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University of Virginia Cemetery

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University of Virginia Cemetery and Columbarium
Graves at the University of Virginia Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1828
Location
Charlottesville, Virginia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates38°02′10″N 78°30′46″W / 38.0361°N 78.5127°W / 38.0361; -78.5127
Owned byUniversity of Virginia
Websitewww.virginia.edu/uvacemetery/
Find a GraveUniversity of Virginia Cemetery and Columbarium

The University of Virginia Cemetery and Columbarium is a cemetery on the grounds of the University of Virginia, located at the intersection of McCormick Road and Alderman Road. In operation since 1828, during the earliest days of the university, the cemetery is the final resting place for many University of Virginia professors, administrators, and alumni. It includes a large burial area that holds the remains of 1,097 Confederate States Army soldiers.[1] The cemetery is in two sections; the newer section includes a columbarium to provide more space for burials.

History

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The first burial in what was to become the University of Virginia Cemetery was Henry William Tucker, younger brother of University professor George Tucker and the first victim of a typhoid fever outbreak at the university in 1828. Other typhoid victims followed. The cemetery also received victims of accidental death.

During the American Civil War, the cemetery received the bodies of many Confederate soldiers who died in the university hospital. Temporary wood markers were raised by the Ladies Confederate Memorial Association. The markers were replaced with more permanent ones, including a large stone statue of a Confederate soldier designed by sculptor Caspar Buberl, in 1893.[2]

The final burial plots in the cemetery were sold in 1966.[2] In 1987, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors approved the construction of a columbarium to receive cremated remains.[3] The wall was completed in 1991, originally holding 180 vaults and now holding 360.[4]

In November 2012, the university discovered a previously undocumented "black burial ground" outside the walls of the cemetery. It is believed that the burial ground may hold remains of emancipated workers, slaves, or both.[5] In all, the burial ground was discovered to contain 67 graves.[6]

Notable burials

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Notable individuals buried in the University Cemetery include:

Confederate general Turner Ashby was interred at the University of Virginia Cemetery after his death in 1862, but he was reinterred at the Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia in 1866.

References

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  1. ^ Hyland, William G. (2013). Long Journey with Mr. Jefferson: The Life of Dumas Malone. Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 9781612341989.
  2. ^ a b "Set in Stone". University of Virginia Magazine. Winter 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  3. ^ "UVA Columbarium". UVA Cemetery and Columbarium. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Cantor, Norman (2010). After We Die: The Life and Times of the Human Cadaver. Georgetown University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-1589017139.
  5. ^ Strong, Ted (November 2, 2012). "UVA discovers black cemetery near area of planned expansion". Daily Progress. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  6. ^ Strong, Ted (December 3, 2012). "Identities of those buried in forgotten cemetery near UVa hard to discern". Daily Progress. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
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