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The Cemetery at Old Chapel: A Step Back in Time
The Old Chapel Marker
What better way is there to revisit family history than to stroll through the Old Chapel Cemetery in Millwood? The lovely, serene grounds make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time to the Revolutionary and Civil War eras.
Hugh Nelson Gravesite. Click the image above to view headstone inscriptions.
Gray, moss‑covered headstones, worn by the elements over many generations, mark your path as you wander among some of the resting places of the Nelson, Page, and Randolph families, and other notable kin. Politicians Edmund Jenings Randolph (1753-1813) and Robert Page (1765-1840)[1] are buried there. Sallie Page Nelson of Long Branch, along with her husband Hugh Nelson, Jr.—both buried at Old Chapel—can count as their ancestors a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Nelson, Jr., of Yorktown. A pew at Old Chapel still marks Sallie’s name.
Edmund Jenings Randolph was an American attorney, Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State under George Washington, and the first United States Attorney General. He was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1779, and served there until 1782. During this period he also remained in private law practice, handling legal issues for George Washington. Randolph was elected Governor of Virginia in 1786, when he also led a delegation to the Annapolis Convention.
Robert Page served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was an attorney, a planter, a member of the Virginia State House of Delegates in 1795, and later a U.S. Representative from Virginia.
Whether you have relatives buried there or not, Old Chapel Cemetery is a fascinating outing for those seeking an adventure into the past in a setting that has not changed since the 1700s.
[1] The Political Graveyard. http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/VA/CK.html#RAZ0VIAL5
Recollections of a Home, Past and Present
My mother had loving memories of her time at Long Branch. When she visited the house after moving back to Virginia in 1997, she was amazed at its transformation, following the Harry Isaacs restoration, from a state of disrepair to museum-quality luster. I think she had mixed feelings, stemming from her perspective dating back to the early 1930s. She used to say that Long Branch was first and foremost, a home.
Long Branch as it appeared in the mid 20th Century.
As Christopher Fordney aptly writes:
Although Long Branch is today furnished with elegant antiques and exudes the quiet dignity of a museum, it has above all else been a home. Its rooms have known the cries of newborn babies, the exuberant pounding of children’s feet, the roar of party conversation, and the solitary voices of its elders recounting the family legends, some verifiable, some not, that are so much a part of the history of an old home.[1]
As I walk through Long Branch today, the house still evokes the ambience of past generations. The views of the countryside from the windows are still the same, and as you wander along the original floors, you can almost sense the souls of the families who lived there. The view from Bordens Spring Rd. is just as compelling as it was when I visited the house in the 1950s –60s. Back in those days, finding it was always a challenge. You’d meander along a country road, probably Route 624, if you were lucky enough to find it, and then, suddenly, the house and cupola just appeared, perched magnificently on the hill—a breathtaking sight that I will never forget. Whenever I bring friends to see Long Branch, I insist they are treated to that amazing view.
[1] Fordney, Christopher R. Long Branch: A Plantation House in Clarke Country Virginia. Millwood: Harry Z. Isaacs Foundation, 1995.
Need an excuse to lark in the countryside?
Historic Long Branch is a great bet. The house is rich in history, with ties to the American Revolution. The Historic Long Branch House and Farm web site features a video introduction and overview: History of Long Branch Narrated by Willard Scott.
My great aunt, Sallie Page Nelson, and her husband, Hugh Nelson, Jr., were great-grandchildren of Gov. Thomas Nelson, Jr., a Virginia Signer of the Declaration of Independence. How convenient that she didn’t have to change her maiden name! She lived at Long Branch for 36 years after the death of her husband in 1915. She loved to entertain and have visitors and relatives stay at Long Branch. During the Depression, her younger sister, Charlotte Nelson Holt, Caroline Nelson Britten, and Laura Lewis Bunch were just a few to enjoy her hospitality. Story has it that Laura was
. . . known as the cousin who came to visit for two weeks and stayed twenty-seven years. Her children were Laura Crease Bunch and Tilghman Howard Bunch, Jr. The women at Long Branch became avid bridge players.[1]
Interestingly, several of these women are buried at Old Chapel in Millwood. My mother, Mary Winston Nelson Fisher, spent summers at Long Branch in her teens and early twenties, riding a horse called “Fancy.” She had wonderful stories and fond memories of her time there.
[1] Fordney, Christopher R. Long Branch: A Plantation House in Clarke Country Virginia. Millwood: Harry Z Isaacs Foundation, 1995.
