Fairfax County Cemetery Preservation Association

Upcoming FCCPA Meetings

fccpa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:52:35 +0000

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS - GUESTS WELCOME!
Next meeting - Monday, September 20, 7 pm
***Note new meeting location: Kings Park Library, 9000 Burke Lake Road***

IMPORTANT DATES

Survey Saturday August 21 in the Virginia Room at City of Fairfax Library in order to do research on cemeteries 10 am - noonish. Meet near the information desk

Future meeting start time and location:
7:00 PM
City of Fairfax Regional Library
10360 North Street Fairfax
Conference Rooms A/B (across from elevators)
Inclement weather: We follow the lead of Fairfax County Schools; if the schools are closed or activities canceled, our meeting is canceled.

Survey Saturdays - To inquire about or suggest future surveys, please email FCCPA atinfo@honorfairfaxcemeteries.org.

*Survey Saturdays meet in Conference room 214, upstairs in the VA Room of City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax. We will do research in the morning using the Library’s extensive cemetery files. Anyone who wants to continue in the afternoon with an on-site survey of a cemetery, we may do so after a quick lunch near the library.

Cemetery Preservation & Restoration Seminar

fccpa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:50:47 +0000

Cemetery Preservation & Restoration Seminar

Saturday October 23 & Sunday October 24, 2010

Robert Mosko - presentation on cemetery and monument preservation; on-site field study and assessment of Frying Pan Park Meeting House Cemetery
Aimee Wells, Fairfax County Park Authority archaeologist - presentation “Stones Speak in Historic Cemeteries”; learn what types of information can be found in historic cemeteries.
Fairfax County Cemetery Preservation Association. Inc. presentation
Tour of the Frying Pan Meeting House

No fee, but registration required

Co-sponsored by Frying Pan Park and FCCPA
Seminar Announcement - view or download for full details

Chestnut Grove Cemetery

fccpa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:47:38 +0000

The Chestnut Grove Cemetery in Herndon was established in 1872. There are earlier burials which were re-interred there. The Van Vleck family donated the land for the cemetery and established a trusteeship. Today the Town of Herndon maintains this cemetery, which is still in active use. The cemetery was surveyed in July of 2010. Because of the size of the cemetery (24 acres), the surveyors concentrated on the older sections. Some of the older markers are in need of repair and/or cleaning. The cemetery lawn is well maintained. Future generations will marvel at the innovative and interesting markers in this cemetery.

Photos of Chestnut Grove Cemetery
County Survey Record

Arnon Chapel Cemetery

fccpa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:31:31 +0000

Arnon Chapel Cemetery in Great Falls, Virginia was surveyed in July of 2010. The chapel served as a community place of worship and social events for almost fifty years. The community consisted of farmers, blacksmiths, and general store owners. Today, the cemetery is still in use and is a mixture of old and modern markers. Many of the markers honor military veterans, representing all the wars from the Civil War through Vietnam. The cemetery receives maintenance, but the surveyors noted that the cemetery needs better trimming of grass and bushes. Several markers are obscured by foliage or grass. Also, several of the older markers are in need of cleaning and/or repair.

Photos of Arnon Chapel Cemetery
County Survey Record

Brown’s Memorial Cemetery

fccpa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:18:18 +0000

Brown’s Memorial Cemetery and Brown’s Chapel Cemetery are connected in name and in history. In July 2010, surveyors noted that both cemeteries are well maintained and are still in active use.

The Brown’s Memorial Cemetery was started for the family members of Rev. Augustus Brown, who deeded land for and built Brown’s Chapel.

Photos of Brown’s Memorial Cemetery
County Survey Record

Brown’s Chapel Cemetery

fccpa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:03:16 +0000

Brown’s Chapel Cemetery and Brown’s Memorial Cemetery are connected in name and in history. In July 2010, surveyors noted that both cemeteries are well maintained and are still in active use.

In 1850 Rev. Brown and his brother Rev. Jesse Brown led a group of believers from New York to Virginia, where they purchased 320 acres. In 1874 Rev. Augustus Brown and his wife Sarah deeded a half acre of land to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church to build a house of worship. Rev. Brown and his two sons, Joseph and Irving, built the chapel. Services were first held in the chapel in 1879 and continued until 1967. The Brown’s Chapel Cemetery became a community cemetery and today has over two hundred burials.

Photos of Brown’s Chapel Cemetery
County Survey Record

Samuel Usher Dilley: Confederate Cemetery - Union Mills Area

fccpa — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:51:38 +0000

Submitted by Joy Reid of Clinton, Mississippi

FCCPA comment. Joy Reid feels confident she has finally identified the final resting place of her great great uncle Samuel Usher Dilley: the Confederate Cemetery - Union Mills Area. The cemetery’s location and history fit well with information garnered from family correspondence, official records, and advice provided by U.S. Park Service Ranger Chris Bryce - completing research she started in 2004. Here are excerpts from Joy’s research report.

Pvt. Samuel Usher Dilley died of typhoid fever September 11, 1861, at age 17. He was cared for by his brothers Robert William Dilley and Joseph Andrew Dilley. The three brothers joined the Satartia Rifles, Company I, on April 24, 1861, in Satartia, Mississippi, but soon became Confederate soldiers of the 12th Regiment Mississippi Infantry, Company B, Natchez Fencibles. Sammy is buried near Union Mills, Virginia. His CSA Service Record from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History identifies his place of burial as Masked Battery, Virginia.

An officer in the Satartia Rifles, 2nd Lt. Bailes F. Cannon is also buried in the Fairfax County Union Mills Area Confederate Cemetery. He is also from the Satartia area in Mississippi. Sammy’s father, Rev. Samuel M. Dilley, mentions in a letter to his daughter Sarah (wife of George W. Smith) dated September 9, 1861–two days before Sammy’s death–that “Bailes Cannon was very low also.” In another letter to Sarah, dated October 9, 1861, Rev. Dilley mentions that Bailes Cannon died on September 8, 1861, and that he “and Saml are buried near together.”

Email message from Ranger Chris Bryce, 10 Aug 2004: “This message is in response to your request for information on S. U. Dilley of the 12th Mississippi Infantry. According to the Broadfoot Index of Confederate Soldiers, S. U. Dilley is listed as Pvt. Samuel W. Dilly. He was a member of Company B (Natchez Fencibles, which was raised in Adams County, MS) 12th Miss. Inf. In September of 1861 the unit was still in the Manassas, VA area where they had arrived in July following the First Battle of Manassas. After the battle they set up camp along Bull Run creek and then in August established a camp on the Kincheloe Farm which is near Clifton, Virginia. I did find a letter from a member of the 12th that mentioned a Camp Masked Battery in the Manassas area. I called a few colleagues on the possible site and we feel it was most likely near what was called Union Mills. Today it is where the CRX railway line crosses Bull Run…”

Joseph [Joy's great grandfather] was shot in the leg in the Seven Pines battle in Virginia and was somewhat disabled for the rest of his life. Robert died of pneumonia on April 23, 1863, and is buried in the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Cemetery At Lee Chapel Methodist Church Historic Site

fccpa — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:43:25 +0000

Lee Chapel was built in 1871 as a Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Robert E. Lee. The Chapel replaced Mount Carmel Church which had burned down. In 1923 the chapel closed because of “combined circumstances and impassable roads.” In 1939 the chapel reopened through the efforts of former members and new residents in the community. The chapel closed permanently in October 1951 because of the impending construction of Burke Airport*. Then the abandoned chapel became victim to vandalism and later was destroyed under a controlled burning. Today. the Sydenstricker United Methodist Church maintains the cemetery, which is tucked away in the woods in the midst of suburbia on Fairfax County Parkway.

Photos of Lee Chapel Cemetery
County Survey Record

*More information about proposed Burke airport. Citizen opposition such as reflected in this letter defeated locating the airport in Burke. After an eight year campaign, the federal government chose an alternate site in Chantilly - today’s Dulles Airport - and advertised the condemned Burke land for sale.

Congressional Cemetery Tour

fccpa — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:44:02 +0000

On Saturday June 12, 2010, FCCPA members took a guided tour of Congressional Cemetery led by FCCPA member and Congressional Cemetery docent, Dayle Dooley. We learned that in 1807 a burial ground for citizens in the east end of the new federal city was founded. In the first five years, 13 members of Congress, two vice presidents, and numerous military and government officials were interred, along with a number of ordinary citizens. Today over 55,000 people rest at Congressional Cemetery and their stories are part of our American History.

Photos of Congressional Cemetery

Letter to the Editor - Protect and Preserve Cemeteries

fccpa — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:03:13 +0000

FCCPA member Maddy McCoy sent the following letter to the Editor of The Washington Post. It appeared in the Tuesday, June 22, 2010 edition, page A18 under the headline Respect the dead — and history.

It has been disheartening to learn of the careless treatment of veterans’ remains and gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery ["Arlington headstones found lining stream," front page, June 17].

Unfortunately, this is a reflection of the way many cemeteries throughout the metro area are neglected and overlooked. In my work researching the history of enslaved people in Northern Virginia, I am constantly reminded of how the frightening speed of urban development has threatened and even obliterated what should be sacred places. Beyond the importance of respect for those who have passed on, these cemeteries are vital historical sites containing information available nowhere else.

It is time that local authorities take stronger measures to protect these sites and preserve them, both for the sake of past and future generations.

Maddy McCoy, Fairfax