The story of Matthew Perison, executed in 1948 West Virginia for axing his family to death. Death certificate pulls and grave site hunt. Please become a member to help us grow!
Thank you Beth! no we never get tired of it, hopefully never will. I feel like its actually made us more appreciative of life and how living simple is really the key to happiness.
Kinda sad town and counties don't keep them maintained. And it disturbs me when people say "it's just an old cemetery" because it's loaded with history 😁 Thank you for the amazing tour!
I had some physical setbacks that slowed my adventurous spirit. I've always loved walking through old cemeteries, pondering the lives lived before. Thank you brother.
I grew up in chapmanviille and worked in Logan I never heard this story 👍 WV was and still is a tough place my great grandfather was shot and killed in the 30's over an argument with a butcher
Many Cemeteries for families or groups in this area are in very poor condition. The cyclical nature of the Coal business and the rapid mechanization of the mines resulted in a mass migration of the younger generations starting in the 1950's. When these people left there was no one left to tend the graveyards. Logan, WV peaked in population in about 1950 at 6,000 or so. Now less than 1,000.
It is the same in any mining district, just look at all of the old Ghost Town cemeteries in abandoned played out gold mines in the West, An the old copper / iron mines of Michigan's upper peninsula there is literally hundreds of graveyards that are nothing more than a series of sunken lines in the ground and maybe a sandstone some time to Mark the grave, the Old logging camps and logging villages are the same way throughout almost anywhere the logging industry came through and set up logging camps and sawmills with a small village nearby, it is real good that some of the RU-vid channels are making an attempt to document some of these graveyards,
Love hearing your stories! I live in Marion County Kentucky and am not physically able to go searching through the cemeteries like I used to. I have always loved looking at the names and dates and wonder at the stories they could tell. Makes me wish I had listened closer to the stories my grandmother told. Keep up the good work!!
I live in the Indianapolis area but many of my ancestors are buried in your area and we found several of them not far from the Maker's Mark distillery.
@@steveoconnor7069 If you ever get the chance to come down it's a beautiful area. Check out the Bourbon Trail and find your ancestors. Sounds like a good weekend.
We have gold mining here. To see the operations are pretty interesting. And the pits are huge. Both occupations are rough jobs. The neglect of any cemetery is an atrocity. Some urban explorers have stumbled upon completely forgotten cemeteries that have been extremely overgrown that they were hidden. At the times these souls were laid to rest. No one imagined these areas would be forgotten and lost to time. Many have markers that were completely illegible. I believe our taxes should be allotted to maintaining our cemeteries as with mowing and upkeep of court houses and schools. Those crypts broken and empty are heartbreaking. I would like to believe the remains were relocated rather than robbed. Many just don't have the respect nor compassion for the dead as they should.
@@crm208 That is a excellent idea. I would definitely be for that. Their lives are a tad too cushy. They sometimes have them clear hwys . So why not cemeteries! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I came across you about two weeks ago. Thank you for climbing those hills and being out in the cold to present your findings. I know that has to be fun investigating your stories. I know it is for me when I’m tracking down my ancestors. In fact my ancestors came from Carter county Kentucky and around 1910 they settled in Oregon . Love history.
You mean this killer was a Sunday school teacher and Boy Scout leader????? WOW! What a story! Thank you for investigating this man and sharing it with your audience. I loved your research.and video.
What's the chance that since he was buried in an undisclosed grave that he might not even have a marker? What's the chance that since he was buried in an undisclosed grave that he might not even have a marker? I thank you immensely for your investigation of these pieces of history & bringing them to us. Otherwise we likely would never know of. I'm the genealogist of our family. I've been able to trace back to my mother's great-great-grandparents who traveled from the Shenandoah Valley, VA to Warren Co, IN. Amazingly the cemetery they are burried in is in Attica, Fountain Co, IN. It is very close to the home I grew up in. Sadly the graves have been vandalized so badly markers are stacked in random piles & from what I've learned the office has no map of who is buried where. It absolutely infuriates me. & completely boggles my mind as to how **anyone** can be so disgustingly disrespectful. Grrrr!!! 😡😡😡
Greetings from Pittsburgh! I just got wind of your channel and you guys possess the same interests as me. I have driven through most of West Virginia during my own excursions; until I really did my own research, I was ignorantly unaware of the mysterious wonder/history your state has to offer. I once drove through a town called Jane Lew! Thank you for all your efforts and work. 👍
@@Houkasmokingcaterpillar I do cemetery work as a private contractor. There’s just so much labor involved. If I was a prisoner I would want to be out doing something useful
I have a weird life too. I like your videos. You guys are fun and informative. I'm from Colorado and just moved to Virginia this month. Love learning all this stuff. Thanks for all you do.
I just found your channel and I love it! That cemetery broke my heart! I know there are volunteers who go out and try as best as they can to clean up old cemeteries it's too bad you cant reach out to them. Thank you! Very interesting!
Thank you very much Leo and Heather, for all your hard work and dedication, and perseverance. This is a very sad story. Is there a record somewhere, testimony as to what his relationship with his wife and in-laws was like? It does not excuse what he did, but he may well have just snapped at that moment. I just feel sorry for that poor little boy, seeing what he saw. The cemetery was very interesting, especially the above ground crypts. A shame about the condition they are in, I truly hope that the proper authorities removed the remains and reburied them properly somewhere else. This would be a great cemetery to visit on Halloween 🎃 Please let us know if you find out anything else about the victims, and Matt. Great video, thank you very much again Leo and Heather. 😊
Obviously those above-ground graves were broken into, either by thieves that were looking to steal off of the bodies, or just vandals. That would be a good place for jail inmates to clear off.
Most of those above ground graves weren’t vandalized, they were removed by family to other locations. I lived on that street for 30 years, until 2003. I can see my house in the video.
My best friend in the 1970’s was born and reared in Holden, WV. There were beautiful homes there. A hospital, coal company store, private doctor’s offices. Still a nice area. Well-maintained over the years.
damn County judges when handing out community service sentences should have the offenders clean up these abandoned cemeteries! such a damn shame seeing them look this bad.
My God. That was the day my mother was born in Logan. My Dad is older and I'm going to ask him if he remembers this , his mother would have been working at the hospital back then.
That is a sad story. I wonder what happened to the little boy? It makes me sad to see graveyard’s in such poor shape. Who owns the land that the graveyard is on? Would they know who’s buried there and where the graves are? Here in Wisconsin there is always someone who has a record of who is buried in cemetery’s or graveyards. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to find out who has the records but that is how I found my maternal great grandparents graves. Take care.
There is a small list online of people buried there, Jack is listed, not the 2 ladies, but its not a real reliable source. I have no idea who owns it, I know they are there, just pretty sure the markers are not visible anymore. But I may look into that. I will also check the boy, now Im curious
@@thehillbillyfiles Did you find out what happened to the little boy? I'm guessing he'd have no surviving family and be traumatized from finding the bodies in the middle of the night. I'm not sure if all country homes there had electricity then..
I'm from Northern Kentucky, but my father and his family is from Harlan County, Kentucky. They buried their family on they called Hensley Hill. I don't know if it's still there, haven't been there since I was 7 years old, I'm 63 now. Maybe you can find out. Thank you, I like your videos on old Kentucky history. Great job
Loved this video. I caretake a small museum in Wirt County wv. At the historical Rathbone well oil n gas museum. During the Civil War there were thousands of people here. Not now. Might be an interesting story to publish. Welcome anytime. It's quite the story of greed honor and misfortune
Yikes what a horrible man. his poor family. These abandoned cemeteries make me so sad. I cannot imagine burying a loved one & having no marker. I'm sure they are unmarked because their families were too poor to afford one. I know this is silly but I worry if a 100 years after I'm buried will the cemetery look like this. I enjoyed this video. I like all the videos on your channel.
No it"s not silly at all really, For me i tell my friends & family, Bury me in a cardboard box if they want to, But i would like a marker of some kind that would last a few yrs anyway, letting people know that i had a name, was born, lived & died, & if not to much cost, with the words written on the marker, SEE I TOLD YOU I WAS SICK But really it"s sad when there are no markers, My Dad never knew where his mom was buried, he was oldest of 5 siblings at age 9 when she died, & shortly after he moved away, only knew the area where there were 5 more unmarked graves, in line, even the church records did not know for sure which one was G Mothers, this was back in late1920s
This is why many of us, me and most of my family, decided on cremation. No matter the condition of a cemetery, after your kids are gone, most all of us will have long been forgotten. No one will visit, no one will know who you were. And you don't have to worry about ending up in a disgraceful lot like this one has been allowed by an uncaring community. This is more a reflection on what kind of people live in that little town.
@rickjones784 It does not reflect negatively on the town, it is not their responsibility to clean up someone else's space, using their time and resources.
When you die ? You either go to the golden gates if it is open for you ? You have eternal life 💘 with our glorious Jesus ? If not ! Burn 🔥 in hell . one day our lord will have every person in the graves rise just like Lazarus .
That graveyard was so interesting to me! Where were the coffins in the graves enclosed by brick that were open on 1 end? That little brick house that was missing the door, was there supposed to be a coffin sitting in there? Or would it have been buried then the brick room built around it?
Another great video, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful hobby, I found a gold mine when I found your channel. Thank you for all the work you do ❤
Thanks! I was born in Holden in '57 in the old Island Creek Coal Company hospital that used to be on the hill near the Bungalow. Mom and dad are buried in Chapmanville at Highland Memory Gardens. My wife and I will be in the plots beside them. This was a wonderful video! I really appreciate it and enjoyed hearing your voices, they Take Me Home Country Roads!
I’m a new fan - I like your channel . I grew up in Ohio and had relatives from Weston, WV . Scots/Irish as they call it . Anyways - thanks for the great material . Keep it up !
That was a pretty in interesting cemetery ,you can learn so much from them, i worked in one myself when i was younger, back then in the 1800's most people were buried in pine boxes , each plot is marked with a number. We would call the backhoe contractor in to dig the grave next to mom and dad nothing should be there, a lot of times as there digging you see parts of pine box coming up, we stop double check it make sure no other graves are suppose to be there its for the family a reserved plot, some cemetery's are so old there record keeping was not that accurate, some people could not read back then and you had a lot of unmarked graves people just couldn't even afford a marker.
Wow how old is the cemetery? Like when or what year was the first person buried in that cemetery that would be very interesting to know... It's like I wonder what it look like back in the day like was it well notably noticed of burials? Or is everybody just buried far apart from each other?
I'm new to your station I don't even know your name or your lady friend's name but I really do like your videos so I subscribed looking forward to the future videos this is Terry and Wichita Kansas 74 years old and I love walking through old cemeteries take care of my friends
This is a sad story & the state of the cemetery is one of the worse I’ve seen. 😢 You know those families never seen that coming. *The idea of those Veterans alone…breaks my heart!
Those grave up on them there hills are the oldest, I miss doing things like this now that my husband is deceased 🥺 good to see you and your wif do this 🙂
I love your videos, I grew up in Lebanon ky and my mom and dad are both from ky. Ive done some research on my dad's family in london ky. Very interesting. My gr gr grandparents came over from Switzerland and was part of the swiss colony in east bernstat ky. Interesting info I came across. 😊
I'm wondering if the smashed crypts were once occupied, but that people relocated remains and they simply festered, collapsed. The first that looked like a small Chapel was especially saddening. I 'love walking thru cemeteries and graveyards myself. There are a few in my area overgrown, unkempt, but accessible with stories to tell. In fact the one can be seen on a FB Page, I grew Up In Plainfield, NJ(my own hometown). A fellow went about the Evergreen Cemetery locating several people who had interesting stories. Let me know if you're up this way, I may need a week to show you about!!
I know exactly where this is, I use to go by the cemetery all the time going to 5&6 Holden church with my dad, When I was young this was a beautiful cemetery but it's been probably at least 50 years since someone was laid to rest there.
This is crazy because just over a century earlier, and just 9 minutes down Holden Rd., another axe murder took place: that of poor elderly Mrs. Anne Lawson by her two slaves, who had gotten drunk!
I winder what kind of a life that poor 4 year old who witnessed the murders had. Hopefully he was able to overcome that. The cemetery looks nearly beyond repair at this point. Seems to me if there's archeological research money for supposedly ancient Indian burial grounds out there there SHOULD be some for current day burial grounds as well. History is important regardless of WHEN it happened.
I can’t say that I’m very surprised to see the state that this cemetery is in. The vast majority of people don’t care about these old places, even if they have family members buried there, they are often several generations removed and don’t even know who they were and feel no obligation for the cemetery’s care & upkeep. The 30 and below crowd seem to have very little respect or interest in taking care of anything, much less a cemetery. They might have to take their head out of their phone for a little while and they can’t be having that. A few exceptions to that rule, but getting fewer and fewer all the time.
WV had one ominous-looking penitentiary. Moundsville has a pretty blue bridge crossing the Ohio river. A nice simple, clean design. Though I believe would be much better in a medium green.
There are some beautiful monuments in that cemetery. It's so sad it's in disrepair. I was taught to respect the graves. So many people showing their disrespect by throwing garbage.
Man, that would be bad if someone climbing that hill fell and landed on those pikes sticking up out of the ground at the bottom where that crypt was used a a storage locker.
Jack Martin's grave is at 11:32 on the video. It's the brick structure (crypt) to the right of the screen, or at least, that's what it says on the Whitman Cemetery website. I thought I heard you say "Butler" when you were looking at it. Such a sad story.
Almost every State have a Bureau of Cemetery and Furneral organization where a citizen can report issues with a cemetary... with those sink holes and the nature of kids being as they are, it might be an idea to report this area... not sure if they can do more than just out up signs and have news conferences but it might help. Sometimes area churches will take on these areas for at least the grounds clean up.
I wonder if the sunken graves have been previously disturbed? I know dirt settles over time but I never thought it could settle three feet or more. Just wondering.
I grew up playing in cemeteries. I know that may sound awful but we grew up with our cousins as close as siblings and decoration day in the south was a big thing for us. The church didn't have no play ground, so we visited unknown graves, picked wildflowers for those that didn't get any decoration , cleaned headstones and made up stories about those we didn't know. I wouldn't take nothing for those days. Appalachian Alabamian.
The teamwork you both have is incredible! Mathew was never tried for his wife or his mother in law but they tried him for his father in laws death? Go figure lol
For every upright marker, there are probably 25 to 50 marked flat stones. As these folks had no one to pay for a stone, they would likely be marked with a metal marker, having only a slim metal stake, so, easy to trample in all the leaves.
