Shuroki Online

Over the Memorial Day weekend I took a trip to the Union Church cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I have frequently driven past this cemetery and while waiting at the stop light gazed up the hill, at a small area surrounded by a rod iron fence.

I always wondered if somebody famous was buried there, but would forget about it again until the next time I drove by. For whatever reason, last weekend I passed by it and decided to pull up and see what was there. What I found was quite interesting and I returned the next day to take some pictures.

Many of the graves (and what remains of the church) are from the 1800s, and some as recent as this year. Several headstones are so worn that you can’t make out what they say, either in person, or in a photo. I think it would be interesting to return to the site and do some rubbings, which might reveal information that can’t be seen because of the texture of the stone.

I also found it interesting that much of the cemetery is partitioned into family plots that are gated and are home to multiple generations. Two family really seemed to dominate the cemetery with multiple plots throughout, the Paynes, and the Snellings.

I’ve collected many of the resultant pictures in a Flickr set which I invite you to go check out. I hope that you find them as fascinating as I do.

Oh, and the gated grave you can see from the road is semi-famous. There rests James Hunter. Born in Scotland 1721 and died in Falmouth, 1785.

From the plaque: Mr Hunter owned the famed Hunter Iron Works in Stafford County, which manufactured most of the camp utensils and weapons for the Virginia forces during the Revolutionary War. A true patriot, he received little, if any, compensation.

Indeed, according to an article in the Freelance Star “Hunter was never reimbursed by the fledgling U.S. government for much of the equipment he supplied, and died broke”. Broke, but clearly not forgotten.

A little history of the site:
According to one article the Union Church was “founded” in 1727, but another says it was “built” in 1750. The church was abandoned some time in 1796 and destroyed by fire in 1818. Rebuilt in 1820 the Church was used by Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodists congregations on rotating Sundays.

During the Civil War the church was used as a hospital by Federal troops. It remained in use all the way to 1950 when it was again destroyed (this time by a storm) leaving only the brick facade.

Still standing today (and photographed in my set) is the front of the church and the belfry.

Reference sites:
www.fredericksburg.com
www.rootsweb.com (with a thorough collection of names and dates of those interred)
www.simplyfredericksburg.com