Locality:
Realty Map: 7340101 1st quarter 20th c.
USGS Map:
Grid Locus: H-8 Landform: terrace remnant
UTM Easting: 495450 Elevation: 960 feet
UTM Northing: 4129180 Aspect: Southwest
Site Dimensions: 40 by 44 feet
Survey Description: Site consists a cemetery containing plots for the Fleming and Read families. Graves of William and Nancy Christian Fleming marked by a modern granite marker and enclosed by a modern stone fence. Fence is constructed of cut limestone block and measures 12 by 21 feet and is about 4 feet high. Modern marker is oriented to the south. Located seven feet to the east, the Read plot has six visible graves surrounded by an iron fence which measures 25 by 33 feet. One grave is marked by an inscribed headstone and the others are marked with large slate slabs, or ledgers. Graves are oriented to the east. Four of the slate caps are inscribed , one is not inscribed, and one is missing. A one-foot thick layer of deteriorating cement covers entire cemetery, except for the northeast corner. Site was field inspected and headstone inscriptions were transcribed and compared to previous site documentation. Site size was determined by measuring the horizontal extent of observed graves.
Surveyed By: T. Klatka & D. Richardson
Survey Date: 10/97
Field Notes: x_ Yes __ No
Photographs: __ Yes x No
Reference(s): Prillaman, Helen R.
1982
1986
Works Progress Administration of
Additional Comments: Periwinkle groundcover blankets about
47 by 100 feet of the understory in a wooded area
immediately north of the cemetery. This
groundcover commonly covers cemeteries and often denotes the presence of
graves. Dense vegetation hindered
observation of the ground surface so the presence of additional graves in this
area is not known. Site is not marked on
local realty maps or on the USGS Roanoke map sheet. Site is located on a large parcel that is
part of the Ole Monteray Golf Course. Both cemeteries are clearly visible on aerial
photographs overlaid on the City of
This cemetery was initially surveyed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration of Virginia and recorded as the “Bellmont Graveyard” in Document #324 of the Historical Inventory of Roanoke County, Virginia. The WPA file provided biographical information for seven graves. The WPA file provided the following description of the cemetery:
“part
of it is enclosed by a stone wall, twelve by twenty feet and four feet high and
sixteen inches in thickness. The other
part is enclosed by an iron fence and has a concrete flooring twelve inches
thick. Thirty six by nine yards
[sic]. It is private and in good
condition.”
The site was later surveyed
by the Roanoke Valley Historical Society (1986: 12-13). The RVHS documented biographical information
for the same seven graves documented by the WPA. One of these markers was not observed during
the 1997 survey. The cemetery contains
two separate plots. A stone wall which
measures 12 by 21 feet encloses a modern marker for the graves of William &
Nancy Christain Fleming. Seven feet to the east, an iron fence
enclosed a second plot for the members of the Reed family. A 12-inch thick layer of concrete was poured
into this second plot and it appears to surround six graves. Five graves had markers though one was not
inscribed, and the sixth grave was missing its marker. This plot measures 25 by 33 feet, but the
concrete flooring was absent from an area of 13 by 14 feet in the northeast
corner. The marker for David Sims Read
(1872-1892) was not observed.
Marker inscriptions:
William Fleming Sacred
to the memory of Sacred
to the Memory of
1729-1795 Emma
B. Camp David
Sims Read
Surgeon, Soldier, Patriot wife of Born
And his wife David
Sims Read Died
Nancy Christian Fleming Born
Erected by
The Nancy Christain Fleming Chapter
Daughters of the American
Revolution
1925
In Memory of Sacred
to the memory of Sacred
to the memory of
Thomas C. Read Walter
Died
Aged 31 years Died