409 Brethren Road
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Last updated on March 29, 2024
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Directions from Moore Family Burial Ground to Site 7:
- Continue west on Moores Mill Rd
- In 0.6 mile turn left onto N Valley Pike (US-11)
- In 2.8 mile turn right onto Mayland Rd
- In 3.9 miles turn left onto Springbrook Rd
- In 0.4 mile turn left onto Brethren Rd
- In 700 feet turn left into the church parking lot
The Linville Creek Church of the Brethren is active in Broadway, Virginia. In 1830, a plot of land was donated for a meeting house. There are more than 200 marked graves, including a segregated area for African American burials. The area is to the right of the cemetery's main gate and is a 125-foot by 20-foot rectangle. There are only four marked gravestones: Alice Madden and John Madden, James Lewis, James G. Allen, and Docia Allen Nickens. Other African American burials in the section are unmarked. In 1920, a memorial was erected that reads: “In gratitude to the church fathers who dedicated this parcel of land for the burial of black people.” This African American burial ground dates back to the American Civil War and represents the first generation of freed African Americans in the American South. In the 1885 Lake’s Atlas map of Broadway, marked in the center of the map is the “United Brethren Col’d Church”.
"A slightly arched stone on a ground level base, 19” high, engraved “ALICE MADDEN; BORN; Dec. 25, 1842; DIED; May 10, 1906; Age 63 yrs 4 mos; & 16 ds.” The back of the stone has an additional engraving “JOHN MADDEN; DIED; Apr. 1885; 4 mos 6 ds,” (Figure 2).
The stone is almost illegible, information determined by etching. A slightly arched stone with caps standing on a raised base resting on another rough concrete foundation, 27” high, engraved with a top floral design reading “JAMES; LEWIS; DIED; SEPT. 23, 1925; ABOUT; 80 YEARS OLD” (Figure 3). A rectangular stone with angled edges and a slightly raised rough base, 28” high, engraved at the top with a scroll and leaf design reading “JAMES G. ALLEN; BORN; Oct. 18, 1830; DIED; Nov. 6, 1914; Age 84 yr. 18 ds.; a loving father” (Figure 4). A rectangular stone with angled edges on a large base, though not firmly planted in the earth, 38” high, engraved with a top border with corner, inverted sunbursts reading “ALLEN; JACOB A.; 1850-1909; DOCIA ALLEN NICKENS; 1860-1924, AT REST” (Figure 5) |
References
Charity L. Darrow, “The Barrenness of a Cemetery: Examining Patterns of the Fragmented African American Community in Broadway, Virginia” (Thesis, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, 2010).
Harrisonburg Tourism and Visitor Services, African American Heritage: Stories of People and Places in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County Virginia, 2nd ed (Harrisonburg, VA: ADCOM Group LLC, 2009).
Charity L. Darrow, “The Barrenness of a Cemetery: Examining Patterns of the Fragmented African American Community in Broadway, Virginia” (Thesis, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, 2010).
Harrisonburg Tourism and Visitor Services, African American Heritage: Stories of People and Places in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County Virginia, 2nd ed (Harrisonburg, VA: ADCOM Group LLC, 2009).