Locality:
Realty Map: 38.16-1-3.10 Cultural Affiliation: Euro-American
USGS Map:
Grid Locus: G-6 Elevation: 1100 feet
UTM Easting: 594330 Aspect: Flat
UTM Northing: 4131220
Site Dimensions:
102.18 by 72.34 by 74.28 by 38.64 feet
Survey Description:
This cemetery contains at least 71 graves. Observed graves included three graves marked
with inscribed marble headstones, 44 marked with uninscribed fieldstone
markers, and 24 unmarked graves visible as ground surface depressions. Due to poor surface visibility, it is likely
that other graves are present. Three,
possibly four, graves were surrounded by an enclosure constructed of limestone
blocks. The enclosure measured 25 feet
long by 25 feet wide, and 4.5 feet in height.
Other graves were observed on the south and west sides of the enclosure. All of the observed graves ranged in
orientation from 18 through 25 degrees east of north. Historic plantings include yucca plants and
periwinkle groundcover. Site was field
inspected, photographed, and grave marker inscriptions were transcribed and
compared to previous documentation. Site
size was derived from local realty maps.
Survey Date: 2/98
Field Notes: _x_Yes ___No
Photographs: _x_Yes ___No
References:
1986
Works Progress Administration of
Document #133.
Additional Comments:
Assigned temporal period was based on the 1817 through 1887 range of
death dates inscribed on documented headstones.
However, the presence of uninscribed fieldstone markers and unmarked
graves may reflect an earlier or later use of the site. The cemetery is not marked on the USGS
Roanoke map sheet, but it is plotted on local realty maps and labeled
“cemetery.”
This cemetery was initially surveyed in 1937 by the Works Progress
Administration of Virginia and recorded as the “Hershbargar and Richardson
Graveyard” in Document #133 of the Historical Inventory of Roanoke County,
Virginia. The WPA file provided
biographical information for the graves of Julia Richardson, Virgie Richardson,
Samuel Bonsack, Samuel Brubaker, and John Brubaker. The WPA file further reported, “the
Richardson family is buried within a stone enclosure, forty by forty feet, five
feet high, two feet thick, with an iron gate…there is no enclosure around the
other graves which will number possibly fifty or more. The markers are stone, with no inscriptions
or marks of identification. Many of them
are scattered about over the ground and broken.
It s a private graveyard and a perpetual reserve.” Since none of the recorded inscriptions
contain the Harshbargar name, it is assumed that the name of the cemetery was
derived from information provided by the listed informant, “Mrs. Samuel Stone,
a descendant of the Harshbargers and Bonsack families.”
During the 1980s, the cemetery was surveyed by the Roanoke
Valley Historical Society and documented in their report on Roanoke County
cemeteries as the “John Richardson Cemetery” (1986: 197). The surveyors reported that “only two stones
remain here, though there is evidence of others.” The report provided biographical information
for the same five graves reported by the WPA.
Listings of biographical information relating to the graves of Samuel
Richardson-Bonsack-Brubaker
Cemetery (continued)
Bonsack, John Brubaker and Samuel Brubaker were attributed
to the WPA survey file.
In early 1989, a local resident reported malicious
disturbance of this cemetery to the Roanoke Regional Office of the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources (VDHR).
The site was field inspected and documented in the VDHR archaeological
site inventory files as the “Richardson-Bonsack-Brubaker Cemetery” with the
designation 44RN161. Inscribed marble
headstones were observed on the graves of Virgie Richardson, Julia Richardson,
and John Brubaker. Previous to the
survey, vandals had destroyed the west corner of the limestone enclosure and
had excavated into at least three of the graves located outside of the
enclosure. This disturbance to the
cemetery was reported to the Roanoke County Police Department; however, an
officer responded that an investigation could not ensue unless the property
owner reported the disturbance. A
request for an investigation was not submitted since the property owner was deceased
and the property was held temporarily in an estate trust.
The cemetery was surveyed again in early 1998 and further
disturbance was observed. More of the
limestone was destroyed and other portions exhibited weatherworn graffiti
applied with spray paint. The headstone
on the Julia Richardson graves had been toppled and her grave was partially
excavated. Local residents related their
failed attempts to stop the desecration
of the cemetery. They also
reported all disturbances came to an end as the local teenaged vandals grew in
age.
Even through the spring vegetation had not yet returned,
visibility of the ground surface in the cemetery was hindered by a very lush,
thick carpet of periwinkle. Other
historic plantings observed in the cemetery included a number of yucca
plants. Inside the limestone enclosure,
three markers were observed including the marble headstones of Virgie and Julia
Richardson and an uninscribed fieldstone headstone roughly fashioned from
limestone. Another uninscribed limestone
marker within the enclosure may represent another grave or a footstone. Numerous uninscribed fieldstone markers and
unmarked graves were observed outside the enclosure. On the northeast side of the enclosure, 15 uninscribed
fieldstone markers were observed along with at least nine ground surface
depressions, and the inscribed marble headstone for John Brubaker. To the east of the enclosure, 27 uninscribed
fieldstone markers were observed along with 12 unmarked graves. Finally, three additional uninscribed
fieldstone markers were observed on the northwest side of the enclosure. The
thick carpet of periwinkle probably covered other, unnoticed graves. Therefore, estimates for the size of the
cemetery and the number of interments should be regarded as minimal figures.
Marker Inscriptions:
Julia, Virgie,
In
Memory of John Brubaker
Wife of Daughter
of Born
James G. Richardson James
G. and Julia Richardson Died
Died January 31, 1887 Born
Died
To the memory of Samuel, In
Memory of Samuel Brubaker
Son of John and Susanna Bonsack, Who was born on the 15th
day of September, 1826,
Born august 11, 1817 and
departed this life the 3rd day of December 1826.
Died
Age 3 months, 9 days
Suffer the little Children and forbid them
Not for of such is the kingdom of heaven.