Peter Broadwater Michael

and Angelina Collins Michael,

Founders










[Note: Follow links to pictures of headstones.]

Peter Broadwater Michael was the 5th son and 9th child of George C. Michael and Catherine Broadwater Michael. (Three more children followed.) George was born June 28, 1800 and died August 3, 1860 and Catherine was born March 14, 1808 and died June 14, 1897. Both are buried at the Michael Cemetery near Westernport, MD. Catherine's father was Charles Broadwater (1778-1859) who served in the War of 1812 and was reportedly at Fort McHenry during the attack that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. George was of German heritage while Catherine was of English descent.

Peter Broadwater Michael was born April 8, 1844, near Westernport, Garrett County, Maryland. He died on September 13, 1903 at his home in Oxford, Doddridge County, West Virginia.

Peter Broadwater Michael, 1844-1903

From West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 40:

"In 1878 Peter B. Michael took up his residence in Doddridge Co., and his farm lies in the South West District, where he has 400 acres of land, the best farm in Doddridge County. Over 100 acres of it is river bottom, numerous streams abound making it specially adapted for dairy purposes, small fruit is raised in abundance, and one orchard contains 1,500 bearing apple trees. Mr. Michael is a large grower of stock, the entire farm well adapted to all kinds of stock-raising."

Angelina Brice Collins Michael was born December 15, 1844, reportedly in Pennsboro, Ritchie County, West Virginia. She died at the family home in Oxford on March 30, 1920.

Peter and Angelina married on September 11, 1866, probably at or near her family home in Ritchie County. It would appear likely that Peter had moved to West Virginia sometime before his marriage. If the West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia is correct, Peter and Angelina did not acquire the Oxford farm until 12 years after their marriage, which would mean that only their two youngest children, Willa Fay Michael Casto and John George Michael, were born on the farm in Oxford. Their oldest child, Lula May Michael Frymier, was over ten years old when they moved to the farm.

Angelina Brice Collins Michael, 1844-1920

Angelina, known as Angie, was the daughter of John Collins and Phoebe Brice. John was born in what is now West Virginia in 1805 and died in Ritchie County in 1873. Phoebe was born November 7, 1809 in Harrison County, West Virginia and died August 17, 1865. Angie was the 6th of her parents' eight children. Angie was about 17 when the Civil War began. Reportedly her family had a small number of slaves who were freed at the end of the War. Angie came from one of the most prominent early families of what is now northern West Virginia. Her maternal grandfather was Major Benjamin Jones Brice. Major Brice's father-in-law was Colonel Benjamin Wilson, who was both a political and military leader of the northwestern Virginia frontier area before, during and after the Revolutionary War. The Collins side of the family was wealthy, although their fortunes had declined greatly by the time Angie entered her teens. Reportedly their money was associated with the building of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, though this is still being researched.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CEMETERY

The Michael Cemetery in Oxford, West Virginia, is, in effect, an extension of the Michael Cemetery near Westernport, Maryland.

There is a sad tale associated with the founding of the Michael Cemetery in Westernport. It was established in 1824 and its first interment was of Peter Broadwater Michael's uncle, Joseph, who died at age 15 only two weeks after suggesting the location for the family cemetery.

The first burial at the cemetery in Oxford was in 1900 when the infant child of Rose Michael Steele and The Rev. Milton Steele was interred there.

The site that was chosen was at the top of the hill, in the middle of what is now a pasture. The site overlooked the Oxford Methodist Protestant (now United Methodist) Church, which had a small graveyard next to it. When the church was moved across the road, that small cemetery fell into disrepair and most of the tombstones were no longer standing by the 1960's. In more recent years, many if not all of those tombstones, some dating from the 18th century, have been removed or destroyed.

THE SECOND GENERATION

Peter and Angie had seven children, three of whom are buried with them in the Michael Cemetery in Oxford. The children were:

Thanks to Kim Byham for this history and photographs of headstones.