Greetings!
John Williams Walker Fearn, Jurist and Diplomat, (1832 – 1899) died in Hot Springs, VA and is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond (a few other Fearn family members are also buried there). Walker Fearn married Frances "Fanny" Hewitt in 1865. Fanny Hewitt Fearn married second, San Francisco writer, Arthur Inkersley in 1910 in Salisbury, England. I have not been able to find when and where Fanny (Hewitt) Fearn Inkersley (b. abt 1850) and Arthur Inkersley (b. abt 1855) died. Also I do not know where they are buried. I wonder if anyone is this group would be willing to check their records for any death /burial records for Fanny Fearn and Arthur Inkersley. They traveled many places, but I am surprised that they would not have been buried in Richmond with the other Fearns.
Recently the old Thomas Fearn Plantation was “rediscovered” in Danville. The Danville Industrial Development Authority purchased the site in 2011 and plans to use the property on Gypsum Road as an industrial site. This property was part of the Thomas Fearn plantation, and is a historical site (not formally designated). Thomas Fearn (1745 -1805) was one of the original settlers of Danville, and his sons, Thomas Fearn, Jr., M. D. and Richard Lee Fearn, M.D., who immigrated to Alabama in the early 1800’s both made major contributions to medicine, not only in Alabama, but through the Southeast.
For many years descendants’ access to this site and the family histories associated with the site have been limited or denied since little recognition was given by the city of Danville to this historic area. The protection of this site, an important part of our Virginia history, would encourage ongoing historical research since the Fearns were well known and respected throughout the world. Many of Danville’s earliest families including the Wynne, Dudley, Fearn, Burton, Coleman, Harrison, Payne, Patton, Coles, Williams, Brodnax and Walters families are associated with the site or related to these early ancestors.
Dr. Thomas Fearn settled in Huntsville, Alabama in 1810, and after returning from Europe, was recognized as the best trained surgeon in the Mississippi Territory. He studied with the most prominent surgeons in France and England, and was offered professorships at Transylvania University, at the Cincinnati College, and at the University of Kentucky. He chose to remain in Huntsville where he was mentor to numerous medical students from Cincinnati College. He was founder of numerous civic organizations in Huntsville, and was one of the original directors of the University of Alabama. He was also a member of the Confederate Congress, and one of the signers of the Confederate Constitution.
Dr. Richard Lee Fearn settled in Mobile, Alabama where he was selected as the initial First Vice-President at the founding of the Medical Society of the State of Alabama. His son, John Walker Fearn (Yale 1851) was Secretary to the Minister at Belgium in 1854, Secretary to the Legation in Mexico in 1857, and was appointed by President Cleveland US Resident Minister and Consul to Greece, Romania, and Serbia in 1885.
Please help save the historical ruins, grave sites and family and slave histories associated with the old Fearn Plantation in Danville, VA. I am hoping with so much attention being given to the new Lincoln movie and the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War - more people will be interested in saving this site. Azariah Graves Walters’ family and descendants owned the plantation for over 100 years. But after the Walters grandsons died, the site was desired only for industrial use (in the early 1960s) because of its closeness to the Dan River. Little or no thought was given to saving the historical parts of the land. We cannot recover much of what was lost and neglected, but every effort should be made to save what can be preserved.
You can help by sending letters or emails of support to -
Thanks,
Anne Evans
Please send letters to -
Jeremy Stratton
Director, City of Danville
Office of Economic Development
427 Paton Street
Danville, VA 24541
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Joe King
Danville City Manager
427 Paton Street
Danville, VA 24541
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Joanna Wilson Green
Virginia Dept of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
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Mike Pulice
Virginia Dept of Historic Resources
962 Kime Lane
Salem, VA 24153
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Brad McDonald
Virginia Dept of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
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David Parrish
Deputy City Manager
427 Paton Street
Danville, VA 24541
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Jeanne C. Richardson
US Army Corps of Engineers-Norfolk District
West Central Field Office
PO Box 3160
Lynchburg, Virginia 24503
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The Honorable William T. "Bill" Bolling
Lieutenant Governor
Commonwealth of Virginia
102 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
PO Box 1195, Richmond, VA 23218
Email: [log in to unmask]
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