Voices from the Graves

Richmond’s historic cemeteries through the eyes of their caretakers and advocates

by

Cold Harbor National Cemetery

Director Janice Hill tours the Cold Harbor National Cemetery (6038 Cold Harbor Road, 795-2031) in Mechanicsville on a damp Wednesday morning in early December. A former member of the Coast Guard and Air Force Reserve, she looks at the bright white marble and granite headstones with a sense of pride and respect for her fellow servicemen.

“I’m responsible for the six Civil War cemeteries in the area. The cemetery was established in 1866. There are about 21,000 interments at this national cemetery, and 1,279 are unknown. Some of them will actually say “Unknown” on the headstone, and then there are some 6-inch-by-6-inch block headstones that just have a number on them — of course, at that time, they didn’t have the name and information. We have one Medal of Honor recipient buried here who was one of the earlier superintendents, Augustus Barry.

“This granite monument, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, commemorates 889 Union soldiers buried here. The actual fighting of the Battle of Cold Harbor occurred right here, so I guess while they were discovering remains, they buried them where they could and also here with this large monument. I love the beauty of these older cemeteries. Just to be able to honor these soldiers and their family members, the others that we inter here, it’s a privilege.”

East End Cemetery

On a crisp, cool late-November day, John Shuck grabs his rakes and branch cutters to begin another day of restoration work at the historic African-American East End Cemetery (80 Evergreen Road, eastendcemetery.wordpress.com). Brush and vines cover gravestones; others are overturned and broken. Tires, broken bottles and other trash spot the heavily wooded area. Volunteers join Shuck on Saturdays to assist in restoration efforts; today, he has a group of 33.

“We’ve been here for almost a year and a half now. I’m a retired IT person at SunTrust, and I’ve been interested in genealogy all my adult life. There are 10 acres here, and we’ve cleared about 10 percent of that. The cemetery fell into disrepair, because the families opted to care for the site themselves, but with time, people moved away or passed on, and then this is what happens. It’s actually pretty typical in black cemeteries.

“We find new graves every day; we even uncovered 40 graves in one day alone. The oldest grave predates the 1897 [official] record of the cemetery’s use … The latest grave we have found was in 2002. Here’s a grave in the older part of the cemetery from Jan. 25, 1882, and he was most likely born into slavery. A lot of the people in the older area of the cemetery, unless they were free blacks, were born into slavery here in Richmond.”

Hebrew Cemetery

At Congregation Beth Ahabah at 1111 W. Franklin St., Bill Thalhimer, chairman of the board of the Hebrew Cemetery Co. of Richmond, sits down with Executive Director Russell Finer and the maintenance supervisor for the temple and cemetery, Gary Briggs, to discuss Hebrew Cemetery, on Shockoe Hill at Fourth and Hospital streets (353-2668 or bethahabah.org). Here’s Thalhimer’s perspective.

“The cemetery was founded in 1816, and we are currently the oldest active cemetery in Richmond. We probably have room for another 150 years of burials; there’s 7 1/2 acres.

“I’ve been with the cemetery since the mid-’90s. My great-great-grandfather, who came here in 1840, he was on the board in the 1800s, and my father was on the board in the 1900s, so basically we’ve been involved with the cemetery for a very long time. I’ve got four generations of our family buried at Hebrew Cemetery. There are a lot of families that have been here a very long time; Richmonders tend to not be very nomadic.

“We’re the only cemetery outside of Israel that has a Jewish Soldiers section [from the Civil War], and it’s very beautiful. We’re a Virginia Historic Landmark as well as a National Historic Landmark.

“This cemetery goes back to 1816, but the original cemetery on 21st Street was established in 1789. Then in 1816 it had outgrown that space and that’s when Hebrew Cemetery began, so we’re almost 200 years old.”

Hollywood Cemetery

On a rainy morning in early December, Donald Toney, foreman of Hollywood Cemetery (412 S. Cherry St., 648-8501 or hollywoodcemetery.org), meets to discuss the history, beauty and lore of the famous cemetery where presidents James Monroe and John Tyler and Confederate President Jefferson Davis are buried.

“I’ve been here at the cemetery for 47 years; I’m almost 65 years old. It’s mainly the mowing and trimming, grounds maintenance. We’re an active cemetery; we probably inter about 60 percent cremations now. [The year] 1849 was the first recorded burial.

“The Hollywood name started with the hollies at the entrance, and it originally had a hyphen, Holly-Wood. I wish they would have left it that way, because everybody thinks Hollywood, California, but it was named after the holly bushes.

“We’ve got W.W. Pool buried here. There are stories about W.W. Pool and the vampire lingering around, but I haven’t seen any ghosts. If I had, I might not be working here right now. I’ve stayed out here working all night long, and I’ve never seen anything.

“The black dog — he’s the most famous feature in the cemetery. He’s cast-iron and used to be in front of a store on Broad Street. Probably 15 years ago, the tail was stolen, and we had to figure out how to replace it. We had a mold made, and I and another worker here welded it back on. We had two extra tails made just in case it ever happens again. We now have 24-hour security, which is good, but it’s a shame, too, that you need to have that in a cemetery.”

St. Peter’s Parish Church Cemetery

On a brisk late-November morning, Stephen von Hitritz, an active member of the church who also leads historical tours, walks through the cemetery located outside of the historic St. Peter’s Parish Church in New Kent (8400 St. Peter’s Lane, 932-4846 or stpetersnewkent.org), where George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married.

“Construction began on this church in 1700, and it was finished in 1703. Burials here started actually during construction. The oldest graves are closest to the church, and then they get progressively newer the further out you go. You’ll see a lot of empty space near the church, but there are people there. Their stones have [just] degraded away.

“You’ll see a lot of the same names — Dandridge, that was Martha Washington’s maiden name, so she’s everywhere; they’re relatives of hers. Any of Martha’s direct siblings or ancestors, they were all laid to rest on their property, so when some of these counties passed the laws in the mid-19th century that they couldn’t do that anymore, that’s when they started burying people at church.

“A lot of the people buried here have descendants who are still attending the church. I’ll be buried here myself. I love the Richmond area, and I particularly love New Kent County. My wife and I are part of the spiritual fabric of this parish, so that ultimately led to my own decision to be laid to rest here.”