The Secrets of Spring Hill Cemetery

(Spring Hill Cemetery)
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Spring Hill Cemetery was established in 1874 when the City of
Huntington purchased this land from the Central Land Company owned by
Collis P. Huntington. The name of Spring Hill is thought to have come from
   an old Spring House that used to set near where the first bodies were laid to
rest.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                         
Although the first official burial was that of Josephine Webb in 1873,
there were many graves older. The oldest which we found that we could read
about 15 years ago was that of Elizabeth Prosser, 1838. We do not know if
she was buried here originally or if she was moved here at a later date. The
records do not indicate either.                                                                   

In 1894 the City Council gave the Baily Post, G. A. R. and the Camp
Garnet Confederate Veterans each a plot in which to bury their veterans. We
have two Civil War generals buried here, Confederate General Albert Gallitin
Jenkins and Union General John Hunt Oley. There are more that 300 Civil
War soldiers buried throught out the cemetery in their own plots.
       
As you tour Spring Hill you will recognize the names of well known
individuals who were instrumental in the development of Huntington as we
know it today. For example, Delos Emmons, brother in law of Collis P.
Huntington and Superintendent of the Central Land Company, co founder of
the Emmons-Hawkins Hardware Company, is in a private mausoleum: D. E.
Abbott, frame company in Central City: Revella Hughes, a performer and was
activist in the national Black movement: Frederick G. L. Beuhring, an early
entrepreneur in the shipping industry and was an early sheriff, magistrate and
co-founder of Marshall College: James L. Caldwell, the first president of the
1st National Bank, and builder of the Huntington Electric Railway. The
memorial to the Marshall University plane crash victims is here in the newer
part of the cemetery. Dr. Paul Ambrose who perished on 9-11 is buried here.
He was on the plane that went down into the pentagon. As far as we know he
is the only person buried in West Virginia that dies on that fateful day in our
more recent history. The list goes on and on. However, there also the lesser
knowns, for example, Mary Eloise Hughes Smith, Titanic survivor: Allen
Harrison, last man legally hanged in Cabell County: Dan Hill, the first taxi
driver (horse drawn carriage).                                                               

Spring Hill is owned and operated by the Greater Huntington Park and
Recreation District. The park district was given the cemeteries by an act of
Legislature in  1925 when the Board of Park Commissioners was formed. We
are the only major locally owned cemetery in the area. The park
board also owns 3 other cemeteries, Highland Cemetery on Saltwell Road near
Beverly Hills Middle School: Historic Guyandotte Cemetery, on 5th Avenue
through the flood wall as you enter Guyandotte on the left: and Pat's Branch
Cemetery, located on the grounds of the Nickel Plant between Guyandotte and
Altizer. All cemeteries are open to the public daily with the exception of Pat's
Branch which is shown by appointment only. Spring Hill and Highland are
both active cemeteries while the latter two are historic. No burials take place
there.                                                                                                        

When the forefathers of Huntington set aside land for a cemetery, they
had great vision. Spring Hill is 110 acres with about 35 acres still
undeveloped, Highland is 15 acres, all developed but many spaces are still
available.                                                                                              
 

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