Tombstone Tuesday--John Oliphant VanGilder and Mary Louise Hill VanGilder

I thought I would post John Oliphant VanGilder’s tombstone since my April Fool’s Day offering was about him. John and Mary VanGilder are my paternal great great grandparents who both deserve individual blogs, which will be forthcoming at a later date.

John and Mary are buried at Mt. Union Cemetery, north of Morgantown, West Virginia on Route 119 in the Union District of Monongalia County.¹

John was the son of Jacob and Sarah R. McElroy VanGilder.² He was born in Monongalia County on February 22, 1929.³ He died at home on February 14, 1904 from a stroke.⁴

Mary was the daughter of Joseph Davidson and Sarah Houston Hill.⁵ She was also born in Monongalia County, probably in Morgantown (or Morgan’s Town as it was known then) on November 21, 1932⁶ and died at home on January 4, 1908.⁷

The VanGilders raised 11 children in their home on Stewartstown Road north of Morgantown, West Virginia.

Notes

1. Mt. Union Cemetery, Route 119, Monongalia County, West Virginia, personal visit.

2. John Oliphant VanGilder Family genealogy chart, copied by George Ethelbert VanGilder, 1897.*

3. "Morgantown Weekly Post," Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia, February 18, 1904, page 10.

4. “Morgantown Weekly Post”, page 10.

5. "Joseph Davidson Hill Family Bible," page 1.*

6. "The New Dominion Post," Morgantown, West Virginia, Friday, January 25, 1908, page 1.

7. “The New Dominion Post”, page 1.


* Both cited references were copied in 1897 by George Ethelbert VanGilder from VanGilder and Hill Bibles and other sources for family reference and in particular, for the use of several of the women to join the DAR.