What a wonderful story and Mr. Van Druff deserves our praise for his
work.
There are those who destroy and those who preserve.
Hopefully the government will act as responsibly as Mr. Van Druff and keep
this gravesite marked and clean and protected.
> * Volunteer clears area of historical gravesite
> Greene County, Pennsylvania :
The final resting place of Gen. George
Washington's
> wagonmaster, George Wisecarver,was nearly forgotten.
> William Van Druff works to maintain the grave of Gen. George
> Washington's
> wagonmaster, George Wisecarver, on a remote hillside in Whiteley
> Township
> recently.
> (JACK GRAHAM/O-R) Observer Reporter (PA), September 6, 2005.
>
http://www.observer-reporter.com/285859884423399.bsp
>
> George Wisecarver has been dead for 163 years.
> His grave, located on a remote hillside on state gamelands 223, Whiteley
> Township, became so overgrown with weeds that the two gravestones were
> barely visible. Someone toppled his gravestone and rolled it down the
> hill. The
> final resting place of Gen. George Washington's wagonmaster during the
> American
> Revolution was nearly forgotten.William Van Druff had to do something.
> "There ain't nobody in the state, except Greene County, that can say,
> 'We
> got George Washington's wagonmaster buried right here,'" Van Druff
said.
> The 72-year-old man from Waynesburg spent most of May clearing
> Wisecarver's gravesite. As a final touch, he obtained a flag marker from
> the
> Waynesburg American Legion that recognizes the months Wisecarver spent
> as
> a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
> The grave's historical significance was not lost on Ruth Morris of
> Waynesburg, who used to live near the area. Nine years ago, she learned
> that Van Druff cleared his own family's cemetery, so Morris asked his
> help in clearing Wisecarver's grave. It took quite a few years for
> Van Druff to secure the state Game Commission's permission to work, but
> she
> is very pleased with the results.
> "He did a wonderful job," Morris said. "I have no real connection to
> George Wisecarver, but I was very interested in seeing that grave
> cleaned up
> because I'm very interested in history."
> Wisecarver joined the military service from his home of Frederick
> County,
> Va., toward the end of the Revolutionary War, according to records
> housed
> at the Cornerstone Genealogy Society library in Waynesburg. As
> Washington's
> wagonmaster, he was present when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at
> Yorktown.
> Around 1800, Wisecarver and his wife, Catherine Orndoff Wisecarver,
> settled in a sparsely populated area of Southwestern Pennsylvania known
> as
> Whiteley Township. The couple and their nine children became one of the
> pioneer
> families in Greene County history.
> When Wisecarver died in 1842, he was buried on what used to be the
> family
> farm. It has since become part of the state gamelands. The grave is
> about
> a half-mile hike off Dutch Run Road. Van Druff needed to use tractors
> and
> an all-terrain vehicle to clear a path to the grave and to elimate a
> massive briar patch in the tiny cemetary.
> Since the Game Commission forbids motorized vehicles on the gamelands,
> it took a
> bit of time and effort to convince state officials to grant an exception
> for
> Van Druff's work.
> "That was the hardest part," he said just before he transported two
> journalists to the grave on his ATV.
> Once he was finally able to begin the job, Van Druff worked half days,
> after noon since turkey hunters roamed the woods in the morning hours.
> By
> Memorial Day, Van Druff's work was complete.
> The site is now one of few clearings amid the heavily wooded gamelands.
> However, not many will notice Van Druff's hard work because of the
> grave's
> remote location.
> "People told me I was crazy when I cleaned up the Van Druff cemetery,
> that no one would appreciate it. No one would care," Van Druff said.
> "But I
> care, I appreciate it and that's worth something. I can't just let this
> stuff go
> to nothing."
> Van Druff has notified some of Wisecarver's decendants, who reside in
> other areas across the country. A family excursion to the gravesite is
> being
> planned. Over the long term, Van Druff said he will cut the grass around
> the site
> and maintain it. "Now if I could only get someone to take over when I
> leave
> off," he said.
>
>
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