Name/Title
Dumfries' Hidden CemeterySecondary Title
Dumfries' Hidden CemeteryDescription
DumfriesContext
Dumfries' Hidden CemeteryCollection
Reverend Hinkle ShumateCataloged By
Rachel HughesTranscription
Transcription
Dumfries' Hidden Cemetery
by Lee C. Lansing Jr.
Dumfries Town Historian
In the beginning, this was not intended to be a hidden cemetery - it was located beneath some majestic trees in an open field ~ then nature took over.
In the early 1940's, a talk with the Reverend Hinkle Shumate of the Dumfries' Methodist Church made us aware of this burial ground. Investigation revealed a grove of large trees, in a circular pattern of about fifty feet in diameter, surrounded by open fields. Several graves marked with common field stones, in an irregular pattern made up the interior area under the tree growth. One grave, we remember, contained an oak board on which was painted the name of the deceased, their dates of birth and death.
Time has changed the site until today, we find an undergrowth pattern around the periphery of the older trees - of approximately one-hundred and fifty feet consisting of dense foliage `mostly briars. This was caused by the dumping of debris and failure to cut back sprawling growth.Transcriber
Rachel HughesLanguage
EnglishCreated By
info@historicdumfriesva.orgCreate Date
January 7, 2026Updated By
info@historicdumfriesva.orgUpdate Date
January 7, 2026
