THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 28, 1996 TAG: 9605280049
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT AND LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 130 lines
Cedar Grove Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places, but until this spring it just looked like a holy mess.
Vandalism, neglect and weeds had overtaken the cemetery - a final resting place to Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers, authors, and even one of Virginia's first ladies.
``It was a disgrace,'' said Retired Brig. Gen. M.H. ``Hank'' Morris. ``We had to use tripods and block and tackle to get some of the stones up.''
Morris and others who have worked to restore the cemetery, by cleaning it and repairing dozens of headstones and cracked urns, held a Memorial Day ceremony to honor soldiers and sailors buried at Cedar Grove. The cemetery has graves of men who fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and every other battle through World War II.
The group also unveiled a new monument to honor the men who built and sailed the Merrimack after it became the ironclad CSS Virginia - the ship famous for its Hampton Roads battle with the Monitor.
Decorated with wreaths, flags and flowers on Monday, the cemetery properly reflected its history for the first time in nearly two decades. Dozens of visitors came out for the ceremony.
A captain, colonel and commander officiated at the ceremony with Morris. There was an honor guard and a bugler, and color guards in both Union and Confederate uniforms. Civil War re-enactors mingled with the crowd.
The commander of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Capt. William R. Klemm, unveiled the new granite memorial, which casts its shadow on the graves of the men who fought on the CSS Virginia. The monument is made of granite from the shipyard's first drydock - not only where the Merrimack was converted to the CSS Virginia, but also the first drydock in the nation.
The monument is the only one to honor the men who built and fought on the CSS Virginia.
Monday's ceremony, the monument and restoration were the culmination of months of work. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, Stonewall Camp 380, have been selling paperweights at $16 each, also made from granite taken from Drydock 1 at the shipyard. They also have been selling reprints of the book ``Norfolk County 1861-1865,'' a minor Civil War classic written in 1892, for $25 each.
So far the group has raised $7,000, which it has used to rent equipment, such as backhoes, and to have stonework done on the Confederate soldiers' grave markers.
The inscriptions on most of the headstones were barely discernible. So the Sons of Confederate Veterans took some of them up and had the names and other information carved on the backs of the stones. Some of the information was completely illegible, so the volunteers had to research each soldier to ensure that the headstones were accurate.
They have recut 65 grave markers so far. They have 180 more to complete. Morris said on Wednesday he'll be back in the cemetery soon, pulling up the next 40 markers to be researched and recut.
Morris said he hopes that the Cedar Grove cemetery will once again be an annual part of the city's Memorial Day celebrations.
For many years after the Civil War, veterans held an annual service at Cedar Grove and then marched over to Oak Grove cemetery for another service.
Black veterans have held separate services at Lincoln Cemetery, where many black soldiers were buried.
Besides the Confederate soldiers buried at Cedar Grove, there are 78 other veterans - including three from the Revolutionary War.
While the group has come a long way in repairing the headstones and renovating the cemetery, signs of the disrepair were still apparent Monday: A few headstones were still toppled, urns were broken, and some of the wrought-iron gates were rusted and coming unhinged.
In fact, the cemetery is on the National Register not for the famous folks buried there, but for the artwork on the sculptures and on the stones.
One gate toward the back of the cemetery bears ears of corn on its four posts, a symbol of Christ, said Bill Blake, a local historian who gives tours of the cemetery. Along the bottom of the gate, a grapevine is molded in iron, symbolic of Christ's blood. And in the iron fence work are carvings of lyres, a symbol of praise to God.
Carved on Capt. Thomas Alice Bain's monument is an anchor, a symbol of God. Bain was a ship captain who carried goods to the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Other monuments have the image of cannons and eagle wings - symbols of military service.
``This is a history museum and an archive. It's an art gallery,'' Blake said. ``This is a marketable resource the city could use. History has a direct impact on economic development and tourism.''
A few famous women, including Fannie Murdaugh Downing, a prominent Civil War poet and newspaperwoman, and Grace Phillips Pollard, Virginia's first lady in the early 1930s, are also buried in the cemetery.
The cemetery is part of Portsmouth's economic development plan, Vision 2005, and its restoration is an example of the city's push toward public/private partnerships.
The cemetery is the oldest city-owned cemetery in Portsmouth. The oldest cemetery in Portsmouth is at Trinity Episcopal Church. ILLUSTRATION: JIM WALKER
The Virginian-Pilot
Capt. William R. Klemm and Lt. William B. Whorten unveil a monument
to the men who built and manned the CSS Virginia - once the
Merrimack - Monday in Portsmouth.
OAK GROVE GRAVES
Among those buried at Oak Grove Cemetery:
John H. Lewis - Wrote the Civil War book ``Recollections,'' cited by
Civil War historians.
Judge James F. Crocker - Built the first public school for
African-American students in Portsmouth. He was also a graduate of
Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg (now Gettysburg College); 13
years later he was captured during Pickett's Charge in Gettysburg.
John L. Porter - Designed the CSS Virginia from the burned-out hull
of the Merrimack.
John W.H. Porter - Wrote the book ``Norfolk County 1861-1865.''
William H. Murdaugh - Recipient of the Victoria Cross for his search
for a British explorer lost in the Arctic. He was also a member of
the Confederate Secret Service.
Fannie Murdaugh Downing - Civil War poet and newspaperwoman.
Thomas Williamson - The first surgeon in charge of the Portsmouth
Naval Hospital.
Grace Phillips Pollard - First lady of Virginia in the early 1930s.
Her husband was former Gov. John Garland Pollard.
Alexander Cunningham - Piloted the USS Delaware into Drydock 1 at
the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
KEYWORDS: MEMORIAL DAY by CNB