Wreath Laying Ceremony

In spite of the gloomy weather, the Ladies and guests of the William Henshaw Chapter, NSDAR, held a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance and honor of Mr. Ward Hill Lamon, the close friend and bodyguard of President Abraham Lincoln.  During this 200^th anniversary year celebrating President Lincoln’s birth, a hardy group stood up to the weather to show their respect at Mr. Lamon’s graveside in the Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church Cemetery.  Mr. Lamon (1828-1893) is buried in a family plot in the cemetery along with his daughter, Dorothy Lamon Teillard (1858-1953), his granddaughter Baby Ruth (1882-1886), his sister and her husband Annie Ward (Lamon) Morgan (1830-1912), and William Morgan (1823-1903) and a family servant, Aunt Nannie.

Author Bob O’Conner assisted in the ceremony and spoke later at the church hall about his research into the life of Mr. Lamon.  He discussed his latest book, “The Virginian Who Might Have Saved Lincoln” at a reception in the church hall where refreshments were served to all.

Numerous members of the William Henshaw Chapter, NSDAR attended, including Ruth G. Widmyer, Regent, and Nancy D. Myers.  Linda Fries, Sylvia Orendorff, Jessica M. Hayes and Wilma Cooper participated in the ceremony as well.

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Col.  Morgan Morgan Cabin

Torytown area of Berkeley County. 

Home of Morgan, the first white settler in West Virginia

 Gerrardstown Snapshots

 Southern Methodist Church - 1881

This Church is being restored by Kevin Sarring, preservationist-architect

church steeple lowered by crane for

As many of you know, Kevin Sarring is restoring the old Southern Methodist Church in Gerrardstown. I had the opportunity to spend some time with him at the church awhile back. 

In our discussion, it became apparent that he does not have a lot of photographs of the early days of the church.  His efforts to this point are impressive and he is having to do a lot of detective work to figure out what the church was like.

It occurs to me that perhaps there are families in the area who had weddings or some other event in the church many years ago, where photographs were taken inside and out that might help him.  Something in the background of a photo might answer what was where or how did it look. 

If someone has such photographs, I will be glad to copy them and return the originals.  I am reasonably sure Kevin would appreciate seeing how the church looked as he works on restoring the structure.

Just drop a note with the CONTACT US  icon

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 Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church with Session house (1793) to the left

click for church web site

 Gerrardstown is one of the few remaining villages in West Virginia that has many of the original stone and log homes still intact and being used today

Oban Hall 

Gerrardstown: A Historic Gem in Need of Protection 

Article by Barbara Miller

with permission from Preservation news

Page 1 & Page 2 of article click on page number

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Oban Hall

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This page for the history of Gerrardstown area.

Unlike some web sites that hide the construction of the web site, we will share  it as pictures are added, labels put on them, stories posted and all sorts of historic information about Gerrardstown and the surrounding North Mountain area in Southern Berkeley County

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Local History Source 

 Berkeley County Historical Society 

Located in the Belle Boyd house, 126 East Race Street, Martinsburg, WV

Museums, historical research, tours of Berkeley County 

PAWV

  The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is a statewide grassroots organization supporting historic preservation in the mountain state. Since 1982, the nonprofit PAWV has been working to preserve West Virginia's precious historical resources for the benefit of future generations. 

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Grave site of Ward Hill Lamon  Abraham Lincoln's Bodyguard & Friend

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 Ward Hill Lamon 1828-1893

 Memorial Day Flags May 2008

 Mr. Lamon is buried in the Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church Cemetery.  He came to Washington in 1861 with Mr. Lincoln. His multi-colored life saw him act as self proclaimed body guard to Mr. Lincoln before there was a Secret Service Agency.  He stood by Mr. Lincoln sometimes in official roles and sometimes non-official roles.  Many of the positions and policies we take for granted now were unheard of in that era.

 He served as the US Marshal for the District of Columbia.  As happens now, there was great jealousy and intrigue to discredit Mr. Lamon on every front.  He was close to President Lincoln and had almost unlimited access to his ear and this made other powerful men in and around the government quite irritated.

 In poor health, Mr. Lamon moved to the area to be cared for by his daughter Dorothy until his death in 1893.

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Visit the  

Berkeley County Historical Society

 website for additional information about

Berkeley County West Virginia 

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More Photos of the restored

Southern Methodist church steeple installation 

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Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant no longer exists except for cabin ruins and the Mount Olive church.  This community of African-Americans is located on the west side of North Mountain in the Gerrardstown area.  Believed to have been founded around 1866 by freemen, the last people to live there is about 1967.  There is no record known as to where the 50 some families that originally set up the town came from but it is likely they were the results of abolishing of slavery during the Civil War.  The governor of West Virginia approved an act of abolishing slavery on February 3, 1865 and the Civil War ended April 9, 1865.

Storer College was established in 1867 in Harpers Ferry to educate former slaves so it is not unreasonable to guess the original African-Americans of Mount Pleasant came from areas of Virginia to the outskirts of Gerrardstown to establish their own community.

Mount Olive church is believed to have started as the Mount Pleasant School.  Records indicate that construction was probably around 1897.  Field stone from North Mountain and the surrounding Gerrardstown area was used in building the school.  It is thought that the last day of school operation was May 26, 1939.

The church building continues to be maintained and periodic Sunday services held.

 Mount Olive Church

The cemetery  near the church is still used for burials.