Mineral Daily News - Tribune
Keyser, WV.
Historic Cemetery Service
By Ronda Wertman — 04/19/24
RIDGELEY – High on the mountaintop overlooking the Cumberland Valley stands the Seymour-Brady Cemetery, which continues to draw the interest from all ages with stories of the area and its people.
The cemetery became a part of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO) in 2004, as members began to learn about those buried there and to revitalize the cemetery. Recently members held a memorial service, giving tours of the site, which is primarily secured from view unless someone knows where to look.
Located across the Potomac River from Cresaptown, MD, it is emersed in nature as trees protect the monuments from the wind and the shade helps prevent the information on the monuments from fading. The centerpiece of the historic cemetery is a monument for John Brady, with a six-foot plaque by the CHCO which was unveiled during Confederate History Month in April 2007.
Brady was a key figure in what has been describes as “one of the most daring raids of the Civil War.” On Feb. 20, 1865, Brady travelled to Cumberland studying the numbers and locations of the Union troops. This information was vital to Lt. Jesse McNeill and McNeill’s Rangers in the capture of General George Crook and Brigadier General Kelley.
Dating back before Fort Cumberland, Seymour Bottom was originally known as Anderson Bottom for William Anderson, who served with General Braddock.
The area was also known as “Hard Luck Bottom” as one of Felix Seymour’s sons drowned in the nearby Potomac River. Stones in the cemetery bear the names Seymour, Brady and McNeill and its unknown how many graves are inside and outside the fence that are unmarked.
The Seymour-Brady Cemetery is just one of the CHCO’s designated and protected grave sites that includes sites in Mineral and Allegany Counites, Baltimore and one in Florida.
Next CHCO event will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, April 20 at the Confederate Historic Pollock Cemetery located in Mexico Farms, on River Rd. near the C& O Canal south of Cumberland. For more information or directions call 301-722-4624.
On Thursday, April 18, CHCO members visited the gravesite of 30th President of the United States Calvin Coolidge. He was President 100 years ago. Coolidge and many generations of his family are buried near his Presidential Library in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. From left CHCO Pres. Ed Taylor, Jr., Liam Taylor, Kaleb Taylor and Christina Taylor.
On Monday April 15, CHCO Pres. Ed Taylor Jr. attended the Mind over Murder podcast at the Yorktown, VA Library. The podcast was covering the many issues of the Colonial Parkway murders. Last year the CHCO unveiled a designated and protected grave monument for murder victim Keith Call. Taylor made an announcement that in 2028 the CHCO will be erecting a large monument to all the Colonial Parkway Murders victims at Rose well Cemetery in Hayes, VA. More info will come later. Above is the handout given during the podcast.
On Saturday April 6, the CHCO held a tour and memorial service at the Seymour- Brady Cemetery, located in Seymour Bottom, WV. The cemetery is just across the Potomac River from Cresaptown, Md. This unique historic cemetery is located on private land and the only way to visit it is to call CHCO Headquarters at 301-722-4624. It is the burial site of several generations of the Southern and States rights Civil War era Confederate families, the Seymours and Bradys. The event was held as part of the CHCO April Confederate History month program. This site was adopted by the CHCO in 2004, and has been maintained and restored by the organization since that time. In 2007 the CHCO engraved a six foot plaque on the large John Brady monument which tells about his involvement in the 1865 kidnapping of Union Generals Crook and Kelley by the Confederate McNeill’s Rangers in Cumberland, Md. Pictured below are scenes from the event. CHCO President Ed Taylor Jr., W.Va. Delegate Gary Howell, and CHCO Board member Rosarian Brett Dimaio are shown standing next to the monument of Herbert Felix Seymour. The next CHCO event will be a tour and memorial service for Confederate History month of the Historic Pollock Cemetery located in Mexico Farms at the end of River Rd. next to the C&O Canal south of Cumberland. This event will be held on Saturday April 20 at 2pm.
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