This was posted on Culpeper VA mailing list. var tcdacmd="sa=a;sz=1;ad;dt"; TLC for headstones Allison Brophy Champion Staff Writer Sunday, July 30, 2006 Some are leaning, some are cracked, and most are really old: they are tombstones in Fairview Cemetery and they’re getting some TLC. Next month, Tennessee-based Lee Heights Monument Company will repair 37 markers in the cemetery’s oldest sections, in between gates four and six. The job will take a couple of weeks, said Public Works Director Bobby Thornhill, and cost the town about $17,000. The repair work will mark the second time Town Council voted in favor of spending town money for gravestone restoration - 96 stones were fixed in 2003 at the town’s expense. The work symbolizes the town’s commitment to keeping Fairview, established 1860, a beautiful place. And it deserves to stay beautiful - last year, Fairview Cemetery earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. African-American and Civil War history abounds in Fairview and its architectural significance also contributed to its national recognition. Still, the town is hoping relatives of those buried beneath the damaged stones will help with repair costs. It will cost between $200 and $550 to fix each stone, Thornhill said. “Each stone is a little bit different,” he said of specific repairs. “The problem with the majority is the base is loose or the stone needs to be straightened. Most will require an added foundation so they don’t tip over and break.” Most of the stones date back to the early 1900s, but some are older, including the grave marker of Chas. S. Emack - born April, 27, 1831 in Washington, D.C. Mr. Emack died in Culpeper at the age of 46 on July 26, 1877. “OUR BABY,” the tombstone reads. There’s a stone belonging to one Lucy Catherine HILL, born June 2, 1837 that needs straightening and another wobbly one marking the final resting spot of George Edward ROBERTS, born 1854. “It’s about preservation,” Thornhill said, “mostly to keep them from busting up. When a stone falls over, more than likely, it will break.” Sometime following the upcoming round of stone restoration, town officials expect to start similar restoration work in the African-American burial sections - known as the Antioch and Fisherman’s sections. These areas were segregated from the “white section” for about 70 years - from 1899 to 1970. Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or abrophy@starexponent.com. Are you related? Contact the Culpeper Town Clerk at 829-8240 if any of the listed people, buried in Fairview, are your immediate family: John Aloysius Bailey, Kate Burke, James Bush, Eliza Lewis Bywaters, George W. Edwards, Charles S. Emack, Charles Henry Field, Susan Mason Foushee, Lucy Russell Hill, Susan E. Hoge, Peter Davis Horton, James H. Jacobs, Mary James, Mary Jameson Jarman, Lotti S. Matthews, Robert S. Matthews, W.H. Middough, Charles Preston Morris, Pauline Morris, Siedler Nelson Pace, Alexander Lee Patterson, MD., George Edward Roberts, Sallie M. Simms, Audise Barron Smith, Foster, Olive and Robert Smith, Peter C. Smith, May E. Streets, Martha E. Swetnam, Kate Newhouse Thompson, Mildred Anna Turner, Betty Fry Twyman, Ida J. Vaughan, Loretta Pearl Walter, Jackson Yates, Archer Jesse Yates Crewdson T. Yates. URL: http://www.starexponent.com/servlet/Satellite?c=MGArticle&cid=1149189691121&pagename=CSE/MGArticle/CSE_MGArticle&path=!news --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

Thanks for posting the information about Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper Co., VA. If my information is correct, Lucy Russell Hill is a sister of General Ambrose Powell Hill. Interestingly for me, Lucy Russell Hill and General Ambrose Powell Hill had a cousin, Robert Chapman Hill, who lived in Madison Co., KY when my Hill ancestors lived there (early 1800s). My Hill ancestors later moved several counties north to Boone Co. KY, while Robert Chapman Hill moved to Missouri. In an interesting coincidence, I found a marriage certificate showing one of Robert Chapman Hill's sons, Judson Broaddus Hill, had traveled from Missouri to Boone Co. KY to get married, at a time when my Hill ancestors were living in Boone County. I don't know of any connection between my Hill line and Robert Chapman Hill, but it seems like there must be some kind of connection. Mike Hill Fayetteville, AR