Hi Annie, Sounds like you had a great trip! You asked about cemetery transcriptions - there are just a few on the Berkeley County WVGenWeb site. Go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvberkel/ - under Berkeley County Information is a link to cemeteries. The cemeteries are all listed, but only those with links are the ones that have been transcribed - at least all I've found to date. If anyone knows of any others or if anyone has transcribed other cemeteries, I would sure appreciate hearing from them! Marilyn G. county coordinator for Berkeley Co. WVGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvberkel/ [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> Subject: [WVBERKEL] EVAN WATKINS' FERRY > Hi: > > I spent four glorious days in Northern Virginia and the highlight of my visit > there, was a visit to Berkeley County. My friend who lives in Northern > Virginia drove me and another friend across from Williamsport into Berkeley > County. The first thing we saw was the marker on my 6th great grandfather, > Evan Watkins. It made me very proud. Then we turned around and went back > across the Potomac into Williamsport and found a narrow wooden bridge and > drove out along the bank of the Potomac. Later I discovered that the wooden > bridge was exactly where Watkins' Ferry was located. We spoke to the ranger > at the C&O Canal Historical Park in Williamsport and she had a book that > showed where the ferry was located. That was a wonderful feeling for me. > Then back across into Berkeley County and we drove into Martinsburg. I have > never seen so many beautiful homes and buildings in my life. The Courthouse > was stunning! We found the Historical Society and spoke to Don Wood, who was > most helpful. > > >From there, we drove down to the oldest Presbyterian Church in the area and > my friend spoke to the minister regarding the tombstone inscriptions and was > told that no one had ever done them! Does anyone know if they have been > done as my friend was most interested since she thinks that some of her > family are buried there. > > I was very proud to be related to Evan Watkins. I would have loved to have > found his house. I took a photo of a house that was situated near the marker > but I'm not sure it was his. There were several houses or buildings across > the road but after seeing a five foot snake the day before, I decided to skip > it. Does anyone know which house was his? > > Everyone I spoke to was so nice. I was very impressed by Don Wood and the > nice library at the historical society. I hope to someday get back there to > do more research. > > I'm related to Evan Watkins' daughter, Eleanor, who married a Henry Frakes > (Freakes, Frake) who died in Greene Co., PA in the 1790's. Their son, my > ancestor, another Henry went on to Hardin County, KY where he died about > 1801. I have been looking for the Frakes family for years and had decided > that he either had a name change or he was an immigrant. Now I find that the > name might have been spelled FRANKS, so I'm off on another search. You never > know with names. > > I was sorry when we had to leave as I would have loved to driven some of > those little roads in the County. > > I also saw Harpers Ferry which was most interesting and had a lovely drive > down the Shenandoah River Valley. We were on a side road and had just come > back from wading in the South Fork of the Shenandoah, when we came upon the > five foot snake which was about 4 to 6 inches in diameter. I presume that > it was probably a gopher snake but who knows. I wouldn't want to tangle with > one that big. We kept seeing these animals on the road, looked like a beaver > but a ranger at Great Falls of the Potomac told us there were marmots. > > In all, I had a great time. Northern Virginia is very beautiful and very > idfferent from where I live. > > I have ancestry in Loudoun Co., VA, Hardy and Hampshire Counties, WV (when > they were located in VA), so I felt kinda at home. The names are WYCKOFF and > HERRIOT. > > Annie > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.386 / Virus Database: 218 - Release Date: 9/10/02