Thanks James. The site is 158 acres and also has some historic ruins, including part of a slave house.
Most folks feel the ruins and cemetery should be saved. Danville has ignored all of our concerns and has not involved
the descendants and advocates in any of the plans. Just a few weeks ago, they applied for a permit with DHR to move the
cemetery. We were unaware of their application for the permit. And they did not state (in the permit application) where they
plan to move the cemetery.
The process has been impossible for us, since Danville plans to give the ENTIRE 158 acre site to GOK International.
All of the plantation families were very prominent in early Pittsylvania County and Virginia history. Thomas Fearn and his son-in-law were
founding trustees of Danville. They are related by married to William Harrison another trustee. A number of the Fearns are buried
in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. They were very well known and admired throughout the world.
So we must seek help from the public and from other advocates!
Thanks,
Anne Evans
[log in to unmask]
Preservation Virginia - 2013 List of Endangered Sites - The Fearn Plantation
http://preservationvirginia.org/docs/Pres.Va_EndangeredSites2013_v7.pdf
Originally owned by one of Danville’s founders, William Wynne, the Fearn site contains the ruins of the
Fearn-Walters residence surrounded by a formal courtyard, a well, and a slave dwelling (with a stone foundation and surviving chimney), all of which date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The property also contains archaeological deposits and a historic cemetery.
Threat -
The site is slated for industrial development. The City of Danville currently plans to relocate the historic cemetery and to demolish intact foundations and asso-
ciated archaeological sites that are important to Danville’s early history.
Recommendation
We urge the City of Danville to consider an alternate design for the industrial park that would preserve and incorporate the historic resources
into the plan. ----- Original Message -----
From: "James Burnett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2013 10:52:35 AM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] burial of slaves - please post this copy
On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 9:54 AM, Anne Evans <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
> 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.
>
>
Why would they not have to remove and rebury at some other suitable site
SINCE IT IS A KNOWN GRAVEYARD. That is what Va Power had to do when they
put in the big dam and had to relocate a lot of graves including my
Revolutionary War Ancestor in Bedford County.
--
Douglas Burnett
Satellite Beach
FL
As a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the
National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Florida State Genealogical
Society(FSGS) and the Virginia Genealogical Society(VGS), I support and
adhere to the APG's Code of Ethics.
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