This picture was sent to me by Barbara Martin Stewart and she got if from Troy Taylor.

This picture looks to have been made in the early 1900's. The Church was built in the summer of 1903. You will notice the platform which appears to be from the road to the door and this was apparently how you entered the Church before the side walk and steps were added. You will also notice that the Church Yard was fenced (wooden board on the west and woven wire on the east). You can catch a glimpse of the old barn that was next to the Church in the right side of the picture.

Legend has it that Davy Blackwell stood in the road in the fall of 1904 and watched the cemetery being fenced and said, "wonder who will be the first person buried there". He was actually the first person buried there when he fell on icy rails in the Bluefield Train Yard in January, 1905 and a train ran over him. He was brought back to the Chapel to be laid to rest. He had two daughters, Blanche and Stella, who followed him in death the same month and the same year. They both died of diptheria. Since I see no cemetery fence in the picture, this picture could have been made in the Winter of 1903-04.

So much for the history lesson today. Your task is to name the people and date of this picture. Good Luck!


On December 27, 1902, John D. Blackwell and his wife, Elizabeth, sold one and 1/2 acres of land to the Trustees of the Missionary, Primitive, and Christian Baptist Churches and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South for the sum of one dollar. This land is now the site of Blackwell Chapel United Methodist Church and cemetery.  The church building was completed in the summer of 1903, and the first burial in the cemetery took place in January, 1905. The church has been used by several denominations since its founding; however, the Methodists have occupied it regularly since 1903.