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Archiver > VAFAIRFA > 1999-08 > 0935368276


From: Dave Baker <>
Subject: Re: died in Fairfax- Hereford-1721 & 1754
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 20:31:16 -0400


> James Hereford d. 1720/21 in Fairfax.
> His wife, Ann Green Hereford, d. also in Fairfax in 1721.
> John Hereford I d. in Truro Parish 1754.
> His wife, Jean Barnes Hereford, d. in Truro Parish in 1754.

> ...no luck in finding any kind of death records or gravestones...

Cyndi, when looking for death records or gravestones in Fairfax County prior to
1800, there are several things to consider:

Where were people buried? David Fischer in Albion’s Seed writes about Virginia
Death Ways: “The place of burial in Virginia was normally not a public burying
ground as in New England, but a private family plot in some secluded corner of a
farm or plantation. Hugh Jones described the prevailing customs: The parishes
being of great extent (some sixty miles long and upwards) many dead corpses
cannot be conveyed to the church to be buried: So that it is customary to bury in
gardens or orchards, where whole families lye [sic] interred together, in a spot
generally handsomely enclosed, planted with evergreens, and the graves kept
decently…” (page 328-329)

How was the individual grave marked? I don’t have the definitive answer. If the
family was wealthy, maybe it used engraved stones but chances are if the family
were tenant farmers or leased the lands, the markers were uninscribed slate,
wood, fieldstones, or maybe just flowers or just nothing.

Melvin Steadman writes in Falls Church by Fence and Fireside that the first
public cemetery in Falls Church was in the Falls Church [church] yard but most of
the old stones have long since disappeared. He also writes that the gravestones
around Fairfax Chapel were used by the 121st New York Regiment during the Civil
War as a line of defense. I would think that once a cannonball hits a tombstone
there’s nothing much left. And then there are the commercial and the house
developers who have destroyed many family gravesites.

Who recorded the death information and where? Official death records kept by
Fairfax County did not begin until 1853. Prior to that going back to 1665, the
parish vestries were responsible for keeping a record of deaths. I don’t know
what parish registers survive for the northern Virginia area. In 1730 Prince
William County was formed from Stafford County and the Hamilton Parish was
created. In 1732 Hamilton Parish was divided into Hamilton Parish and Truro
Parish. Truro Parish was later divided into the Parishes of Cameron, Fairfax, and
Shelbourne. You indicate that James Hereford and his wife died in Fairfax in
1721. The actual formation of Fairfax County was not until 1742 and initially
included what is now Fairfax County, Arlington County, Loudoun County,
Alexandria, and Falls Church. Fairfax Parish was not formed until 1764/1765. I
don’t know what area you have been researching in—Fairfax Parish boundaries or
Fairfax County boundaries.

Sources for death records in the 1700s are Bible Records. Check out the Library
of Virginia at http://eagle.vsla.edu/bible/virtua-basic.html. It has an entry for
a James Hereford. There are also Bible Records at the Virginia Historical Society
at http://www.vahistorical.org

Wills and probate records can help you estimate a death date. Wills were usually
probated in the next court session after the death. Wills and probate records are
found at the county courthouses. Constance Ring compiled the Index to Fairfax
County, Virginia Wills and Fiduciary Records, 1742-1855. I don’t know what
records there are existing for Prince William and Stafford Counties. I think
Antient Press has Stafford County will abstracts for 1729-1767.

...I wonder if you have access to any of the books...

The series, Fairfax County, Virginia Gravestones, can be purchased from the
Fairfax Genealogical Society. There is an order blank at
http://www.genealogy.org/~fxgs/puborder.htm. The volumes are also available at
the Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia Room.

Cemeteries of Fairfax County, Virginia by Brian Conley is available at the
Virginia Room (it may be possible to get a copy through your local interlibrary
loan service), the County Circuit Court Archives, and, if you are a member, at
the National Genealogical Library
(http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/library/body_frame.html). Some of the cemetery
entries are published at
http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/library/virginia/varoom/cem/index.htm

Anne

> Subject: died in Fairfax- Hereford-1721 & 1754
> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 13:58:05 EDT
> From:
> To:
>
> Hi Ann,
>
> I saw your reply to Susan about Fairfax cemeteries. I know I have some
> ancestors who died there but I don't know where or whether they'd be listed
> in the books--they're pretty old. I checked both sites you listed and didn't
> find any clues. I wonder if you have access to any of the books?
>
> James Hereford d. 1720/21 in Fairfax.
> His wife, Ann Green Hereford, d. also in Fairfax in 1721.
> John Hereford I d. in Truro Parish 1754.
> His wife, Jean Barnes Hereford, d. in Truro Parish in 1754.

> >
> >So far, no luck in finding any kind of death records or
> gravestones--of
> >course, they may not exist! Any help appreciated!
> >
> >Cyndi in Baltimore

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