Thomas Joseph Huddleston

He was the son of Daniel and Rachel Martin Huddleston.

Thomas was originally interred on the Daniel Huddleston farm along the Kanawha River and the James River and Kanawha Turnpike (Midland Trail), roughly present-day Rt. 60 in Fayette County, WV.

In 1930-31, during construction of housing for employees of Union Carbide's EMCO (Elkem) plant and related mining operations, remains were removed from the site (then adjacent to the Daniel Boone filling station) and transferred to the John Paddy Huddleston cemetery on the cliff overlooking the location of the old home and inn (National Guard Armory and subsequently WV Dept. of Transportation office). The process was handled by a Mr. Hooper, undertaker. A legal affidavit signed by Henry O. and A.B. Huddleston approved the transfer (attached).

According to Lawrence Huddleston's addendum to the documentation, collected in his records (now in West Virginia State Archives), remains from a total of four graves were moved from the valley to the cliff. These included Daniel, his wife Rachel Martin Huddleston, Thomas, and one R.L. (unknown).

The markers were transcribed by W.K. Hanna in the "early 1930s" when "a coal company was erecting houses at the location of the burial plot."

W.K. Hanna's statement gives Thomas's original headstone inscription as reading: "In memory of Thomas Huddleston, who departed this life July 6 1825, aged 56 years."

Attached note by Lawrence M. Huddleston reads: "Daniel Huddleston, his wife Rachael, and son Thomas J. were originally buried in the bottom across from his house between the Midland Trail and Kanawha River."

According to Lawrence Huddleston, the original markers of the four graves, including the headstone for Thomas, were later vandalized and destroyed. It is not clear whether the markers had been transferred to the cemetery along with remains.

A collective commemorative marker* was installed near the John Paddy Huddleston cemetery, according to an article which appeared in the Fayette Tribune. It read:

"On this site lies the remains of Daniel Huddleston 1735-1817, his wife Rachel Martin 1754-1831, their sons Thomas 1769-1825, John Paddy 1771-1862, his wife Miriam Jarrett 1781-1865, their child Susan age 3, and a slave named Jack. Born in Bucks County, Pa. Daniel and family migrated to Bedford County, Va. 1770 and to this locale in 1785. Their two story log house known in later years as Travelers Inn stood on this site now occupied by the Armory." This marker is not present at the site.

The older photograph shows the village of Falls View constructed in bottomland formerly part of the Daniel and Rachel Martin Huddleston farm. The first burial location (but not the graves) of Daniel and Rachel Martin Huddleston, Thomas Huddleston and possibly others, is visible in the perspective of this photo. Their remains were later moved to the cliff from where this photo was taken in 1931.

• Note: not the same marker as the bronze memorial plaque fastened to the inn's chimney by the Colonial Dames of West Virginia in the 1920s. That marker is also missing from the site.
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Sep 14 2020, 19:55:52 UTC

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Thomas Joseph Huddleston
BIRTH
1769
Bedford, Bedford County, Virginia, USA
DEATH
6 Jul 1825 (aged 55–56)
Falls View, Fayette County, West Virginia, USA
BURIAL
John Paddy Huddleston Cemetery
Falls View, Fayette County, West Virginia, USA

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133604558/thomas-joseph-huddleston

Thomas Joseph Huddleston BIRTH 1769 Bedford, Bedford County, Virginia, USA DEATH 6 Jul 1825 (aged 55–56) Falls View, Fayette County, West Virginia, USA BURIAL John Paddy Huddleston Cemetery Falls View, Fayette County, West Virginia

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133604558/thomas-joseph-huddleston

Children Samuel Huddleston 1803–1873

Photo Dorcas Huddleston Slack 1807–1850