From 1607 until the Revolution, the Church of England reigned supreme in Virginia second only to the General Assembly in terms of political power . Besides fostering the numinous life of everyday Virginians, the local parish took care of what we today would consider basic social services; care of the poor, orphans, widows, bastard children, etc. In some of the other colonies this also included overseeing essential services like road construction. Parishioners were actually taxed for not attending service. How times have changed!
Hamilton Parish was established in 1730. The first Episcopal church was built in Warrenton in 1816. Colonial times were harsh and mother churches often established "chapels-of-ease". These were more accessible satellite churches for folks living outside of town or on the frontier. They often couldn't attend service because of the travel distances involved and/or the impassable nature of dirt roads in the winter.
Christ's Chapel on Baldwin's Ridge was one such chapel-of-ease. Completed in 1883 as a "mission" church of St. James Church, it functioned until 1941 but eventually was razed in the 1950s. The exact location was on Mate's Hill, part of Lunsford's Mountain a prominent hill that begins just outside of town, briefly parallels US15, 29 & 211 and then crosses this road at New Baltimore. From there it becomes Pound Mountains before finally joining the ridge of Bull Run Mountain at Thoroughfare Gap.
"Baldwin" ridge? "Lunsford's Mountain"? "Close geographic proximity to Bull Run Mountain"? Simple coincidence? Who knows. But after wondering about this place for years I finally had to do a recon. Right after our annual family Christmas breakfast in Manassas (2018) we decided to scope this place out. The Find-a-Grave entry showed a new sign for the cemetery that was improved as an Eagle Scout project. That seemed to indicate that there still were graves there. Because of the establishment date (1883) I didn't expect to find Baldwin's grave but where there any other Lunsfords buried there?
No coordinates or street address was provided on Find-a-Grave so we began by turning off US29 onto Baldwin St. (how appropriate). After spending about twenty minutes taking back road turns to ascend and parallel the ridge we found the cemetery sign right along Baldwin Ridge Rd. (at least they are consistent).
It was a bit weathered, so the Find-a-Grave picture must have been taken right after the Eagle Scout completed his service project several years ago. The cemetery is situated on a narrow strip between the road and a housing development. Besides the history sign board (see top) there was the ubiquitous Periwinkle we see on so many abandoned country grave sites in northern Virginia. Also visible were signs of an old cast-iron fence, many unmarked graves and this one example of a marker.
Heading home we continued south to the intersection with Dumfries Rd. (SR605). This road is historical, having been one of the first colonial roads in Virginia, essential for the transport of tobacco and other goods from the Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont to the once viable port of Dumfries.
One other Lunsford connection; just south-west of this area, lying between Meetze and Old Auburn roads, is a short piece of paved road called "Lunsford Rd".
So the question remains; is there any connection between these geographical locations and our little branch of the Lunsford family? Avenues of future research will require combing through land ownership records for these areas and perhaps the parish records from St. James Church. Only time will tell.
R. Dwayne Lunsford, PhD
I visited Baldwin Ridge and Lunsford Mt. in 1999 when in VA researching. I noted there were some graves located along the road near the turn onto Baldwin rd. One of the names was Montagulard, an Englishman who was buried there by his friends in 1888, another for Lettie BOLDEN, (Baldwin?) wife of Joseph Thompson died 1916 or 1918. Bust Head Rd.runs from near New Baltimore (formerly Ball's Store) north through Hopewell toward Halfway. The section between Hopewell and Landmark is where our families resided; Griffith, Creel, Ball, Lunceford, Owen, Sinclair, etc.
ReplyDeleteMy mother Adele Lunceford, was born and lived on a farm near Baldwins Ridge Road in the early 1900's.
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