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INFORMATION FOR GENEALOGISTS AND OTHER RESEARCHERS

PLEASE NOTE: Ward Cemetery is NOT connected in any way to the website "Find A Grave" or that website's owner, Ancestry.com. The Ward Cemetery burial information found on the website "Find A Grave" is not an official listing of burials in Ward Cemetery and does not accurately reflect the burial records of Ward Cemetery. There is no automatic​ upload from Ward Cemetery to the "Find A Grave" website. The information on "Find A Grave" is user-submitted by many different volunteer contributors using both proven and unproven sources, and may not be accurate. 

Ward, West Virginia


Ward, West Virginia, was once a large coal mining town located in an unincorporated area on Kelley's Creek in Eastern Kanawha County, West Virginia.


There are two cemeteries located in the vicinity of Ward, WV.  Both cemeteries are located on Kelley's Creek outside of the Cedar Grove town limits.  These two cemeteries are within walking distance (0.3 miles) of each other.


These two cemeteries are:

(1) Ward Cemetery

The PLACE of burial on death certificates for people buried in Ward Cemetery may say Ward, WV, or Cedar Grove, WV.

(2) Mount Lewis Cemetery (also known as the Mammoth Cemetery)

The PLACE of burial on death certificates for people buried in Mount Lewis Cemetery may say Ward, Mammoth, or Cedar Grove. Mount Lewis Cemetery was once associated with the Mount Lewis Baptist Church in Mammoth, but the cemetery is located at Ward.  


The Ward post office closed in 1969 and the mailing address for this area is now Cedar Grove, WV.

PLEASE NOTE: Mount Lewis Cemetery is also located at Ward within walking distance of Ward Cemetery.​  See the photos below.  Ward Cemetery can be seen in the distance.  Mount Lewis Cemetery is approximately 0.3 miles past Ward Cemetery going towards Mammoth and on the opposite side of the road from Ward Cemetery. Immediately after passing Ward Cemetery going towards Mammoth, there is a turn off to the right onto a narrow bridge that crosses Kelleys Creek (Mount Lewis Road). After crossing the narrow bridge, you will see a very steep dirt road to the left going up the mountain. The cemetery is at the top of this dirt road. A four wheel drive vehicle is suggested, or park at the bottom and walk up, but it’s a steep climb.

Cedar Grove, West Virginia


Cedar Grove is an incorporated town in Eastern Kanawha County, West Virginia.  There are two cemeteries that are located within the Cedar Grove town limits right across the road (US Route 60) from each other:


These two cemeteries are:

(1) Woodland Cemetery.

Woodland Cemetery is sometimes called the Cedar Grove Cemetery on death records and in obituaries.

(2) Virginia's Chapel Church Cemetery - with white residents buried in one section and slaves buried in another section.  Virginia's Chapel Cemetery is also called the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Kanawha County Tax Records.


The PLACE of burial on death certificates for people buried in Woodland Cemetery and Virginia's Chapel Cemetery will say Cedar Grove, WV.


Death certificates found on the West Virginia Culture and History website for cemeteries in this area of eastern Kanawha County may say burial at Ward, Cedar Grove, or Mammoth, without naming a specific cemetery, so it can be hard to figure out the correct cemetery.  


So if only a burial PLACE is listed on the death certificate without the name of a specific cemetery, then additional research (such as obtaining a headstone photo or obituary) would be necessary to confirm the correct burial location.


EXAMPLE:

Charlotte Shifflett - Death Certificate states burial PLACE as Ward - DEATH CERTIFICATE

Burial was in Mount Lewis Cemetery, located in Ward, WV.

Photo of Headstone in Mount Lewis Cemetery, not Ward Cemetery - HEADSTONE PHOTO


To add to the confusion, many years ago some families also buried loved ones in their yards and not in any established cemetery.

Location Maps

Ward Cemetery (left) and Mount Lewis Cemetery (right)​ 

Virginia's Chapel Cemetery (left) & Woodland Cemetery (right)

Topo maps courtesy of USGS www.usgs.gov

Cemeteries in the Ward and Cedar Grove Area

Kanawha Valley Memorial Gardens is a modern perpetual care cemetery located in Glasgow, WV, less than a mile from Woodland Cemetery and Virginia's Chapel Cemetery in Cedar Grove, WV.

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