MC history group maps graves

By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: June 12, 2008

Ever notice a patch of periwinkle blooms covering an area of your property?

Maybe there are some yucca plants or boxwood bushes nearby and a few oblong-shaped sunken areas as well.

These are just some clues often left after overgrown family cemeteries seemingly disappear.

In an effort to preserve the county’s history and assist those interested in tracking their heritage, the Madison County Historical Society is working to account for each and every gravesite in the county.

So far, representatives have accounted for 5,500 graves, entering them into a database on a computer at the Arcade museum in downtown Madison. The
database includes names, dates and other writings inscribed on each headstone, as well as its geographic location according to a Global Positioning System, or GPS, device.

“We’re hoping people come in and use this as a research tool,” said Sandy Stowe, a member of the historical society who is currently spearheading the project along with help from fellow members Mary Wright and Beppy White.

The project was first started in the early 1980s by Earl H. Estes Jr., who later passed on his research to Stowe, who has spent the past few years traveling to cemeteries across the county.

“We find [the graveyards] in all conditions, with cows in the cemetery and the stones all broken and turned over, to stones in pristine condition,” Stowe said.

Spending time in these cemeteries has been a lesson in community history for the historical society members. A group of graves in Rochelle Christian Church’s cemetery includes a number of members of the Harrison family of Madison County. The county residents all died within days of each other in January 1919 and are thought to have been victims of the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918-1919, which swept through the area.

“Three or four [members of] this family died within days of each other — how devastating,” Stowe said. “It really makes you wonder about their lives.”
The two have also come across many unmarked stones thought to be those of slaves. The only marked gravestone they have recorded of a known slave is Dillard Lindsey, who lived in the1800s. 

Other gravestones that have sparked their interests include some graves within Antioch]Baptist Church’s cemetery that were hand painted by the late local artist Diane Perl.

White was also intrigued by some former Madison County residents who are buried in Criglersville Shiloh Cemetery, which overlooks the former Criglersville Elementary School. Set between two gravestones, engraved with the last name Rosser, is a small gravestone marked “Fido Rosser,” the apparent resting place of the Rosser family’s dog.

“We don’t know for sure but we all just assumed it’s [for] a dog,” she said.

For information about the project or to submit information about a county graveyard, contact the Madison County Historical Society by writing to Madison County Historical Society, P.O. Box 467, Madison, VA 22727 or calling the Arcade museum at (540) 948-5488. The Arcade’s normal hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.