Brubaker-Huffman Cemetery

Locality: Roanoke County Temporal Period: 19^th c., 1^st quarter 20^th c.

Realty Map: 36.10-1-14.1 Cultural Affiliation: Euro-American

USGS Map: Salem Landform: Ridge top

Grid Locus: I-6 Elevation: 1120 feet

UTM Easting: 585270 Aspect: East

UTM Northing: 4131270

Site Dimensions: 80 by 125 feet

Survey Description: This extended family cemetery contains approximately 104 graves. The graves included 12 marked with marble markers, 38 marked with uninscribed fieldstone markers, two marked with inscribed fieldstone markers, two with cement markers, and approximately 50 unmarked graves identified on the basis of ground surface depressions. Orientation of the graves ranged from 95 through 104 degrees. The cemetery is covered with a lush carpet of periwinkle that hindered the identification of graves. Therefore, the number of graves reported here should be considered as an estimate. Also, many of the fieldstone markers in this cemetery were quite small and only a couple of inches higher than the ground surface. Since the periwinkle covered these markers, some of the graves reported as unmarked may actually have small fieldstone markers that were not observed during the survey. Although some of the grave markers have fallen, the cemetery is in good condition. Historic plantings include periwinkle groundcover, oak trees, and the low remnant of a boxwood shrub. Two posts suggest that a fence once enclosed the cemetery. In the recent past, numerous white pine saplings were planted along the previous fence line. Site was field inspected, photographed, and headstone inscriptions were transcribed and compared to previous documentation of the site. Site size was estimated by pacing the horizontal extent of the tree-lined boundaries of the cemetery.

Surveyed By: T. Klatka & M. Napoli

Survey Date: 1/99

Field Notes: _x_Yes ___No

Photographs: _x_Yes ___No

References: Myers, Maureen

2000 Route 81 Widening, Roanoke and Botetourt Counties, Virginia. Draft report submitted by Louis Berger & Associates, Inc. to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Roanoke Valley Historical Society.

1986 Roanoke County Graveyards Through 1920. Privately printed, RVHS, Roanoke.

Additional Comments: The assigned temporal period of the cemetery was based on the dates inscribed on the observed headstones and previous documentation of the cemetery. These dates range from 1847/1848 through 1910. However, the presence of an uninscribed fieldstone markers and unmarked graves may indicate an earlier or later use of the cemetery. Cemetery is not marked on the Salem map sheet, or on local realty maps.

This cemetery was initially surveyed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration of Virginia and recorded as the “Brubaker-Huffman Cemetery” in Document #313 of the Historical Inventory of Roanoke County, Virginia. According to the WPA file the oldest grave in the cemetery was Mary, consort of Benjamin Brubaker, who was deceased in 1847. The cemetery was described as “ . . . fenced but not well cared for.”

Forty to fifty years later, the RVHS surveyed the cemetery and documented biographical information for 17 graves that predated 1921. However, due to the overgrown nature of the cemetery and the poor condition of some of the headstones much of the information documented by the RVHS was derived from a family bible (RVHS 1986: 31-

Brubaker-Huffman Cemetery (continued)

32). The RVHS also documented the grave of Mary Brubaker as the oldest grave in the cemetery; however, an 1848 date was assigned to the eroding headstone.

The following information was transcribed from inscriptions on all headstones observed in the cemetery during the January, 1999 survey. Both the WPA and the RVHS indicated that the 1847/1848 headstone associated with the grave for Mary Brubaker was the oldest inscribed headstone in the cemetery. This headstone was not observed during the 1999 survey. The cemetery was also surveyed during the winter of 1999 by Maureen Myers of Lewis Berger & Associates. Information documented by the RVHS but not observed during the 1999 survey is listed in bold italics.

Marker inscriptions:

Leola A. Hinchee John V. Susannah Brubaker

Born Son of Born

April 26, 1888 W.G. & S.E. Feb. 16, 1820

Died Feb. 22, 1891 Hinchee, Died

_________ Born Jan. 14, 1903

Edgar Hinchee July 23, 1869, For I am now

Born Killed in the wreck Ready to

Nov. 14, 1889 near Eggleston Be offered and the

Died Feb. 29, 1892. Time

Mar. 1, 1891 (marble obelisk with Of my departure is

crown & cross motif; At hand

footstone: J.V.H.) (marble; open bible

motif; footstone: S.B.)

(footstone: M.R.; William Allen Mc Huffman

headstone not P. Born

observed) Francisco May 15, 1850

Age 18 Mo Jan. 18, 1904

(inscribed (marble; sheaf of wheat

fieldstone marker) motif; footstone: A. Mc. H.)

Saloma J. Ruthie F. Frank C. Divers

Wife of Wife of Born

Allen Mc Huffman G.W. Giles Apr. 2, 1892,

Mar. 31, 1850 Born Died

Died May 8, 1844. Dec. 12, 1910.

Oct. 10, 1887 Died Be ye also ready for in

Aged Mar. 30, 1896 Such an hour as ye think not

37 yrs. 6 mos. 10 das. (marble; rose motif) The Son of man cometh.

(marble) (footstone: F.C.D.)

America S(broken) S₊J (a r e l?) Morgan Smith

Feb. 26, 18(broken) Born (?) 18__ Nov. 26 1835

Dec. 21, 18(broken) Died year(?) 1894 Apr. 17 1909

(concrete) (inscribed fieldstone (cement)

marker)

Brubaker-Huffman Cemetery (continued)

Mother Lillie L.

Mary F. Pugh Daughter of

Died Martha A. Robertson

Dec. 14, 1897 Born Nov. 12, 1894

Aged 56 Died Sept. 7, 1909

(marble) A precious one from us has gone

A voice we loved is stilled

(marble; heart motif)

Sacred to the memory of Benjamin

Mary (Garst) Born

Wife of Benjamin Apr. 8, 1816

Brubaker, Daughter of John (Garst) Died

Departed on Mar. 25, 1891

December Gone to rest

the 30th 184(8) aged 25 yrs. & 3 ds.

In Memory of In Memory of Lloyd M. Hinchee

David Rettinger Michael Rettinger Sept. 22, 1858

Died May 11, 1869 Died Jan. 8, 1905

Aged Jan. 19, 1875

51 Yrs. 3 Mos. 7 Days Aged 89 Yrs. 11 Mos. 10 Days

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