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Historic black cemetery makes National Register
BY MARKUS SCHMIDT
STAFF WRITER
04/26/2008
PETERSBURG — People’s Memorial Cemetery, the historic African-American burial ground dating back to before the Civil War, has been approved by the National Park Service for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dotted with mature oak trees and a few ornamental shrubs, the 8.2-acre cemetery is located across Crater Road from Blandford Church.
“At this point, we know very little about this compound’s history,” said Martha Atkinson, director of the church. “We are currently putting together a program to investigate it.”
Atkinson suggests that the cemetery dates back to at least 1839, when the Common Council of Petersburg decided that freed African-Americans would not be further allowed to be buried among their former white masters at Blandford Cemetery. Consequently, a new burial ground had to be found.
Richard Stewart, local historian and founder of the Pocahontas Museum in Gloucester, claims to have evidence that the cemetery is much older.
“Black folks were first buried there in 1818. The second burial plot followed 22 years later,” he said. Stewart is happy about the cemetery’s recent listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It was about time. This burial ground validates the history of our people,” he said, referring to the African-American descendants of Pocahontas. “Every historically relevant African-American from Petersburg lays under its soil.”
But only the wealthy or respected members of the community could afford a decent burial. The higher the social and economical status, the bigger the gravestone. Today, 692 gravestones can be found on the compound. Among them, small marble “lodge stones” denote the deceased individual’s membership in a fraternal order such as the Freemasons.
One of the Freemasons was C.B. Stevens (1803-1895), who is buried next to his wife Mary Stewart Stevens (1830-1892). The couple had two sons who rose to become powerful political figures of their time. Capt. John Stevens was a Buffalo Soldier and fought in the Spanish-American War. He was assassinated on the eve of the 19th century in New York City.
His brother, William Stevens, was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1869 to 1876 and later represented his home state as a U.S. senator. Both men are also buried at the People’s Memorial Cemetery.
The site also holds some secrets — Stewart is convinced that not only William Walthall, a freed slave who left behind a wife and $1,500, which made him a wealthy man, but also blacksmith Isaac Jefferson, a former slave of Thomas Jefferson, may have found their final resting place at the cemetery.
“I have not discovered their graves yet,” Stewart said. “I won’t give up until I find them.”
Visitors will have the chance to tour the cemetery this summer.
“Our first tour starts August 16 at 7 p.m.,” Atkinson said. Once more light is shed on the cemetery’s history, more tours could follow.
The National Register is administered by the National Park Service but is managed in Virginia by the Department of Historic Resources.
HISTORY AT A GLANCE
The People’s Memorial Cemetery began as a 1-acre tract of land deeded in 1840, although the first burials trace back to 1818.
A second tract of 2 acres was added in 1865, and a final 5-plus acres were deeded in circa 1880. Today, the entire compound has a size of 8.2 acres.
The cemetery currently contains 692 stones, of which many are in relatively good condition. The six grave sites are consistently orientated in one of two patterns. How many people are buried at People’s Memorial Cemetery is unknown.
Burials are still possible today, but require special permission from the city of Petersburg.
©The Progress-Index 2008
Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/n...d=462946&rfi=6
BY MARKUS SCHMIDT
STAFF WRITER
04/26/2008
PETERSBURG — People’s Memorial Cemetery, the historic African-American burial ground dating back to before the Civil War, has been approved by the National Park Service for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dotted with mature oak trees and a few ornamental shrubs, the 8.2-acre cemetery is located across Crater Road from Blandford Church.
“At this point, we know very little about this compound’s history,” said Martha Atkinson, director of the church. “We are currently putting together a program to investigate it.”
Atkinson suggests that the cemetery dates back to at least 1839, when the Common Council of Petersburg decided that freed African-Americans would not be further allowed to be buried among their former white masters at Blandford Cemetery. Consequently, a new burial ground had to be found.
Richard Stewart, local historian and founder of the Pocahontas Museum in Gloucester, claims to have evidence that the cemetery is much older.
“Black folks were first buried there in 1818. The second burial plot followed 22 years later,” he said. Stewart is happy about the cemetery’s recent listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It was about time. This burial ground validates the history of our people,” he said, referring to the African-American descendants of Pocahontas. “Every historically relevant African-American from Petersburg lays under its soil.”
But only the wealthy or respected members of the community could afford a decent burial. The higher the social and economical status, the bigger the gravestone. Today, 692 gravestones can be found on the compound. Among them, small marble “lodge stones” denote the deceased individual’s membership in a fraternal order such as the Freemasons.
One of the Freemasons was C.B. Stevens (1803-1895), who is buried next to his wife Mary Stewart Stevens (1830-1892). The couple had two sons who rose to become powerful political figures of their time. Capt. John Stevens was a Buffalo Soldier and fought in the Spanish-American War. He was assassinated on the eve of the 19th century in New York City.
His brother, William Stevens, was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1869 to 1876 and later represented his home state as a U.S. senator. Both men are also buried at the People’s Memorial Cemetery.
The site also holds some secrets — Stewart is convinced that not only William Walthall, a freed slave who left behind a wife and $1,500, which made him a wealthy man, but also blacksmith Isaac Jefferson, a former slave of Thomas Jefferson, may have found their final resting place at the cemetery.
“I have not discovered their graves yet,” Stewart said. “I won’t give up until I find them.”
Visitors will have the chance to tour the cemetery this summer.
“Our first tour starts August 16 at 7 p.m.,” Atkinson said. Once more light is shed on the cemetery’s history, more tours could follow.
The National Register is administered by the National Park Service but is managed in Virginia by the Department of Historic Resources.
HISTORY AT A GLANCE
The People’s Memorial Cemetery began as a 1-acre tract of land deeded in 1840, although the first burials trace back to 1818.
A second tract of 2 acres was added in 1865, and a final 5-plus acres were deeded in circa 1880. Today, the entire compound has a size of 8.2 acres.
The cemetery currently contains 692 stones, of which many are in relatively good condition. The six grave sites are consistently orientated in one of two patterns. How many people are buried at People’s Memorial Cemetery is unknown.
Burials are still possible today, but require special permission from the city of Petersburg.
©The Progress-Index 2008
Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/n...d=462946&rfi=6