 Clark Chapel Cemetery Morgan Township, Gallia Co, OH
From Gallipolis, OH take US 35 North. Exit at OH 160 North towards Vinton. Continue on OH 160 until the Clark Chapel Church sign. Turn right. Proceed down this road until you reach the church on the right. The parking lot will be on the left. Cemetery Photographed August 18, 2000. |
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Rev. Harrison Willis and his wife
Syrenia
Hard share a
monument with their information listed on opposite sides of the marker.
They have a large marked family plot
in a very prominent area of the cemetery. You can see their marker as
the tallest one shown in the above picture, which looks down the hill from the
middle of the cemetery. To the right is a shot looking up the hill.
The Willis marker is still quite distinctly the tallest monument in the
picture. Closeups of each side of Harrison Willis is found first on the 1850 Scioto Co, OH census. He married Syrenia Hard in that county on January 17, 1841. She was the daughter of Jonathan Benedict Hard and his wife Sophronia White, New Englanders who removed with their families to Ohio. Willis' census records from 1860 indicate an occupation of Minister. He was in Jackson Co, OH in 1860 and in Gallia County by 1870. His death certificate lists the cause of death as "Chronical". Therefore he must have suffered from an extended, debilitating illness. The marriage records for his children confirm this, as he served as Minister for the older children's weddings, but not the younger. Syrenia Hard's death date is not included on the Clark Chapel tombstone. Her information appears to have been engraved on the monument at his death, with anticipation of adding her death date at decease. It is not known to this writer whether she is actually buried in the plot. |
 
Rev. Harrison Willis Mar 4 1820 - Feb 6 1895 Syrenia Hard Wife of Rev. H. Willis Born Nov 26 1823
Harrison Willis married Syrenia Hard January 17, 1841 in Sciota Co, OH. She was the daughter of Jonathon Benedict Hard and his wife Sophronia White. 1850 Scioto Co, OH Census, Green Township, p. 291, #232 Early Gallia County Court Records 1846 - 1899, (Records were abstracted from
the Common Pleas and Probate Courts) |
Alvin Russell Co I 173rd Ohio InfantryAlvin Russell and his wife were the parents of Malinda Russell, who married Rev. Harrison Willis' son Thomas. Alvin's grave is a small Union marker just down the hill and to the right of Rev. Harrison Willis' more elaborate one. This author found no marker for his wife, Harriet Spires in the cemetery. Alvin Russell was the son of Isaac Russell and his wife Rhoda Hoppas. This writer is greatly in need of documentation proving this relationship. He married Harriet Spires December 31, 1846 in Gallia Co, OH. She was a daughter of John Spires and his wife Phebe McCumber. 1850 Gallia Co, OH Census, Morgan Township, p. 403b, #271-284 American Civil War Soldiers: Alvin Russell enlisted as a Private on
04 September 1864 at the age of 37 Certified Copy of Death Record |
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02/11/2007 12:56:42 PM
Clark
Chapel Church sits atop a steep little hill overlooking beautiful pastoral Ohio
farm land. My first thought upon visiting the cemetery was "What a
wonderful spot to spend eternity." To reach the cemetery, one exits
Ohio 35 just past Gallipolis, OH at the Vinton exit. Turn right at the
drugstore on the corner and proceed until you see the above sign to Clark Chapel
Church. Turn right at the sign and follow the road until you reach the
church on the right. 
the stone are shown below.