 214:
Jacob Dragoo, from Virginia, located
in the township in 1834, but lived
but a few years after. His son, Uel
Dragoo, came in 1835 from Virginia.
In 1844 he [Uel] bought a tract of land
on Moccasin Flat [when Uel "returned"
to McCoy's Creek]. John F. Dragoo
in 1840 also located in the same
neighborhood [along with his siblings,
including his brothers Peter and
Michael]. A son of Uel Dragoo,
Liberty, is living in Buchanan township.
------------------------------------
Note: Moccasin Flat is located just
North of Buchanan, and directly below
Moccasin Bluff. Moccasin Bluff is
about one mile North of Buchanan.
This is the area around
the present-day "Moccasin Trail",
and also near the intersection of
Miller Road and Red Bud Trail, extending
Eastward to the St. Joseph River.
_________________________________
Jacob Dragoo's Uncle Belteshazzar
Dragoo Sr. was the first permanent
settler in Brown County Ohio in 1794.
The D.A.R. has erected a monument
there at the site of his cabin. He
also served in the Revolutionary War.
In 1994, Belteshazzar Sr. was honored
at the 200th Anniversary of Brown
County Ohio. Members of the "Dragoo
Family Association" rode in the parade
in Ripley, Ohio, as honorary guests.
---------
Jacob Dragoo's cousin Belteshazzar
Dragoo Jr. settled in Nineveh Township,
South of Franklin, in Johnson County
Indiana in 1825, on land he purchased
from the U.S. Government in a land patent.
After his family had lived on this farm
for four generations, the U.S. Government
forced his Great, grandson Albert Dragoo
(and others), to give up their land,
for less than it was worth (along with
44,000 acres, including three small
towns, churches, and 45 family homes),
to build a U.S. Army Camp named
"Camp Atterbury" in 1942.
(All of the cemeteries that were
located within the camp area were
then all moved to one location, and
only once per year were the former
residents allowed in by bus, to visit
the graves of their loved ones).
See the memorial for Albert Dragoo
(1871-1943) of Indiana, on this web site.
---------
Two of Belteshazzar Dragoo Jr.'s
grandsons, Belteshazzar Dragoo III,
and his brother John Nelson Dragoo
(of Johnson County Indiana),
served side by side in the Civil War.
The Indiana State Library, in
Indianapolis, Indiana has a collection
of many letters, which the two brothers
wrote home to their parents and siblings;
one written by John who describes the
death of his brother Belteshazzar III
while fighting at his side, and of his
helping to bury his brother, on the
South bank of the North Anna River,
in North Anna River, Virginia.
(His body was later "re-buried", in
the Fredericksburg National Cemetery,
in Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg City,
Virginia, in Grave # 3825).
This collection is located in the
"Manuscripts and Rare Books Collection"
and is titled: "ILS - John Dragoo,
S 374, 1861-1929" (Three folders).
Most of the letters are in folder one.
_____________________________________
On Nov. 2, 1837, Jacob Dragoo
purchased the South-West quarter of
Section 15 in Buchanan Township,
Berrien County Michign from William
Kelly for the sum of $360.oo
(Book E of Deeds, page 448).
William Kelly had purchased
this land from the U.S. government
on July 22, 1836. (This is the land
near the intersection of Miller Road
and Main Street Road, North of
Buchanan, MI). (Two of John F. Dragoo
Sr.'s children married into the Kelley
family). After Jacob Dragoo's death,
his son John Fleming Dragoo Sr.
later purchased this property from
his siblings in a Quit Claim Deed, on
Dec. 16, 1847. In John's will, he
left part of this land to Lodema Dragoo,
the only natural born child of his
deceased brother Peter Dragoo (because
John and Peter had purchased some
land together before Peter died). She
later sold 40 acres to Christen Meffert
on April 13, 1875.-----Jacob's grandson
Liberty U. Dragoo, has also lived in
Section 15, possibly on some of the
same land that Jacob had once owned.
Note: Years later (in 1912), Joseph G.
Letcher (the brother of Alois Letcher),
purchased part of this land in Section
15, near the intersection of Miller
Road and Main Street Road,
North of Buchanan, Michigan.
-----------------------------------
Jacob Dragoo and his wife Isabella both
died in 1838, only four years after
their arrivial in (Buchanan), Michigan.
Jacob died at the age of 55 years,
11 months and 27 days.
(Jacob's wife Isabella died two
months before Jacob did).
Jacob and Isabella Dragoo both
"probably" died from "ague" or
"chills and fever", known today
as malaria, during the terrible
malaria epidemic in South-West
Michigan in 1838.
------------------------------
The mosquitoes were particularly
bad, right after land was cleared.
The pioneer settlers set up a defense
perimeter of heavy smoke "smudges",
to deter the mosquitoes. They retired
inside the cabins and made a smudge
there, choking, eyes streaming with
tears. They laid in hot weather under
covers, but were bitten nevertheless.
Church bells were rung every quarter
of an hour as a signal for the sick
to take their medicine of quinine.
(Per: "The Story of Buchanan, a History",
by Walter C. Hawes, pages 81 and 82).
-----------------------------------
A daily journal written by Jacob Garrish
from 1837 to 1850, which is located in
the library in Three Oaks, Michigan
(West of Buchanan), tells of the
medicines of calomel, salts, oil,
and quinine, that they took when
the "ague fever" struck.
------------------------------
Note: "The Real McCoy, the
Story of a Creek and It's Town",
by Norma Stevens states:
"Fever and ague", or "chills and
fever"...the malaria of today...
raged in the McCoy and nearby
settlements during the summer
of 1838, visiting almost every home
and bringing death to many in the log
cabins of the pioneers. The epidemic
became serious in May and continued
on into the following January".
----------------------------------
"The History of Berrien and Van Buren
Counties, Michigan", by D.W. Ensign
& Co. 1880, states on page 229:
"In the years of 1837-1838 the chills
and fever [known today as malaria]
prevailed to such an alarming extent
that many became discouraged, packed
up their goods, and, leaving the work
of years behind them, went to their
former homes. Those who remained
passed through great suffering, and
many died from want of care, there
not being well ones enough to nurse
the sick".
----------------------------------
Jacob Dragoo's probate record is
on file (on microfilm), in Berrien
County Michigan.
It lists many of the pioneer
settlers of "McCoy's Creek", who
purchased items from Jacob Dragoo's
estate in 1838, including:
Absalom Colvin, Andrew C. Day,
John, Jacob, David, and Samuel
Weaver, Jacob Ingleright, Thomas
Jefferson Hunter, John Hatfield,
Darius Edward Jennings, Levi Sanford,
Arvin Chapman, and Milton Hall.
Also, men with the surnames of
Babcock, Brown, Coolidge, Cooper,
Coveney, DeMont, Dempsey, Gorden,
Mitchell, Rolfe, Stoner, and Smith.
----------------------------------
Thanks to the efforts of a descendant
Mrs. Lois (Turner) Baum, Jacob Dragoo
has been designated as an official
"Michigan Sequicentennial Pioneer",
through the Library of Michigan and
"The Michigan Genealogical Council
Sequientennial Pioneer Certificate
Program". The application papers are
on microfilm at the State Archives
of Michigan, in Lansing, Michigan.
__________________________________
Note: This Dragoo family is of French
ancestry. The french spelling of the
name was "Dragaud". They came from
Moeze, Saintonge, France. They were
what is known as "French Huguenots",
who had to flee from their homeland
for fear of being persecuted, because
they were not Catholic. They fled to
England between 1681-1685. There is still
a record at "St. Mark's, The Lord Mayor's
Chapel" in Bristol, Gloucerstersire
England of Jacob's ancestors
Pierre Dragaud II and Elizabeth Tavaud
being married there on Nov. 12, 1699.
-------
Note: In 1685 Louis XIV "repealed" the
"Edict of Nantes", a document which
had granted religious tolerance to
French Huguenots (Protestants).
From one-fourth to one-half million
French Huguenots then immigrated to
Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain,
and Britain's American colonies.
------
This Dragoo family later immigrated
from England, to Staten Island,
Richmond County New York, and then,
they later moved to Barrackville,
Monongalia County Virginia
(West of Fairmont).
-----
For information on Jacob Dragoo's
ancestors, see the memorial for
Jacob Dragoo's Great granddaughter
"Cleta (Dragoo) Upham", of Buchanan,
Berrien County Michigan.
-------------------------------
Note: This memorial has been
researched and written,
by Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
__________________________________
Note: This cemetery was mistakenly
thought to be the "McCoy Cemetery"
when it was recorded by David Savage
and his wife Diane in 1980.
----
David Savage had obtained a list of
the cemeteries in Buchanan Township
from the "State of Michigan". One of
the cemeteries that he was unable to
locate, was the McCoy Cemetery in
Section 26. When he found "this"
cemetery (which was also located in
Section 26), and he found ONE person
named McCoy buried there, he
mistakenly thought this to be
the "real" McCoy cemetery.
----------------------------------
It is now thought, that the McCoy
Cemetery was actually the very
first "public" cemetery in the
settlement of McCoy's Creek,
located on the corner of Fourth and
Moccasin Street (in Section 26),
now commonly referred to as "The
Old Burying Ground", and now the
site of a children's playground
named Kathryn Park.
----------------------------------
The "real" name of this Dragoo
family cemetery is the
"Virginian's Burying Ground",
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 has also been referred
to as the Reynolds Burying Ground,
because the Reynolds family, at one
time, had owned the farm on which
this cemetery was located.
----------------------------------
This cemetery is a Dragoo
"family" cemetery.
The other surnames found there, of
Weaver, Smith, Hines, Price,
Knight, Tomlinson, McCoy, and
Barnhouse, are all related (by
marriage), to the family of Jacob
and Isabella Dragoo.
----------------------------------
This cemetery is also known
as the "Dragoo Cemetery".
-----------------------------------
This cemetery is located in Section
26 of Buchanan Township. It is now
located just within the city limits
of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
-----------------------------------
This cemetery was originally
located on a farm. This farm
property has "since" been annexed
to the City of Buchanan, as part of
the "Treat and Howe Addition", and
has been divided up into "city" lots.
This cemetery is "now" located in the
backyard of a private residence at 936
Chippewa Street in Buchanan, Michigan
(between Remus Drive and Walnut St.),
on the North-West side of town.
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.
-----------------------------
Jacob and Isabella's eldest child
Christena (Dragoo) Hines, was the
first person known to be buried
here in 1837.
Isabella and Jacob Dragoo, were the
second and third known burials in 1838.
-----------------------------------
Jacob Dragoo's granddaughter Isabel
Dragoo, married William Harrison
Barnhouse, who was an Officer in the
Civil War. (He is also the nephew of
Ewell Dragoo's wife Jane Barnhouse).
William Harrison Barnhouse is also
buried here, along with his parents
and two of his children.
See the memorial (and photo),
for William Harrison Barnhouse,
of Michigan, on this web site.
----------------------------------
Note: About 1996, I found
the headstones in this cemetery
stacked into piles, that had been
placed under bushes around the
edge of the backyard. A few years
later, most of the headstones for the
28 people known to be buried there,
could no longer be found, except for
a few that were found in an area
around a tree, covered with a large
pile of brush, and poison ivy.
--------------------------
UPDATE:
On May 15, 2012, some of the members
of "Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery"
in Buchanan, Michigan, visited
the "Virginian's Burying Ground",
after their meeting, and arranged
with the new property owners to
schedule some "work days" there.
In the spring and summer of 2012
(with permission from the new property
owners), a few of the members of
"Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery"
in Buchanan, Michigan,
cleared out this area of brush and
poison ivy, found many of the old
headstones, and "dug up" a few more.
They also put the broken headstones
back together, cleaned the headstones,
stood them in their upright positions,
and "reconstructed" this 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!
-------------------------------
Since the deaths of Jacob and his
wife Isabella Dragoo in 1838, there
have been members of six consecutive
generations of their descendants who
have been buried in Buchanan, Michigan
(some being females, who were buried
under their "married" names).
---
There are about 23 members of this
family, with the "Dragoo" surname, who
are buried in Berrien County Michigan,
and about another 17 (families of five
of Ewell Dragoo's children), who are
buried in Newaygo County Michigan.
--------------------------------
Note: Photos of Jacob and Isabella's
headstone, and of this cemetery,
taken in 2012, are courtesy
of Robert D. Brown, President,
and newsletter editor, of
"Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery",
and courtesy of "Friends"
member Spencer Miller.
-------------------------------
Another photo of their headstone,
taken in 1981, is courtesy
of Mrs. Lois (Turner) Baum.
(Photo originally taken by David Savage,
and sent to Lois in 1981).
-------------------------------
Photos of the roadside marker, and
the Dragoo Log cabin, are courtesy
of the "Dragoo Family Association".
------------------------------------
Note: For additional information
on this cemetery and this
Dragoo family, see:
----
"The Virginian's Burying Ground,
Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan
and The Family of Jacob and
Isabella Dragoo", compiled
by Nancy (Letcher) Heib,
located in the "Local History Room"
of the Buchanan District Library,
in Buchanan, Michigan.
(Donated to the Buchanan District
Library in September of 2006).
Copies are also located in the
"Library of Michigan"
in Lansing, Michigan
(www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan)
and the
Allen County Public Library
in Fort Wayne, Indiana
(www.acpl.lib.in.us)
----------------------------------
A fitting POEM:
Dear Ancestor,
Your tombstone stands among the rest,
neglected and alone.
The name and dates are chiseled out,
on polished marble stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
it is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist,
you died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you,
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our heart contracts and beats a pulse,
entirely not our own.
Dear ancestor, the place you filled,
one hundred years ago,
Spreads out among the ones you left,
who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew,
That someday I would find this spot,
and come to visit you.
[Author: Walter B. Palmer].
-----------------------------
The story of the Indian raid on Jacob
Dragoo's family has often been written
about, and is in at least seven historical
books, most of which can be found in
the genealogical section of the Allen
County Public Library, in Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Note: Some of these stories
vary slightly. They are as follows:
1. Chronicles of Boarder Warfare,
by Alexander Scott Withers, 1831.
Pages 374 through 377.
2. Now and Long Ago, by Glenn D. Lough,
1969. Pages 15, 16, 265, 266, 268, 270,
and 556 through 562.
3. History of Dragoo, Speer, Duncan,
Woodside Families, by Alice Young Duncan.
1972. Pages 1, 2, 14, 15, and 17.
4. History and Progress of the County
of Marion, West Virginia [formerly
Monongalia Co. VA.], by George A.
Dunnington, 1880. Pages 60 thru 65.
5. Marion County in the Making,
[formerly Monongalia Co. VA.],
by the J. O. Watson Class of the
Fairmont High School, W. Virginia.
Pages 95 through 117.
6. The Monongalia Story, II,
The Pioneers, by Earl L. Core. 1976.
Pages 2, 6, 72, 73, 141, 280, and 281.
(Also Isabella's Grandfather Michael Kern,
in Vol. I, page 177, Vol. II, pages 148,
and 331, and Vol. III, page 97).
7. Historical Collections of
Brown County Ohio, compiled by
Carl N. Thompson, 1976.
Pages 5 thru 8, 74, 75, 91,
735 thru 739, and 847.
------------------------
There were also numerous newspaper
articles written by Minnie Hite Moody,
who was a noted author and journalist,
who wrote articles titled "I Remember,
I Remember", for her column in "The
Newark Advocate" (Daily News) newspaper
in Newark, Ohio. There is a book titled
"Dragoo Family History", by Morril Lucas,
which includes many of these articles.
Also, Thomas J. Koon, of Fairmont, Marion
Co. W. VA (who was President of the
Marion County Historical Society, and
wrote articles for the "Fairmont Times
West Virginian" newspaper), and
others, who wrote about this
Indian raid and about Jacob's brother
William "Indian Billy" Dragoo
(the "Legendary White Indian").
---------------------------------
For additional information on this
Dragoo family, click on the names
of Jacob's wife, and his eldest
son Ewell Dragoo (below).
---------------------------------
See the memorials for one line of
Jacob's family, on this web site:
----------
Wife, Isabella (Jones) Dragoo.
Son, Ewell Dragoo.
Ewell's wife,
Jane (Barnhouse) Dragoo.
Grandson, Liberty U. Dragoo.
Liberty's wife,
Celestia (Hunniker) Dragoo.
Great, Granddaughter,
Cleta "Cleo" (Dragoo) Upham.
Great, Great, Granddaughter,
Cecile (Upham) Bliss.
Gt., Gt., Great, Granddaughter,
Thelma (Bliss) Letcher.
(ALL of Buchanan, Michigan).
----
Note: Jacob and Isabella Dragoo are
my Gt., Gt., Gt., Great, Grandparents.
Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
-----------------------------------
Click on photos to see enlargements,
captions, and additional photos.
------------------------------------
Note: For a list of the 28 people
known to have been buried
in this Dragoo family pioneer
cemetery in Buchanan, Michigan
(along with their bios),
click on:-----------
"Virginian's Burying Ground"
(at the botton of this page).
Then...., click on:
"View all interments".
---------------------------------
Note: It is very possible that there
were additional children buried in
this cemetery, for whom no headstones
were later found (or who possibly only
had a wooden cross or marker, which
deteriorated over time).
For their names, click on the name
of the cemetery below.
---------------------------------
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