Capon Chapel and its cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 are located one and a half miles south of Capon Bridge

Capon Bridge, West Virginia

Capon Bridge is a town located in eastern Hampshire County, West Virginia along the Northwestern Turnpike , approximately twenty miles west of Winchester, Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 2,178, 200 of which live within the town limits. Originally known as Glencoe, Capon...

 in Hampshire County

Hampshire County, West Virginia

Hampshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,964. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town . Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties ...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 on Christian Church Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 13).

Early settlers in the Cacapon River

Cacapon River

The Cacapon River , located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region, is an river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, and scenery...

 Valley congregated on this exact site for religious occasions and family burials beneath an ancient oak tree

Oak Tree

Oak Tree may refer to:*Oak, the tree*Oak Tree, County Durham, a village in County Durham, England*The Oaktree Foundation, a youth-run aid and development agency*Oak Tree National, golf club in Edmond, Oklahoma...

. The log structure chapel was then constructed in the 1750s, and remains intact beneath a layer of white painted boards that have constantly been maintained and refurbished over the past two hundred years. The structure is one of the three oldest church structures in the county.

Capon Chapel's cemetery contains the graves of early Cacapon Valley settlers, slaves, and soldiers from both sides of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The earliest graves on the chapel grounds are from the late 18th century and are located in the chapel's lawn area, but their fieldstone

Fieldstone

Fieldstone is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is stone collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally...

markers have since been lost over the past two and a half centuries.

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