The Daily Progress historical and industrial
magazine Charlottesville, Virginia, "The Athens of the South" |
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Oakwood Cemetery |
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 | The Daily Progress historical and industrial
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Oakwood Cemetery
The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn.
The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.
The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap,
The herdsman who climbed with his goats to the steep,
The beggar that wandered in search of his bread,
Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
Two of the oldest cemeteries—Oakwood
and Maplewood—of Charlottesville,
are owned by the city, and any
history of this vicinity would indeed
be incomplete without a sketch of these
cities of the dead within whose confines
the remains of its past brilliant
careers as well as those who in their
time constituted the woof and warp
of the complex fabric of human
existence? Oakwood cemetery is located
on a little knoll on Oak street
near the suburbs of the town. In this
quiet and sylvan spot repose the ashes
of many well known old citizens,
among them being Rev. James Gates,
Rev. Jacob Manning and the wife of
the Rev. C. E. Bane, all of the Methodist
church; Rev. and Hon. John E.
Massey, ex-Lieutenant Governor of
Virginia, who died April 24, 1901, and
his son who was killed on the Southern
Railway; Charles M. Brand, printer
and reporter, who was on the staff of
The Progress, Chronicle and Jeffersonian
for many years, who died Jan. 14,
1897. On his tomb are the words "How
many hopes lie buried here." William
T. Morris, who was killed Aug.
3, 1857, in an explosion of his slate
quarry over Monticello mountain and
his son, "Blind" Tom, who lost his eye
sight at the same catastrophe; C. F.
Christian, who was killed at the fire of
Chas. King & Son, May 31, 1897. Capt.
John C. Culin of the Monticello Guard,
who lost a leg in the Civil War, James
Robert Neville Russell, son of General
Leghmere Russell, G. B., of Askford
Hall, Shropshire, England, Hamilton
Potts, Benj. F. Grove, James M. Tilman.
Here also may be seen the
graves of nine victims of the wreck on
the Southern Railway at Rock Fish
July 7, 1903. Seven of these were
Italian and Russian emigrants and the
other two were Chas. W. Hamilton
and J. Thomas Shepherd, brakemen.
To Mr. J. F. Williams, the Superintendent
of Cemeteries, great credit is
due for the splendid condition in which
the grounds are kept and the many
marked improvements. When Mr.
Williams came into office six years
ago the streets bordering Oakwood
carriages were often stranded. These
have all been filled in and banks cut
through. A beautiful new stone wall
now borders more than half the grounds
and supplants an old picket fence. In
the centre of the cemetery a fountain
plays and around this are Mr. Williams'
flower beds in which he takes
great pride. Oakwood consists of
about six acres of land and was established
about 1860.
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