Appomattox Court House National Historical Park cemeteries

Coordinates: 37°22′43″N 78°47′47″W / 37.37861°N 78.79639°W / 37.37861; -78.79639

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park cemeteries
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Confederate cemetery at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
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Nearest city	Appomattox, Virginia
Area	1,325.1 acres (536.2 ha)
Built	1865
Part of	Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (#66000827[1])
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966

The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park cemeteries are part of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park,^[2] which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 26, 1989.^[3]

Robinson cemetery

The original Robinson cemetery grave markers is located south of the Jones Law Office, also known as the Kelly House. The cemetery was established in a time that was after the American Civil War by subsequent owners of the Law Office around 1865 to 1870. It contains the remains of the Robinson Family. John Robinson, a black shoemaker, and his wife were post-Civil War owners of the property and lived in the law office. It is significant under certain criteria of the National Park Service by virtue of its association with the historic events represented by the park. There are five fieldstones marking burial locations of the Robinson family. Each stone is of random cut, shape, and size. A low rough board fence encloses the location.^[4]

Bohannon-Trent cemetery

The Bohannon-Trent cemetery contains seven visible graves along with other depressions. The cemetery includes the grave of Joel Walker Sweeney (1810–1860), who popularized the five-string banjo. The grave of Joel Walker Sweeney is marked by a non-historic marker. It also contains the graves of Virginia Sweeney (died 1877), and Robert Rosser (died 1888). Rosser's grave is marked by a marble head and foot stone. The site is enclosed by a fence. The cemetery lies in a field west of the Charles Sweeney cabin less than a mile north of the courthouse.^[5]

Patteson-Hix cemetery

The cemetery was present at the time of the American Civil War. It contains the remains of Alexander Patteson and the Wilson Hix families, both original settlers of Appomattox County. The cemetery is located behind the tavern slave quarters and has nine interments consisting of marked headstones and footstones and unmarked fieldstones. The research indicates that thirteen people are buried in this cemetery. The interments are arranged in two rows with depressions located between the rows. Wilson and Lucy Hix's graves are marked as are those of two children of Edward Hix. Another grave is marked "A.E.H."^[6]

O'Brien cemetery

The Connor-O'Brien Cemetery is the original family cemetery for the O'Brien Family. This is an old southcentral Virginia family with ties to the Sweeny and Conner families. All of the family names were present at the time period of the Civil War. The cemetery has interments from the late part of the 19th century up to present day. Most of the burials are of the O'Brien family but there are also members of the Conners family buried in the cemetery. The graveyard has headstones and footstones of thirty-two interments.^[7]

Confederate cemetery

The Confederate cemetery, located on the grounds of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, has the remains of 19 Confederate soldiers, of whom only 8 are known. These soldiers were killed in the last few days of the American Civil War.^[8]

• Ashby, John William, of Stone Bridge, Clarke County, d. 9 Apr 1865, Co. I. 12th Virginia Cavalry
• Demesme, Oscar, enlisted 13 Sep 1861, Co. D. Donaldsonville (Louisiana) Artillery
• Douglas, J. W.
• Hicks, Alanson B., d. 9 Apr 1865, Co. D. 26th Virginia Infantry, enlisted 28 May 1861 at Mathews Court House, Virginia
• Hogan, John A., d. 10 Apr 1865, Co. E. 26th Georgia Infantry, enlisted on 20 May 1861 in Brunswick
• Hutchins, Jesse H., d. 8 Apr 1865, Co. H. 5th Alabama Battalion Infantry, enlisted 15 Apr 1861 at Livingston, Alabama
• Macon, Miles Cary, d. 8 Apr 1865, 38th Battalion Virginia Artillery, enlisted 25 Apr 1861 at 23 yrs. in Richmond
• Winn, Francis M., d. 9 Apr 1865, Co. E. 9th Georgia Artillery, enlisted 6 May 1862 in Atlanta

There are 11 graves containing remains of unknown soldiers, one being a Union soldier.^[8]

Grave of Lafayette Meeks

The grave of Lafayette Meeks is significant under certain criteria by virtue of its association with the site of the surrender of the Confederacy to the north. It is identified as structure number 09D in the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. It contributes to the story of events of 1865 in the Old Appomattox Court House. Lafayette Meeks died in 1861 while serving in "H" Company, second VA Cavalry of the Confederate Army when he died from typhoid fever. The gravestone reads that he served in the Battle of Manassas. The single marked burial in the field is northwest of Meeks Stable.^[9]

The grave of Lafayette Meeks is marked by a white marble headstone, twenty four and a half inches wide by fifty high at the springline of the arch. The grave stone was set in concrete by the Civilian Conservation Corps to prevent further deterioration. A gray granite footstone is thirteen inches wide by seventeen inches high. The headstone carries a bas-relief which appears to be the "tree of life" design and is badly deteriorated. The inscription reads:

Lafayette. W. Meeks

Son of Francis & Maria Meeks

Born March 2, 1843

And died in the defence of his country

October 4, 1861 at Fairfax C.H., VA^[9]

Cemeteries within the Park

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  Sweeney graveyard

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  Raines cemetery

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  Raine Monument

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  One Confederate
  One Union

Footnotes

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References

• Bradford, Ned, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Plume, 1989
• Catton, Bruce, A Stillness at Appomattox, Doubleday 1953, Library of Congress # 53-9982, ISBN 0-385-04451-8
• Catton, Bruce, This Hallowed Ground, Doubleday 1953, Library of Congress # 56-5960
• Chaffin, Tom, 2006. Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah, Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux,.
• Davis, Burke, The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts, Wings Books, 1960 & 1982, ISBN 0-517-37151-0
• Davis, Burke, To Appomattox - Nine April Days, 1865, Eastern Acorn Press, 1992, ISBN 0-915992-17-5
• Featherston, Nathaniel Ragland, Appomattox County History and Genealogy, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1998, ISBN 0-8063-4760-0
• Gutek, Patricia, Plantations and Outdoor Museums in America's Historic South, University of South Carolina Press, 1996, ISBN 1-57003-071-5
• Kaiser, Harvey H., The National Park Architecture Sourcebook, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008, ISBN 1-56898-742-0
• Kennedy, Frances H., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990, ISBN 0-395-52282-X
• Korn, Jerry et al., The Civil War, Pursuit to Appomattox, The Last Battles, Time-Life Books, 1987, ISBN 0-8094-4788-6
• Marvel, William, A Place Called Appomattox, UNC Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8078-2568-9
• Marvel, William, Lee's Last Retreat, UNC Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8078-5703-3
• McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford University Press, 1988,
• National Park Service, Appomattox Court House: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 2002, ISBN 0-912627-70-0
• Tidwell, William A., April '65: Confederate Covert Action in the American Civil War, Kent State University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-87338-515-2
• Weigley, Russel F., A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861-1865, Indiana University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-253-33738-0