I’ve often enjoyed a casual stroll through, many, a quiet cemetery.

I have seldom brought this to many people’s attention, for the mere fact that it may seem strange or odd to regular folk, you know, to promenade in a graveyard without having any reason for it.

I did feel a bit better about this after I had learned that a very reputable and “normal” pastor friend of mine, too, enjoys a cemetery walk every now and again.

Once you get past the inhabitants, (if that sorta thing seems to bother you, as my mama used to always say, “It’s not the dead people you need to worry about!”) there’s really not a more serene place than that of being in one of “God’s acres.”

If you want to label me as a weirdo for enjoying this type of thing, well I suppose that’s fine, I’ve been called a lot worse, but I encourage you to try it, maybe on a sunny fall afternoon. The peace and tranquility just might surprise ya.

 

“It’s where the dead, speak.”

Ok, ok, it’s probably not best to cite one of Stephen King’s fictional literary characters when trying to convince others how peaceful and calming a cemetery stroll can be, but I’ve always remembered this quote, because, well it’s true.

The history that lives on in these places is astounding.

The tombstones and monuments tell about those who lived before us, especially the ones that construct one final narration that their loved ones, or maybe even they themselves, had hoped to instill on the world as a lasting impression on their behalf.

I remember as a little girl, going with my mama to explore old cemeteries, so yes, I guess I came by it naturally. I can remember packing up paperless crayons and paper in a bag and spending hours reading and admiring all the headstones. When we came across stones that weren’t legible, it was my job to do the crayon rubbing and decipher their names, dates and epitaphs.

One particular cemetery that has certainly stood out above all that I have ever encountered, has been that of Lynchburg’s Old City Cemetery. It’s clearly the “Disneyland” of all cemeteries.

Aside from the history and past that each tombstone tells, The Old City Cemetery goes above and beyond the people who are buried there. It takes you back in time and gives you an insight of what it was like to walk in their steps and live their everyday lives. From what a Sunday afternoon church service was like, to a doctor’s visit, to a wait in a railway station house, to the customs of mourning the loss of their loved ones. Back to a time when things were simpler and life was in full swing for these Lynchburg residents that now have been laid to rest, some for more than two hundred years.

 

The History

The Old City Cemetery was established back in 1806, when John Lynch, the founder of the city of Lynchburg, donated the first acre.

Back then, families would simply have to “claim” their cemetery plots. As a citizen of Lynchburg Virginia, you were entitled to this free of charge. Family members would section off their area by putting up wooden or wrought iron fencing, building rock walls or simply marking off the areas by chains or corner stones. It was up to the family members to maintain and upkeep their cemetery section.

Every time acreage was added and the cemetery expanded, it was delineated into four sections:

Caucasian, which usually meant the people’s beliefs of that of the Church of England.

People of color, which included African Americans, Native Americans, and those of maybe Mediterranean descent.

The Strangers section was for those who didn’t fit in either of the other two categories, and if their belief was that other than Church of England.

The Potter’s Field, is where people were placed who could not afford to be buried. Although the land as a citizen of Lynchburg was free of charge, people buried in The Potter’s Field would have their funeral, caskets and other expenses covered and donated from the funeral homes.

There are currently seven Potter’s Fields in Old City Cemetery and one that is still active with room remaining.

Anyone could be buried at Old City Cemetery regardless of status or class. At one time, it was the only cemetery in Lynchburg.

At first glance, The Old City Cemetery may not appear that it has reached its full burial capacity, but on the contrary, it has.

It wasn’t until the 1920’s that the city started keeping burial records. Markers such as wooden tombstones that would deteriorate, and lower incomes that would force families to forgo stones all together,  made it unclear as to exactly just how many burials existed over the one hundred and twenty years of its existence in 1925. In that same year, it was estimated that over fifteen thousand burials had taken placed with no records of locations. This prompted the cemetery’s first closing.

Burials continued regardless, for another forty years, because of allotted and claimed family plots. During this time, caskets would be discovered during a new burial dig, with some families burying on top of one another.

The cemetery officially closed to new burials in 1965.

The almost twenty-seven acres of Old City Cemetery are now at full capacity with the exception of the available spaces that opened up with the construction of The Columbarium in 2006, The Scatter Garden for cremation remains and the area in The New Potter’s Field.

Old City Cemetery also offers a Scatter Garden for our beloved pets.

 

Among those that have been laid to rest, Old City Cemetery has several historical structures and museums on the property to add to this quite extraordinary burial place.

 

The Pest House Medical Museum

Built in the 1840’s this structure was the medical office of Dr. John Jay Terrell and was moved here to Old City Cemetery from Dr. Terrell’s original place of practice in Rock Castle Farm located in Campbell County, Virginia. The building is set up in two rooms. One, depicts Dr. Terrell’s examination room which actually includes his operating table, “poison chest,” and his “asthma chair,” which he created to help those suffering from asthma.

The other room represents that of Lynchburg’s House of Pestilence, or Pest House that served as a quarantine for those suffering from deadly diseases such as smallpox and typhoid. Dr. Terrell made radical changes in the field of medicine and in eliminating the smallpox epidemic.

The Glander’s Exhibit

Dr. Terrell was also responsible for the breakthrough that helped put an end to the deadly horse and mule disease known as the “Great Glander’s Epizootic”

 

Hearse House and Caretaker’s Museum

Here you can see an elegant horse-drawn hearse that was used during the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. A hearse such as this would be pulled by black horses for an adult’s passing, while white horses were used for children.

 

The Station House Museum

This last remaining “Standard Station” of its kind from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was in use from 1898 to 1937 at Stapleton in Amherst County, Virginia. It was brought to Old City Cemetery in dismantled pieces and was reconstructed onsite to rekindle the history and importance of Lynchburg, Virginia’s railway system.

 

The Chapel and Columbarium

The Chapel, although built in 2006, was modeled after the 1880 Ivy Chapel Union Church in Bedford County. Building materials and furnishings of the chapel were remains from the 1870 Hermon Methodist Church in Appomattox County. The Chapel is dedicated to the many religious leaders that have been laid to rest at Old City Cemetery. The lower level of the chapel houses The Columbarium, and allows two hundred and eighty-eight niches for inurnment and twelve crypts for entombment. This offered up additional burial options to the public after forty years.

The Comfort House

The Comfort House is the newest addition to Old City Cemetery. It was The Southern Memorial Association’s 2016 project to commemorate their one hundred and fifty years at Old City Cemetery. The two-story Comfort House provides additional space and facilities including a private parlor for the many weddings, funerals and other events that the cemetery grounds host annually.

 

The Cemetery Center

The Cemetery Center displays many historical items that date back to the early 1800’s.

Mourning attire worn by widows and children. Children mourning loved ones wore white with black accents while adults wore all black. The widow’s mourning period lasted three years. Other mournings, such as that of husbands or relatives, were only expected to mourn the dead three to six months. Pictured here is a widow in the actual dress displayed above her.

 

The “Cooling Coffin” was often used to transport the body of the deceased to it’s burial location if the death happened away from home. The wicker would allow the decaying corpse’s vapors to escape during the journey.

Also, located in the center is the cemetery’s gift shop that offers many unique items including jars of honey, produced onsite by Old City Cemetery’s honey bees! Their honey offers a sweet and floral taste which is no doubt from all the antique blossoms that thrive there on the property.

Located on the center’s lower level, is The Lee Reading Room, The Taylor Conservatory sunroom, and The Christian Vault which contains original death records obtained in the mid 1900’s.

 

Horticulture History

Old City Cemetery also adds Arboretum to its title. It was not uncommon to plant a loved one’s favorite rose, or a seedling from a family’s home place tree at a relative’s gravesite.

The cemetery, known for its astounding historic horticulture, maintains plants and flowers that would have been growing in the Lynchburg Virginia area over a hundred years ago, with some of its antique rose species dating back to before 1581. Throughout the cemetery are antique roses, shrubs, medicinal herbs, and trees including that of apple tree species that were to have dated back three hundred years ago.

Old City Cemetery is known for the largest collection of public heirloom roses in the Commonwealth of Virginia with over two hundred and fifty different species planted throughout its grounds. In April and May Old City Cemetery hosts its annual Antique Rose Festival which includes guided rose tours of the property and a rose sale.

Birds and Butterflies

Old City Cemetery also is home to a wide variety of both birds and butterflies. The bird population usually peaks around the first week of June with a Memorial Day Bird Walk and Count in May. The Lotus Pond and Butterfly Garden welcomes a variety of butterfly species that visit starting in spring and continue into the fall months.

A horticulture guide is available in The Cemetery Center to identify the species and locations of all the flowers, plants, trees and shrubs located there, as well as the bird and butterfly populations and their expected times of arrival.

 

Some Cemetery Citizens and Stories That Reside Here

On an afternoon in August of 1830, somewhere near the Duval Holt Orchard, John M. Jones was hanged in Lynchburg’s first public execution.  Jones was convicted of the murder of Mr. George Hamilton after a confrontation regarding Jones’s lover.  On that particular afternoon, and in front of thousands of onlookers, the rope placed around Jones’s neck broke and he fell to the ground. The second time, the hanging was successful.

 

In the mid to late 1800’s grave robbing became an issue in the cemetery. There is documentation that during this time, that bodies were being taken from The Potter’s Field and were being sold and shipped to the University of Virginia for medical research.

 

Old City Cemetery also was the location of a treasure hunt! Back in the 1970’s it was believed that the famed “Beale’s Treasure” was buried there. Under close supervision, an official “dig” was approved by the city, but to no avail. The only treasures discovered were that of horseshoes and coat hangers.

 

It is estimated that 20,000 souls were laid to rest here at Old City Cemetery, and with each, their own fascinating story.

 

The Confederate Section.

 

Here lies over twenty-two hundred soldiers from fourteen different states, as Lynchburg became the second largest permanent hospital center in the Confederacy. Both Union and Confederate soldiers were laid to rest here, but two hundred Union soldiers were removed and replaced in Poplar Grove National Cemetery in 1866.

 

Here lies the oldest original tombstone still intact in the cemetery. Little infant Terriza Wallace’s tombstone was hand chiseled and remains beautifully preserved two hundred and ten years later.

 

There are many European immigrants buried here at Old City Cemetery as they sailed to America seeking economic opportunities and a better way of life. Here lies a Scottish gentleman.

As I was wondering through the cemetery, I noticed an extravagant headstone that was surrounded by exquisite wrought iron fencing and covered with beautiful climbing orange flowers. I learned that this is the grave of Agnes and Lizzie Langley, a mother-daughter team that was said to have run a “Sporting House” during the nineteenth century.

 

 

My favorite is the story of “Blind Billy.”

Blind Billy was a former slave that was born blind and became a beloved street musician. He had an incredible ear for music and could listen to a song one time and play it beautifully on his fife. He led parades and quickly became a sought-after musician and was hired to play in the most prominent and wealthy social gatherings and parties.

 

And the list goes on…

Old City Cemetery is so much more than just a cemetery, and always promises to offer an extraordinary visit experience year-round.

As far as “Haunted Haunts” go, the only story I came across was when one volunteer had mentioned smelling eucalyptus on the grounds in the Confederate section one evening during an event years ago.  She researched this, asking several other employees, volunteers and horticulture experts, only to find that there was no eucalyptus planted anywhere on the property. She had mentioned it to a historian that was very knowledgeable about The Civil War Era and was told that soldiers often used eucalyptus to create cigarettes.

For the record, my phone battery was constantly draining during my two-hour visit, so much and to the point of me having to return to the car often to charge it. I haven’t had any battery issues with my phone since.

 

Perhaps the 20,000 residents of Old City Cemetery figure they don’t need to create any stories of their afterlife.

The ones they lived centuries ago remain far more captivating.

The cemetery is hosting evening Candlelight Tours through October 27^th, check out their website for events and call for details.

Gravegarden.org