Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210088
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The cemetery, on a hill between Park, Depot and Roanoke streets, is in ruin.
Tombstones that lay fallen, broken or covered by weeds and brush hide the names of such acclaimed residents as James Craig and his wife, Anne Montgomery Craig, who donated the land Christiansburg was built on; artist Lewis Miller; dueler John McHenry, and various Confederate soldiers.
"Vandals have really desecrated the cemetery," said Ann Bailey, chairwoman of the board of directors of the Montgomery Museum and Lewis Miller Regional Art Center in Christiansburg.
Retired Judge J.C. Snidow Jr. of Blacksburg and his wife, Marguerite, donated the cemetery to the museum last May. Snidow said his family in 1936 bought from the First National Bank land that included the cemetery. Bailey claims it's the oldest cemetery in the New River Valley.
"I thought a piece of history should be given to a historical organization," Snidow said. "It only seems logical."
Prior to Snidow's ownership, the cemetery had passed through various hands of Craig descendants.
Now museum members want to fix the cemetery and are holding a cleanup day to remove the brush, broken trees and garbage. They also plan to mow the area and collect tombstone pieces that can be restored.
"It's a big job," said Bailey, who also is vice chairwoman of the Montgomery County chapter of the state historical society.
Even getting to the cemetery is a problem. The path is not much more than a depressed trace between two industrial buildings, making it a passage through mud, waist-high snaggy wildflowers and liquor bottles tossed in the brush.
Bailey said trees downed by Hurricane Hugo have left a lot of wood lying in the cemetery.
"If anyone would like it, they're welcome to come and take it away," she said.
The cemetery "has such historical significance," said Donna Speaks of Christiansburg, who directs the Montgomery Museum. "It's sick that it looks like it does now."
Its age is unknown, but readable tombstone dates on some of the 50 or so grave sites reach back to the early 1800s.
One important family buried there is the Craigs, headed by James Craig, a Revolutionary War patriot who fought in the Battle of King's Mountain.
He was given land in the newly formed Montgomery County in recognition for his war services. He and his wife lived in Hans Meadows, on the headwaters of Crab Creek, where Christiansburg would rise.
In 1790, Craig donated the land the Montgomery County's first courthouse was built on. The settlement of Christiansburg was built two years later on the rest of his 175-acre gift.
His son, Robert Craig, was in the Virginia legislature and later was elected to Congress. Craig County is named for him.
Also in the cemetery, under the dying fir trees, is the grave of John McHenry, who died in a duel with Thomas Lewis in May 1808.
Lewis also died in the confrontation, which was said to be the first duel with rifles known to have taken place in Virginia. It led to the passage of the Barbour Bill, which outlawed dueling in the state.
And there is the grave of Lewis Miller, a Pennsylvania Dutch artist who traveled throughout Virginia, the United States and abroad making sketches.
Miller was kin to the Craigs, and, when his traveling days were over, he settled here and made a living as a carpenter.
He died in 1882 and his niece, Mary Sherwood Flagg, a great-granddaughter of the Craigs, had him buried in the family cemetery near her home.
His stone has since toppled and lies hidden in the tall brush.
"We're quite interested in getting Lewis Miller's stone reconstructed," Bailey said, adding that the Archeology Society of Virginia and the Forest Service in Roanoke have shown interest.
Plans also include a fence for protection and creation of a right-of-way for a road and entrance way.
Volunteers for the cleanup may come to the cemetery on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or call Speaks at 382-6338. A rain date has been set for March 30.
Another meeting is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the library on Sheltman Street to discuss the restoration of the Confederate tombstones. The public is invited.
by CNB