THE THORNTON-FORBES-WASHINGTON CEMETERY (FREDERICKSBURG, VA) File submitted for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Transcription of headstones by Trip Wiggins, Sept., 1999. ************************************************************************ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ************************************************************************ Where is it? Off Hunter St, just behind Mary Washington Hospital Home Health Agency. To get there from Fredericksburg, travel north on Princess Anne St. Turn RIGHT at Carl's on to Hunter St. It's off on the left 1/2 way down the block. (Stop 26 on the Fredericksburg driving tour.) It is a small family cemetery containing only 19 marked graves. Most are still legible and well maintained. It contains graves going back to the founding of the town. The graves and the inscriptions on the headstones. Most are from the cemetery itself, however the inscriptions for the Storke family come from a printed source as the headstones are no longer there or illegible. Numbers refer to the map printed at the end of the listing. I left most of the sentimental inscriptions off and concentrated mainly on names, dates and locations. The Residents. 1. Forbes, Murray - Born Dumfries, VA July 4, 1782. Died Fredericksburg, VA July 30, 1863. Son of Dr David and Margaret Sterling Forbes, daughter of the Last Laird of Herbertshire. (New Marker. Also has original marker flat on ground and illegible) 2. Forbes, John Murray - Born at Falmouth, VA Nov 17, 1816. Married Mary E. Semmes at Alexandria, VA May 14, 1840. Died at Innes Hill, Fauquier Co., VA May 24, 1890. (New Marker. Also has original marker flat on ground and illegible) 3. Forbes, Mary Elizabeth Semmes - Wife of John Murray Forbes. Born in Alexandria, VA Aug 13, 1820. Married May 14, 1840. Died near Baltimore Dec 3, 1890. (New Marker. Also has original marker flat on ground and illegible) 4. No Inscription 5. Washington, Mildred Ann - In Memory of Mildred Ann Washington. Daughter of Samuel and Dorothy Thornton Washington. Born Aug 17, 1797 and Departed this life Nov 2, 1799. (New Marker. Also has original marker flat on ground and illegible) 6. To the memory of Mrs. Euphan Washington wife of William Storke & daughter of Bailey Washington & Euphan Wallace of Stafford. Who was born Feb. 1st 1790. Died 1st Feb 1847. Married Early in life to John Macrae of Prince William. A few years before her death she was united to William Storke of Bunker Hill and only survived him two weeks. She was a consistent & zealous member of the Protestant Episcopal Church for 25 years. 6A. In Memory of William Storke - Son of William Storke and Elizabeth Washington of the county of King George. Died on the 16 January 1847. 7. Forbes, John James - Son of F.T and A.M. Forbes. Was born Sept 22, 1852. Died May 24, 185_ (Stone has a chip missing where the last digit should be.) 8. Placed in Memory of Mrs. Ann Eustace Storke. Consort of William Storke of Bunker Hill Who departed this life June 11th 1840. Aged 47 years. 9. Thornton, Francis - Here lies the body of Francis Thornton who departed this life the seventh of April Anno Dom One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty Nine in the thirty eighth year of his age. (Stone renewed August 1881) [Oldest marked grave in cemetery] 10. One obelisk marker for the following four individuals: Forbes, David Sterling. February 3, 1835 December 24, 1908 Thornton, Delia Smith Forbes. July 6, 1818 1881 Forbes, Sally Innes Thornton. January 11, 1799 1885 Bastable, Katherine Marshall Forbes. July 25, 1822 Oct 1896 11. Thornton, Francis - To our Father. Here Lie the Remains of Francis Thornton of Fall Hill. Born at the Falls 11th June 1767. Died at the White Sulphur Springs, VA 15 July 1836. Married 2nd June 1792 Sally daughter of Judge Harry Innes and Elizabeth Callaway, who bore him four sons and four daughters and Died 2nd May 1807 in Frankfort, KY. (note: This is the grandson of the other Francis Thornton buried here.) 12. Buckner, Frances - Placed Here by the hand of filial affection. Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Frances Buckner who departed this life 1818 in the 58th year of her age. 13. Thornton, Butler Brayne - Died August 3rd 1833. Aged 26. Thornton-Forbes-Washington Cemetery Enclosed within an iron fence are the following two graves: 14. Fitzgerald, Elizabeth A - Elizabeth A. Fitzgerald widow of James H. Fitzgerald. Born December 1793. Married 1810. Died February 18th 1881 15. Fitzgerald, James Henderson - Born in Nottaway December 1786 and Died in the City of Paris May 6th, 1852. 16. Walker, Mary Thornton - 1871-1943 17. Walker, Groom Ware - 1869-1927 18. Next to these is a plaque for Mary Walker placed here in 1970. Mary Thornton Walker Beloved wife of Groom Ware Walker 1869-1927 and a descendent of Augustine Washington 1694-1743 Father of Gen'l G. Washington M. 1st 1715 Jane Butler Augustine Washington, Jr. 1720-1762 M. Anne Aylett Jane Augusta Washington 1756-1833 M. 1784 John Thornton Lieut. Col. 3rd VA. RGT. C.L. (Her cousin) Frances Gregory Thornton 1792-1828 (C) M. 1806 Dr. George Alexander Thornton (Her cousin) Alfred Augustine Thornton 1810-1869 M. 1834 Delia Smith Forbes (His cousin) George Alexander Thornton 1837-1887 Lieut. Of Artillery C.S.A. M. 1863 Ella Spencer Roberts Mary Thornton 1871-1943 M. 1889 Groom Ware Walker Reinterred 1970 19. Forbes, James F. (Also has original marker flat on ground and illegible) ASST QM (This is a new Confederate soldier Veterans FLD & STAFF Administration marker) 9 REGT VA CAV CSA May 4, 1863 (James was the son of Murray Forbes and Sally Ennis Thornton Forbes. He was born in Sept., 1828, in Falmouth, VA. He moved to Fredericksburg in 1842. He attended VMI and was a practicing attorney in town until he enlisted in the army. He was on Gen. A. P. Hill's staff when he was killed in the same volley that mortally wounded Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.) Rough Layout of Cemetery _______________________Gate___________________________________________________________________ | | | 1 2 3 4 5 | | | | 6 6A | | | | 7 8 | | ___| | 9 10 | | | | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | | | | 18 | | 19 | |___________________________Gate__________________________________________________________| Hunter St. Thornton-Forbes-Washington Cemetery Who are they? I won't try to give a description or genealogy of all those interred here, but will give a few highlights about Francis Thornton and his family. Francis' father, also Francis Thornton, patented this land in 1720. It covered the area from the cemetery, upstream to just about where the Embrey Dam is located. He built a grist mill just above where the Falmouth bridge is today located (a sign marks its location on River Road). In 1736, his son, Francis married Frances Gregory and built his home next to the current cemetery (site of what is now known as the George Washington Executive Center). Frances was the daughter of Mildred Washington Gregory Willis making her a cousin to George Washington and a step-daughter to the town's first entrepreneur, Henry Willis. Additionally, Francis and Frances' daughter, Mildred, and their niece, Mildred (daughter of Francis' brother John), both married brothers of George Washington; Charles and Samuel, respectively. Francis and his two brothers, John and Reuben, married three Gregory sisters and were active in the town's early history. John purchased the Long Ordinary from Henry Willis' estate. Francis was elected to the Spotsylvania county court and to St. George's vestry in 1734, headed the county militia from 1742 until his death, and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1744 (John also served there from 1753-55). Additionally, the Thornton family had ties to several other prominent families of the area including: Taliaferro, Fitzhugh, Lewis, Woodford, Strother, Conway, Taylor, and Madison. (Yes, THAT Madison.) Many people ask why the east side of the cemetery wall juts out around the grave of William Storke. The last family owner of "The Falls" was Mrs. Elizabeth A. (Thornton) Fitzgerald, the great-granddaughter of Francis Thornton. Her neighbors were the Storkes who lived at the other great estate at that end of town, "Bunker Hill", located approximately 100 years to the south of the cemetery. Since Mr. Storke was a Washington (and a distant cousin of Mrs. Fitzgerald) and they were neighbors of the Thorntons/Fitzgeralds, it was naturally assumed that they would also be interred into the family cemetery. So when they died in 1847, they were interred. The Fitzgeralds were in Europe at the time. Upon their return, Mrs. Fitzgerald was quite unhappy, and following her husband's death in 1852, she had a wall erected around the cemetery going right through the grave of her cousin William Storke. She is noted to have said, "I'll put the Washington side of him in the cemetery and the Storke side of him on the outside." The wall remained until the 1970s when the cemetery had fallen into great disrepair. In 1977 the city of Fredericksburg formally assumed responsibility for upkeep of the cemetery and the wall was repaired as an Eagle Scout project. Today it is a well maintained "attraction" honoring the pioneers of the area. Sources: - Transcription of headstones by Trip Wiggins, Sept., 1999. - Info from Thornton family files in Virginiana Room at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL). - Free Lance Star, 21 July 1983; 28 Oct 1975. (at CRRL) - Felder, Paula. "Forgotten Companions", pp. 188-91. (at CRRL) - King, George. "A Unique Cemetery", William and Mary Quarterly, 2nd Series, Vol. 19, pp. 187-193. (at CRRL) 7 9 7