KILMARNOCK—Work continues to restore and honor the history of Old St. John’s Baptist Church Cemetery on Calvary Drive off Harris Road in Kilmarnock.
On Saturday, October 31, an interracial, interdenominational group of about three dozen volunteers of all ages gathered at the cemetery for a second round of clearing brush, shrubs and dead wood, reported Rev. Dr. Judy Thomson of the Old St. John’s Cemetery (OSJC) Restoration Committee.
William Lee, a deacon at Calvary Baptist Church and a member of the committee, organized the clean-up day.
Progress
The first clean-up was held in November 2025. In the intervening time, two brick pedestals and a chain-and-post fence have been built across the front of the cemetery and signage has been mounted. Nicholas Baker, of Baker Home Repairs LLC, a member of New St. John’s Baptist Church, was the contractor for the job. Grant funds for this construction were provided by Campbell Memorial Presbyterian Church and Morattico Baptist Church.
In addition, the site has been approved for a Virginia Historical Highway Marker. Recognition as a National and a Virginia Historic Site is pending.
History
The cemetery was established in 1868, following the founding of Old St. John’s Baptist Church in 1867. In that year, Black persons who had been members of Morattico Baptist Church, founded in 1778, asked for dismissal to form their own congregation.
In due course, six predominantly Black Baptist churches that still exist evolved from Old St. John’s: Mt. Olive (1873) in Wicomico Church; Willie Chapel (1884) in Lancaster; Calvary (1892) in Kilmarnock; Mt. Vernon (1893) in White Stone; Sharon (1898) in Weems; and New St. John’s (1910) in Kilmarnock. Old St. John’s Church continued to function until at least 1892-1893.
Today, Calvary, Mt. Vernon, Sharon, and New St. John’s jointly share the deed to OSJC.
The cemetery had been long neglected, said Rev. Dr. Judy Thomson. Headstones broke or fell over and were buried. Vandals threw trash on the grounds. Vegetation grew wild. Over time, many people forgot, or never even knew, the cemetery existed.
Preservation
About two years ago, a group of local people under the leadership of Francine Aytes Hunter and Rev. Dr. Tyron Williams, pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist, got together and determined to restore the historic site.
Initial committee members included, in addition to Lee, Rev. Dale Bunns, pastor of Sharon Baptist; Rev. Samuel Cain, pastor of Calvary Baptist; Rev. Gernard Reed, pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist; Margaret Hill, an Irvington resident who had done genealogical research at the cemetery in the 1990s; Kerry Petersen, then-president of the Kilmarnock Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a genealogist; and Rev. Dr. Thomson, representing Interracial Conversations of the Northern Neck.
Months of research by Petersen found that there are 377 documented burials in OSJC. But given that obituary records in Lancaster County began only in 1900, and death certificates that listed cemeteries of the deceased did not begin until 1912, and that new data bases now exist, it is a justifiable conclusion that as many as 1,000 burials are contained there, said Rev. Dr. Thomson.
It is likely that OSJC is Lancaster County’s earliest and its largest, African American burial ground, she said.
Discoveries
At the recent clean-up event, another acre of the cemetery was opened up and the site for the future highway marker was prepared.
Great excitement was generated when several previously undiscovered gravestones were uncovered, said Rev. Dr. Thomson.
Of particular interest among the newly revealed gravestones was a heavily eroded one that Petersen determined is for Rev. Tasco/Tasker Jackson (1852-1925). Subsequent research revealed that Jackson was an early evangelist in Lancaster County and the father of the three individuals buried nearby whose graves also were uncovered that day. Altogether, 10 Jackson family members are buried in the cemetery.
