Research of the burials in the Dragoo Cemetery is continuing, for my book to be published in 2007. The book will include family histories, relationships to the Dragoo, Straight and Ice families and photos of available grave markers. Many of our ancestors have been identified. Help is needed for:

The Dragoo Cemetery is adjacent to the property owned by John Dragoo in 1783, near the small town of Katy in Monongalia Co., Virginia. It is near the site of the 1786 capture of the legendary William “Indian Billy” Dragoo and his mother. The town of Katy is gone and county boundaries have changed, so the cemetery location is now described as being near Barrackville, Marion County, West Virginia.

The Cemetery ownership has changed, along with the sale of the adjoining property. After one change of ownership, the John Dragoo cabin was moved to Middlebourne, Tyler County, West Virginia.

I visited the Dragoo Cemetery in July 1996 during the Dragoo Family Association reunion tour. My Great Great Grandmother Rebecca (Matheny) Dragoo-Price is buried there. She married William “Indian Billy” Dragoo in 1814. After Billy died in 1856 in Licking County, Ohio, Rebecca returned to West Virginia. She married Merriman Price in Marion County in 1859.

Information from the Dragoo Cemetery was first recorded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1941. Twenty-four marked graves were located and at least four unmarked graves were noted.

Dragoo descendants have randomly visited the cemetery over the years. About 1971, two ladies stated that they had seen the grave stone of Alcinda Dragoo.

Delbert and Peggy Osborn of Newark, Ohio provided a video of their trip to the cemetery that was shown at the 1986 Indian Billy Reunion in Newark, Ohio. They identified twenty graves by name or partial information.

For several years, Dragoo descendant William B. McAfee traveled from Michigan to West Virginia to help maintain the cemetery. He cleared trees and brush, making it possible for Dragoo descendants to tour the cemetery during the July 1996 Dragoo Family Association (DFA) reunion.

In the summer of 2005, another Dragoo descendant attempted to access the cemetery and found that it was overgrown and inaccessible.

As a descendant and “cousin” of many of the people buried there, I felt very strongly about recording the history of this cemetery.

Time and weather has damaged or destroyed many of the markers placed by our ancestors. Trees, brush, brambles and thorns cover the once hallowed ground. It is my hope that this book will preserve the Dragoo Cemetery records for all those who will not have the opportunity to walk there.

Thank you!

Vi Parsons