Jurisdiction:  Buchanan City Section 26

Established: 

 

Status:  Abandoned

 

Status:  Abandoned

 

Location:  Chippewa Street Private Property

 

Cemetery Governing Body:  Buchanan City

 

Location of Cemetery Records:  

 

From “The Berrien County Record” Tales of an Old Town Installment #196, which originally ran from 1939 to 1944, W. C. Hawes writes:

”Adjacent to the northwest corner of Buchanan and just east of North Chippewa is a little clump of trees in which, overgrown with brush and matted with myrtle is a cluster of pioneer graves.  When the writer first came to Buchanan about 1928, he was guided there by Ashley Carlisle, who pointed out the grave of a Civil War solider.  If we remember right, the name was Barnhouse.  In April we walked to the place, but the graves were matted with myrtle and nearly all the stones broken and scattered, so that we could not locate the veteran grave.”

 

During the summer of 1980, David and Diane Savage went on a fact-finding mission in regards to the McCoy Cemetery.  From their journal published in the Berrien County Genealogical Society newsletter, “The Pastfinder” Volume 10 Issue 3:

”Mr. And Mrs. Hearrington, Sr. were very gracious and allowed us to inspect and record the gravestones found on their property.  Mr. Hearrington had a right to be proud of his cemetery, which was kept well and mowed.  Their daughter, Mary, has planted many lovely flowers at the various graves.  It was very impressive.  Mr. Hearrington said that the property was overgrown in back when they first moved in and they were unaware that a cemetery existed.  As the family cut and mowed the yard, they discovered the stones.  Several stones have since been found by the family members who prod the ground with a thin rod.  The stones are dug up and laid on the surface to once again mark a grave.  It was exciting to read these stones.  We didn’t know whom we might find.  Of the 23 stones, 5 bases and 4 pieces that were recorded, one name stood out.  Catherine McCoy, wife of William.  She died September 29, 1859.  We couldn’t help wondering if she was related to Isaac McCoy who started the Carey Mission.  In the book, “History of Berrien and Van Buren Counties”, published in 1880, we found an account of Russell McCoy and his brother William.  In the same book, we read about Jacob Dragoo and his son Uel.  Six of the stones we recorded were those of Dragoo.  In fact, one was Jacob Dragoo who died in 1838 and one was that of Uel’s wife who died in 1868.  What a fantastic find!  Our visit to the Hearrington’s had been like reliving a part of history.  We had found pioneer graves.”

 

It is believed that a number of stones have been buried or carried away.  The oldest legible stone in 1980 was that of Christena Jane Dragoo who died in her 26^th year on August 1, 1837.  The newest legible stone from 1980 was that of Albert Tomlinson who died on August 21, 1890.  Some of the other surnames found were, Barnhouse, Knight, McCoy and Warfield.  Most of the stones were broken and piled up under a tree.

 

On September 12, 2001, Cindy L. (Skiles) Frie and Marge Yetzke were given a tour of the property by a daughter of the Hearrington’s, Alice Libey.  At this point, only 9 of the original 23 stones were found and the rest were broken or unreadable.  Alice explained that her father purchased the land around 1950 and the following year started clearing the yard when he stumbled upon the cemetery.  Alice does not remember seeing any stones standing at that time but recalls that neighborhood children would remove some stones, eventually bringing them back.

 

A resident from North Detroit Street, Firmer King stated that he moved to the area in 1956 and that the cemetery was abandoned then.  It was located about 2 lots north of his house but accessed from Chippewa Street.  He said that were about 35 stones at one time, the newest dated before World War I.  Most of the dates he recalled were late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  The last time that he saw the cemetery, approximately 5 years ago, the stones were all piled up at the edge of the lot.  An old farmer in the area once told him that it was a large active cemetery in the 1920’s.  He also remembered hearing about someone doing stone rubbing a few years back.

 

Cindy and Marge wanted to expand on the possibility of a Civil War veteran being buried in McCoy Cemetery.  Since W. C. Hawes mentioned the name Barnhouse in the news article, Cindy and Marge searched some records of Civil War Soldiers.  They found the Civil War Pension record for William H. Barnhouse who enlisted in the 2^nd Michigan Calvary Regiment Company L on September 14, 1861 in Niles and was discharged on October 22, 1864 in Nashville, Tennessee.  His rank was listed as a Sergeant and was 21 years old when he enlisted.  This matches what was found on the stone in McCoy Cemetery.  William Harrison BARNHOUSE was born 29 Jul 1840 in Monongalia County, Virginia. He died 25 Sep 1876 in Berrien County, Michigan and was buried in McCoy Cemetery, Berrien County, Michigan. William married Isabelle DRAGOO on 4 Sep 1865 in Michigan. Isabelle died in Berrien County, Michigan.  Samuel BARNHOUSE (Henry) was born 9 Dec 1801 in , Hampshire County, Virginia. He died 3 Aug 1878 in Buchanan Twp., Berrien County, Michigan and was buried in McCoy Cemetery, Berrien County, Michigan. [Notes] Samuel married (1) Nancy A. UPTON, daughter of Samuel UPTON, on 6 Dec 1822 in Monongalia County, Virginia. Nancy was born about 1811/1815 in Virginia. She died 14 Jan 1866 in Michigan.

 

The Berrien County Genealogical Society is lucky enough to have a member who is also a descendant of the Dragoo family mentioned above, Nancy Heib.  She has donated much information about her family for the rest to share.

 

 Written By Chriss Lyon