Hampton Brewer Cemetery

Transcription

1 Conklin Village Project Hampton Brewer Cemetery By Larry W. Roeder, Jr., MS Site One on the Winter South Riding Tour Contents Directions... 2 Background:... 2 Bio on Hampton Brewer and Introduction to African-Americans whom he declared free.:... 3 Map... 5 Research Guide... 5 Bibliography Page 1

2 Directions: Hampton Brewer Cemetery is directly across from door D3 (south end of the Lundsford Middle School back lot at Ticonderoga Road) and then on the south side of the fence with Ticonderoga Farms. The cemetery is also found by going to Map Page 5520 and coordinates G7 in ADC Street Map for Loudoun, 29 th edition (Staff 2007). See also Research Guide below for more details. Background: Figure 1 Field Stones, 8/2014 by Roeder The site holds about 30 burials, many with cut field stones and dirt depressions. Very likely one grave was for Brewer (Born 1802 in Prince William County, died Dec 20, 1884 in Loudoun), (Frain and Hiatt 1998). He owned the land. The other graves very likely were for some of the former slaves he registered as free or their relatives. Brewer brought them from Fairfax and Prince William counties, mostly of the Allen family, and Gaskins. One of the freed slaves was also James Gaskins who would later join the Union Army, where he served in the US 29 th Colored Infantry, Company I. (Hewett 1997, 375). He is buried in Leesburg at Mount Zion Community Cemetery. The Allens intermarried with the family of Jennie Dean, the famed evangelist who started the Prosperity Baptist church in Conklin. Figure 2 Gaskins tombstone in Mount Zion, summer, 2015, notice civil war veteran star. The southern portion of Hampton Brewer s land is the traditional south boundary of Conklin. Page 2

3 Bio on Hampton Brewer and Introduction to African-Americans whom he declared free.: A detailed history of Brewer is in A History of Conklin Village, Loudoun County on The African Americans he registered as free (or were already free) were: September 11, 1854: Betsy was also registered free in Loudoun as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer on September 11, The register showed her then as 50 years old, 5 3 tall and of black color. Record 2250, Page 174. (Duncan 2000). This register also documented that she had been registered as free in Prince William County. William Allen, declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. About 24 years old, 5 7 3/4 tall, dark complexion, scar near the corner of the left eye and one near the corner of the mouth. Record 2251, Page 174. (Duncan 2000) Narcissa Allen, No freedom information given; but I suspect Brewer played a role. About 20 years old, 5 tall, black, no scars worth mentioning. Record 2252, Page 174. (Duncan 2000) Uginta Allen, (Child of Narcissa). No freedom information given. 18 months old, black, no scars worth mentioning. Record 2252, Page 174. I suspect Brewer played a role here. (Duncan 2000) Mary Allen, declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. About 16 years old, 5 2 ½ tall, black color. Record 2253, Page 175. (Duncan 2000). Catharine Allen, (daughter of Mary Allen), declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. 18 months old, lighter complexion than mother. Record Page 175 (Duncan 2000) Alex Allen, (son of Amanda Allen), declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. About 19 years old, 5 8 ½ tall, dark mulatto color, small scar on his left arm and one on his right foot. Record 2254, Page 175 (Duncan 2000). January 13, 1857: Amanda Allen, Daughter of Charlotte Allen. About 36 years old, 5 7 tall, brown color. Date 13 Jan 1857, Record (Duncan 2000, 180) John Allen, son of Amanda Allen, freedom proved by Oath, About 14 years old, mulatto color. Date 13 Jan 1857, Record Page 228 (Duncan 2000, 180) Jas. Gaskins, son of Amy Gaskins, About 12 years old, black color. Date 13 Jan, Record 2391, page 228. (Duncan 2000, 180). Martha Allen, daughter of Harriet Fletcher, About 21 years old, 5 1 tall, brown color, scar on left side of the jaw. Date 13 Jan Record (Duncan 2000, 181). 1 1 County Records Roll 135, Record of Free Negroes (last one) Page 3

4 Registration of freedom for African-Americans was required by law, in order to limit the travels of slaves. The law was passed by Virginia House of Delegates, 10 December In addition, free Negros and mulattos (meaning color of skin, not mixed race) were not allowed to migrate into the state. If they did, they could be seized and deported. (Duncan 2000, i-iii) 2 Figure 3 Field Stones in Brewer Cemetery For details on Hampton Brewer and the land, see Volume One of the Conklin Village Project. 2 i-iii of register Page 4

5 Map Figure 4 Map showing location of Brewer Cemetery Research Guide There are several ways to research cemeteries in Loudoun County. The first step is visit the Balch Library in Leesburg, Virginia. Although information is available elsewhere, such as at the Loudoun Museum and in private papers of various historical associations, the best collection of data is at Balch. Some sources at Balch are: 1. The electronic cemetery index, which is updated periodically and can be searched by the last and first name of the deceased. 2. Private and published papers are on the shelves and in miscellaneous files. 3. Especially when the names of the deceased are not known but also for a general description of old family cemeteries in the county, consider the Loudoun County, VA Cemetery Collection , which is a set of five boxes of file folders related to the Committee on Old Cemeteries, Preservation Society of Loudoun County. In 1995 Thomas Balch Library sponsored a project to map, identify, photograph, and transcribe gravestone inscriptions in Loudoun cemeteries. A committee was created that consisted Page 5

6 of Jeff Ball, Ned Douglass, Mary Fishback, Marty Hiatt, David Via, and Wynne Saffer as chairman for that purpose. The following year (1996), the committee published a list of known cemeteries in Loudoun County. This is collection (M 017) and is in the archives of the Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA. Irregularly updated, the files and an associated collection of photographs is an invaluable source on cemeteries, especially when names of the deceased are not known. See box 1 for an index to all cemeteries. o Example: The Hampton Brewer Cemetery is Box 1, Folder 76. o Caution: Not all cemeteries are indexed, as is the case of the Dean (African- American) cemetery to the east of Hampton Brewer on the property of the Michael Lunsford Middle School. Other sources are then required. 4. On the shelves of the Balch library are also two indexes to cemeteries. One is a three ring binder (V Ref TBL, called the Loudoun County Cemetery Directory (Committee on Old Cemeteries 2007). The directory list most of the cemeteries in the county by name. It also provide the official Cemetery number from the collection, as well as the map coordinates for the cemetery and page number associated with ADC Street Map for Loudoun, 29 th edition. (Staff 2007) The book, (V Ref TBL) is marked with pasted tabs on each page associated with a cemetery. o Example: The Hampton Brewer Cemetery is Cemetery #76 on Map Page 5520 at coordinates G7. o Caution: Not all cemeteries are indexed, as is the case of the Dean (African- American) cemetery to the east of Hampton Brewer on the property of the Michael Lunsford Middle School. Other sources are then required. Bibliography Committee on Old Cemeteries. Loudoun County Cemetery Directory. Leesburg: Balch Library, Duncan, Patricia B. Abstracts of Loudoun County, Virginia, Register of Free Negroes, Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend, Frain, Elizabeth R., and Marty Hiatt. Loudoun County, Virginia Death Register, Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend, Hewett, Janet. The Roster of Union Soldiers , Vol 6, US Colored Troops. Vol. 6. Willmington, NC: Broadfoot, Staff. ADC Street Map for Loudoun, 29th Edition. Alexandria: Alexandria Drafting Company, Page 6