Oak Grove Cemetery (Lexington, Virginia)

The Oak Grove Cemetery, originally known as the Presbyterian Cemetery, is located on South Main Street in downtown Lexington, Virginia, less than a mile from the campuses of Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute. The cemetery was renamed in 1949 as the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery after the Confederate general, who was buried here in 1863. The current name dates to September 3, 2020.[1] Also buried here are 144 Confederate veterans, two Governors of Virginia, and Margaret Junkin Preston, the "Poet Laureate of the Confederacy".[2]

Oak Grove Cemetery
Gravesite of General Stonewall Jackson and his family
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Details
Location
314 S. Main St., Lexington, Virginia 24450
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37°46′49″N 79°26′43″W / 37.7804097°N 79.4453157°W / 37.7804097; -79.4453157
No. of graves~7,500
WebsiteInformation at Lexington Visitor's Center
Find a GraveOak Grove Cemetery
Map
Cemetery location

Name

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The cemetery was first known as the Presbyterian Cemetery.[3] After the Lexington Presbyterian Church conveyed the cemetery to the city in 1949, the cemetery was renamed later that year for the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, who was interred there after his death on May 10, 1863.[1] The Lexington City Council unanimously voted to rename the cemetery in 2020 following the George Floyd protests,[1] and the renaming was unanimously approved on September 3.[citation needed]

Notable burials

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Jackson and his family

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The plot of Jackson and his family received a sculpture of Jackson in 1895, created by sculptor Edward V. Valentine.[4] The plot includes graves of:

  • Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (1824–1863): VMI instructor, Confederate Army lieutenant general, commander of Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
  • Elinor Junkin Jackson (1825–1854): Jackson's first wife, died in childbirth; buried with their stillborn son
  • Mary Anna Morrison Jackson (1831–1915): Jackson's second wife
  • Thomas and Anna Morrison Jackson's two daughters:
    • Mary Graham Jackson (infant – 1858)
    • Julia Laura Jackson Christian (1862–1889) and her husband William Edmund Christian (1856–1936)
  • Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian Sr. (1888–1952): William and Julia Christian's second child, U.S. Army brigadier general
    • Cenotaph for his son Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian Jr. (1915–1944), U.S. Army colonel, killed during World War II (believed buried at Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France)

Others

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Lexington City Council votes to rename Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery". WFXR Newsroom. 2020-07-03. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  2. ^ Virginia is for Lovers (i.e., Virginia Tourism Corporation). "Oak Grove Cemetery". Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Lexington Presbyterian history Archived 2013-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Lexington, Virginia". civilwaralbum.com. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
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