The Lost Cemetery of Church Hill

Sad but nonetheless great info for all of us on the Hill about the Adams family and their graves. Unfortunately this is just another example of progress over lineages and heritage.

That was really cool- I saw the headline and said, “ooh!”.

Thanks for teaching one more CH secret.

Fantastic article! I believe these houses are called “Adams Row,” are they not?

Jess… it may be known to locals as the “Adams Row” but don’t see a mention right off that it is an official designation? Here is the excerpt from the Church Hill North Historic Regristry about this block:

” Still, housing continued to be. built, with rowhouses becoming popular in the 1880’s and 90’s. In 1884 the gradual slope of East Marshall Street was developed with a row of five attached Queen Anne-Style houses located in the 2200 block. During the 1880’s and 90’s the last large tracts of available land were subdivided into lots for homes. In 1894 the occupants of the Adams-Picket Cemetery located in the 2300 block of East Marshall Street were disinterred and moved to a more fitting resting place in Hollywood Cemetery. A row of nine Second Empire-style houses was built in its place. It was also dwing this time that the last house occupying a half city block, the home of Cornelius Lipscomb, was demolished and replaced by a row of houses in the 2800 block of East Marshall Street, also built in the Second Empire style. “

Each of the houses has a plaque similar to this one

Sammy P… it is not poor taste but the facts. It has been written about for many years with the same thing brought up in newspaper articles as eary as the late 1970s. But when the African-American churches refuse to reply or step in. When familys contacted refuse to respond. When even black historian Veronica Davis says in an article that the black community has turned their backs while whites seem to have more of an interest which she find embarrasing and a disgrace … then there must be something to my statement don’t you think?

Tricia, is there more of the plot map? I see that it is irregular in shape (arch) and mentions other pages so wonder if there are more names as well? It is so close to our house I had often wondered if anyone related to it were buried there but seems to have been basically an exclusive burial grounds?

Eric, the plot map is from the Hollywood Cemetery records. I found the image online, so I’m not sure what’s on the next page. It’s possible there are more people, but it looks like there are 58 names on the list, and the Burial Register states that they moved about 60 bodies, so I don’t think there are too many more. The Book 3 page 21 that is referred to at the top of the plot map is from the Burial Register, which basically just lists the people moved to Hollywood. Yes, they were family burial grounds, just for people in or connected to the Adams and Pickett families.

Jess, I wasn’t talking about the Beers Atlas map (which I have a copy of) but the Adam’s burial plot map 🙂 Tricia caught that and I can probably ask Hollywood but seems like there is not much else. Odd they don’t list the original dates people died or were interred on the Hollywood plots/names? I know many headstones were destroyed or vandilized by 1892 yet someone had a list of names of nearly everyone there so there must have been other information as well?

Thanks
Eric

Just FYI: General Pickett’s parents, many of his his siblings, and wife Sally are buried in a family plot at Shockoe Hill Cemetery.

Katherine J.

When St. John’s Church was built in 1741.

In reference to Sammy p & Eric

Greetings to all fellow residents,

I pray that we will find some way of understanding each others differences, backgrounds and have compassion for one another. Our ancestors did us no justice by en-slaving and destroying the culture of fellow humans. It not only hurt the African American of today but the White American as well. We are all Gods creation. No one is above the other. We must move on with understanding, and compassion in order to heal the open wound, and the mentality of AMERICANS. History and culture of the Blacks in “Fulton, Churchill, The World” is constantly swept under the rug. How can a people care about things that don’t feel apart of? Black history isn’t taught correctly in schools.

My family came from the bottom of the hill, they were forced out of fulton, they were told that jobs were coming, and the city tore the community down. My great-great grandfather was a mulatto, who looked exactly like a white man lived on top of the hill, “churchil”.

I’ve seen this community when Blacks were thriving, and doing well. Blacks owned stores, Nursing homes, fish markets and properties.
Drugs were the ultimate destruction of our black community. Drugs invaded our community, what black person owned a poppy field? Not making excuses but no one knew what drugs would do.

African Americans bought houses that were already in ruins or rented from slum lords. Lets be honest with ourselves “Americans”, we have laws in place so that lenders will be fair and just. Suntrust Mortgage just paid out millions of dollars for disparity in their lending practices, in 2012. Imagine 1950 or before.
What other race of people have laws in place just to be treated “civil”. So please, stop the put downs, and racist mentality. We all know Blacks have not had it easy. I’ve lived in Churchill my whole 45 years and never knew there was a slave trail, a slave cemetery. I knew where Patrick Henry spoke, Edger Allen Poe. Its not racist to speak of Robert E. Lee, but why couldn’t they point out where Gabriel Prosser was hung. That’s why blacks don’t seem to care because it wasn’t taught to us to care. Its the knowledge we seek, and most of us get caught up in working and just trying to survive because at the end of the day, we have to fight to hard for our voices to be heard. I will say that those older books, such as, “Old Richmond Neighborhoods”, the words written regarding African Americans were a bit dis-tasteful and insulting. We should be writing today in this era, with the knowledge of our history, in knowing that the people of that time were a bit racist and without reasoning.

I pray that we can all move forward for peace amongst American people, love for God and our home “the Earth”. Our children, Our future
Peace and Blessings to all

9.