West Fork Cemetery TALES THE TOMBSTONES TELL
West
Fork Cemetery
AKA Coates Cemetery
Richwood Township, Richland County, Wisconsin
USA
Tales The Tombstones Tell
Tales The Tombstones Tell - Republican Observer - June 12, 1958
West
Fork, West Lima and Vernon Cemeteries
"K. K. K." is engraved at the top of the tombstone
erected for Lafe Powers down in the West Fork cemetery in the town of
Richwood. Mr. Powers was born, the stone says, in 1859, and passed on
in 1927.
The West Fork cemetery is on county highway S north
and a bit west of the village of Excelsior. It is located on the south
slope and is quite well kept.
Buried here are Charley Dilley, a Civil War veteran,
Thompson Dilley and his wife Jane. Thompson Dilley was 49 years of age
when he passed on December 27, 1863. Jane died in 1883 but her age is
not given.
A flag was on the grave of Wilder Beebee which led
us to believe that he may have been a Civil War veteran but there is no
other indication on the grave. Mr. Beebee died May 20, 1892 at the age
of 69. His wife Sarah, lived until March, 1911, when she passed away at
the age of 83 years, seven months and six days.
Isaac Anderson reached the ripe age of 82 when he
died February 10, 1912. On stones in this cemetery are names of folks
in that area who were buried here. Brown, Troxel, Craig, Miller, Flynn,
Anderson, Bell, Owens, Toney and McDowell are some of them.
Thomas Davis, who died February 13, 1891, at the age
of 76 years, 10 months and 21 days, has this engraved upon his
tombstone:
"Here I sleep
all alone
Not
knowing the friends
I leave
to mourn.
I want a
headstone placed at my grave
And a
weeping willow,
That
will o'er me wave."
A flag waves on his grave. Another stone which has
been knocked down is on the grave. It also bears the name of Davis but
cannot be read. It might be that the flag was for him.
Another soldier lies close by and the marker says it
is for William H. Wey, who was born in 1837. He was a member of Co. E,
50th Wisconsin. His record says he enlisted on February 6, 1865, giving
Hazel Green as his residence. For some reason or other he was not
discharged until December 18, 1884, and, like Aaron Sharp, buried in
the Dayton Corners cemetery, he served 20 years in a four year war. His
discharge was dated back to Sept. 4, 1865. Mr. Wey's wife, Lillian, is
buried here. She was born in 1844 and died in 1915.
A flag also waves over the grave of James Hutson,
who died March 31, 1879, at the age of 40 years. A flag also waves over
a grave close by but the name and inscription cannot be read.
There are also stones that bear the name of
Lightfoot, Jones, Logan, Randall, Couey and Shaffer here.
John R. Smith, born in 1846 and died in 1922, served
in the Civil War with Co. M, 9th Indiana Cavalry. His wife, Marian, is
by his side. She was born in 1844.
Warrington Jones, buried here, is given the honor of
being the first settler on the west branch of Knapps Creek. He entered
land in the spring of 1853 but did not take up his home on it until
1855. He was born in Georgia in 1811 and went to Tennessee where he
married Minerva Howard and they came to Grant county where he engaged
in mining. His wife died in 1874. She was born, the tombstone says, in
1813.
A marker for a World War II veteran is in this
burying ground. It is for George P. Dilley, Pvt. 64 B.M. Laundry Bn. He
was born June 18, 1899, and answered the last roll call on December 17,
1949.
The West Fork cemetery is not far from the Crawford
county line which is about a mile and a half to the west. Some Crawford
county folks are no doubt buried here.
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