Honor, Don’t Destroy, the Graves of Slaves at Fearn Plantation,
Coalition of Black and White Family Researchers Urge
DANVILLE, VA. July 1, 2013 – A coalition of black and white descendants of families associated with the Fearn Plantation area in Danville, Va., the last capital of the Confederacy, have issued a letter urging thousands of their kin and other advocates to protest the city’s plans to disrupt the graves at Fearn Burying Ground found on the property, without proper study and erection of a memorial.
The city wants to convey the entire site to a Chinese company for development as a furniture-assembly plant. As the nation commemorates the 150th anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation and many milestones of the Civil War, destruction of such an important piece of American and Virginian history is an outrage and a disservice to the memories of Danville’s pioneer families and the enslaved people who made the city “the World’s Best Tobacco Market,” organizers said.
The individuals who drafted the statement are primarily researchers who have been tracing the histories and genealogies of white, black and Native American families associated with the Fearn Plantation area. The descendants from around the country connected through various pages on social media and drafted the statement jointly for distribution to thousands of their family members, friends and advocates. They have also organized an online petition and started a new Facebook page : SAVE THE FEARN PLANTATION CEMETERY
Please sign our petition - THANKS!
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-fearn-family-plantation.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "ray ezell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 6:34:56 AM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] burial of slaves
UVA recently conducted an exploration of the immediate surrounds of its on campus faculty cemetery which noted the presence of several dozen unmarked graves which probably contained enslaved (or formerly enslaved) persons. The cemetery underwent several periods of expansion from the mid-19th century. You could try Steve Thompson at [log in to unmask] who is a principal at Rivanna Archaeological Services.
good luck
Raymond D. Ezell, RPA
Monticello District Commissioner
Stonewall Jackson Area Council BSA.
If it wasn't reported, it didn't happen--80% UVTS utilization in 2013
I used to be a Bobwhite S7-763-11-1
>________________________________
>From: Martha Katz-Hyman <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 7:04 PM
>Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] burial of slaves
>
>It is probable that practices differed between the eighteenth andnineteenth centuries and even between different times in those centuries.As Henry noted, plantation practices and urban practices were no doubtdifferent as well. So I don't think that it is possible to generalize.However, there may have been locations that were preferred by the enslavedas opposed to slave owners, which is another consideration.Martha Katz-HymanCuratorJamestown-Yorktown FoundationWilliamsburg, VAOn Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 1:22 PM, Terry Meyers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:> Dear all,>> Several of us at the College are are renewing efforts to find the> College's burial ground for those it enslaved. Several questions come to> mind:>> Is there any conventional or usual connection between the location> of a slave quarter and a burial ground for the enslaved? Any standard> distance, for example, separating the two, or any preferred kind of> location for the
burial ground?>> Somewhat relatedly, was there a law or custom that required owners> of the enslaved to bear the cost of their burial? The W&M archives have at> least one receipt for a coffin, provided to Lemon (after whom the College's> Lemon Project is named). And a local undertaker's Daybook and Ledger that> I co-edited some years ago has many invoices to owners for the burial of> those they had enslaved.>>> http://scdb.swem.wm.edu/?p=collections/controlcard&id=7710>> Was this a regional custom or was there some mandate in Virginia> requiring it universally?>> Thanks.>>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Terry L.. Meyers, Chancellor Professor of English, College of William and> Mary, Williamsburg Virginia 23187 757-221-3932>> http://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/tlmeye/>>
http://www.ecologyfund.com/ecology/_ecology.html>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Have we got a college? Have we got a football team?....Well, we> can't afford both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college.>> --Groucho Marx, in> "Horse Feathers.">> ______________________________________> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html>______________________________________To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions athttp://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
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