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Conklin Village Project

Hampton Brewer Cemetery

By Larry W. Roeder, Jr., MS

Site One on the Winter South Riding Tour

Contents Directions .................................................................................................................................................. 2

Background: .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Bio on Hampton Brewer and Introduction to African-Americans whom he declared free.: .................... 3

Map ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

Research Guide ......................................................................................................................................... 5

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................. 6

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Directions:

Hampton Brewer Cemetery is

directly across from door D3 (south

end of the Lundsford Middle School

back lot at 26020 Ticonderoga

Road) and then on the south side of

the fence with Ticonderoga Farms.

The cemetery is also found by going

to Map Page 5520 and coordinates G7

in ADC Street Map for Loudoun, 29th

edition (Staff 2007). See also Research

Guide below for more details.

Background:

The site holds about 30 burials, many with cut field stones

and dirt depressions. Very likely one grave was for Brewer

(Born 1802 in Prince William County, died Dec 20, 1884 in

Loudoun), (Frain and Hiatt 1998). He owned the land. The

other graves very likely were for some of the former slaves

he registered as free or their relatives. Brewer brought

them from Fairfax and Prince William counties, mostly of

the Allen family, and Gaskins. One of the freed slaves was

also James Gaskins who would later join the Union Army,

where he served in the US 29th Colored Infantry, Company

I. (Hewett 1997, 375). He is buried in Leesburg at Mount

Zion Community Cemetery. The Allens intermarried with

the family of Jennie Dean, the famed evangelist who

started the Prosperity Baptist church in Conklin.

The southern portion of Hampton Brewer’s land is the

traditional south boundary of Conklin.

Figure 1 Field Stones, 8/2014 by Roeder

Figure 2 Gaskins tombstone in Mount Zion, summer, 2015, notice civil war veteran star.

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Bio on Hampton Brewer and Introduction to African-Americans whom he

declared free.:

A detailed history of Brewer is in A History of Conklin Village, Loudoun County on

http://conklinproject.wordpress.com/. The African Americans he registered as free (or were

already free) were:

September 11, 1854:

Betsy was also registered free in Loudoun as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer on September 11, 1854. The register showed her then as 50 years old, 5’3” tall and of black color. Record 2250, Page 174. (Duncan 2000). This register also documented that she had been registered as free in Prince William County.

William Allen, declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. About 24 years old, 5’ 7 3/4” tall, dark complexion, scar near the corner of the left eye and one near the corner of the mouth. Record 2251, Page 174. (Duncan 2000)

Narcissa Allen, No freedom information given; but I suspect Brewer played a role. About 20 years old, 5’ tall, black, no scars worth mentioning. Record 2252, Page 174. (Duncan 2000)

Uginta Allen, (Child of Narcissa). No freedom information given. 18 months old, black, no scars worth mentioning. Record 2252, Page 174. I suspect Brewer played a role here. (Duncan 2000)

Mary Allen, declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. About 16 years old, 5’ 2 ½” tall, black color. Record 2253, Page 175. (Duncan 2000).

Catharine Allen, (daughter of Mary Allen), declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. 18 months old, lighter complexion than mother. Record 2253. Page 175 (Duncan 2000)

Alex Allen, (son of Amanda Allen), declared free as proved by oath of Hampton R. Brewer. About 19 years old, 5’ 8 ½” tall, dark mulatto color, small scar on his left arm and one on his right foot. Record 2254, Page 175 (Duncan 2000).

January 13, 1857:

Amanda Allen, Daughter of Charlotte Allen. About 36 years old, 5’7” tall, brown color. Date 13 Jan 1857, Record 23990. (Duncan 2000, 180)

John Allen, son of Amanda Allen, freedom proved by Oath, About 14 years old, mulatto color. Date 13 Jan 1857, Record 2390. Page 228 (Duncan 2000, 180)

Jas. Gaskins, son of Amy Gaskins, About 12 years old, black color. Date 13 Jan, 1857. Record 2391, page 228. (Duncan 2000, 180).

Martha Allen, daughter of Harriet Fletcher, About 21 years old, 5’1” tall, brown color, scar on left side of the jaw. Date 13 Jan 1857. Record 2392. (Duncan 2000, 181).1

1 County Records Roll 135, Record of Free Negroes 1844-1861 (last one)

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Registration of freedom for African-Americans was required by law, in order to limit the travels of

slaves. The law was passed by Virginia House of Delegates, 10 December 1793. In addition,

free Negros and mulattos (meaning color of skin, not mixed race) were not allowed to migrate

into the state. If they did, they could be seized and deported. (Duncan 2000, i-iii)2

Figure 3 Field Stones in Brewer Cemetery

For details on Hampton Brewer and the land, see Volume One of the Conklin Village Project.

2 i-iii of register

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Map

Figure 4 Map showing location of Brewer Cemetery

Research Guide

There are several ways to research cemeteries in Loudoun County. The first step is visit the

Balch Library in Leesburg, Virginia. Although information is available elsewhere, such as at the

Loudoun Museum and in private papers of various historical associations, the best collection of

data is at Balch.

Some sources at Balch are:

1. The electronic cemetery index, which is updated periodically and can be searched by the

last and first name of the deceased.

2. Private and published papers are on the shelves and in miscellaneous files.

3. Especially when the names of the deceased are not known but also for a general

description of old family cemeteries in the county, consider the Loudoun County, VA

Cemetery Collection 1990-2004, which is a set of five boxes of file folders related to the

Committee on Old Cemeteries, Preservation Society of Loudoun County. In 1995

Thomas Balch Library sponsored a project to map, identify, photograph, and transcribe

gravestone inscriptions in Loudoun cemeteries. A committee was created that consisted

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of Jeff Ball, Ned Douglass, Mary Fishback, Marty Hiatt, David Via, and Wynne Saffer as

chairman for that purpose. The following year (1996), the committee published a list of

known cemeteries in Loudoun County. This is collection (M 017) and is in the archives

of the Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA. Irregularly updated, the files and an

associated collection of photographs is an invaluable source on cemeteries, especially

when names of the deceased are not known. See box 1 for an index to all cemeteries.

o Example: The Hampton Brewer Cemetery is Box 1, Folder 76.

o Caution: Not all cemeteries are indexed, as is the case of the Dean (African-

American) cemetery to the east of Hampton Brewer on the property of the

Michael Lunsford Middle School. Other sources are then required.

4. On the shelves of the Balch library are also two indexes to cemeteries. One is a three

ring binder (V Ref 929.50975528.TBL, called the Loudoun County Cemetery Directory

(Committee on Old Cemeteries 2007). The directory list most of the cemeteries in the

county by name. It also provide the official Cemetery number from the 1990-2004

collection, as well as the map coordinates for the cemetery and page number associated

with ADC Street Map for Loudoun, 29th edition. (Staff 2007) The book, (V Ref

929.50975528. TBL) is marked with pasted tabs on each page associated with a

cemetery.

o Example: The Hampton Brewer Cemetery is Cemetery #76 on Map Page 5520 at

coordinates G7.

o Caution: Not all cemeteries are indexed, as is the case of the Dean (African-

American) cemetery to the east of Hampton Brewer on the property of the

Michael Lunsford Middle School. Other sources are then required.

Bibliography Committee on Old Cemeteries. Loudoun County Cemetery Directory. Leesburg: Balch Library, 2007.

Duncan, Patricia B. Abstracts of Loudoun County, Virginia, Register of Free Negroes, 1844-1861.

Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend, 2000.

Frain, Elizabeth R., and Marty Hiatt. Loudoun County, Virginia Death Register, 1853-1896. Westminster,

Maryland: Willow Bend, 1998.

Hewett, Janet. The Roster of Union Soldiers 1861-65, Vol 6, US Colored Troops. Vol. 6. Willmington, NC:

Broadfoot, 1997.

Staff. ADC Street Map for Loudoun, 29th Edition. Alexandria: Alexandria Drafting Company, 2007.