That would be an interesting GIS line-of-sight analysis project using SHPO records to see how it worked out. But, at Shirley Plantation in Charles City County, VA, the graveyard is south of the house beyond the garden at the end of which were the outhouses. At best it was visible part of the year. At Westover in the same county, the graveyard was not visible from the house at any time. The Francis Eppes house on Eppes Island in the same county had the graveyard less than 300 feet from it and on the same terrace with it visible 100% of the time. But the second edition Eppes house was built on the western tip of the island >1799, the graveyard was not visible, nor was it visible from Appomattox Manor, the family seat across the river. A middling plantation in Hanover had side by side family and slave cemeteries visible from the kitchen and side windows of the house a couple of hundred feet away. The so-called Union cemetery (owner came home from the Civil War and found 8 long deceased soldiers in an upstairs bedroom whom he then took out and mass-interred several hundred feet away) was also visible from the main house.
Bottom line is that initial personal preference sets the original stage and the remainder follow suit for that particular property. But a formal study would be fairly easily done for a sufficient sample to show whether visible/not visible tipped over the 50% margin by enough to be statistically significant.
Lyle Browning, RPA
On Jan 14, 2013, at 10:13 AM, Linda Derry wrote:
> Harding,
>
> Do you think that during the heyday of these plantations, the gravesites
> could be seen from the windows of each of the plantation homes?
>
> I'm beginning to think that this may have been an important factor in siting
> (sighting?) the family burial ground here.
>
>
> Linda Derry
> Site Director
> Old Cahawba
> 719 Tremont St.
> Selma, AL 36701
> ph. 334/875-2529
> fax. 334/877-4253
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Linda
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Smoke
> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 11:55 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Plantation Cemeteries
>
> The "I Talk to Dead People" folks will enjoy this. :-)
> http://azstateparks.com/publications/downloads/2012_SHPO_Cemetery_Etiquette.
> pdf
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 11:19 AM, Harding Polk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Linda,
>>
>>
>> The Polk family of antebellum period lived in central Tennessee around
>> Mount Pleasant (SW of Columbia). There were four Polk brothers (one being
> my great, great grandfather - George W. Polk) that had adjoining plantations
> totaling around 100,000 acres. My great great grandfather's plantation,
> Rattle and Snap (built 1845), still survives and I think one other. At what
> I believe is the juncture of the 4 plantations, the Polk family had a
> beautiful Episcopal chapel built, which also still stands (St. John's
> Episcopal). Both sites are on the NRHP. The family graveyard is located
> there where my great grandfather ((Confederate) Capt. James H. Polk) amongst
> others are buried. Its been a long time since I've been there and I don't
> recall if any recognizably slave names are included. The chapel and
> graveyard are well defined by a stone wall. Rattle and Snap has a website -
> www.rattleandsnapplantation.com and both are on Wickipedia. I have a good
> reference at home on the chapel from the Tennessee Historical Quarterly from
> at least 30 years ago. I'll get it and send it to you.
>>
>>
>> Harding Polk II
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Linda Derry <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tue, Jan 8, 2013 10:22 am
>> Subject: Plantation Cemeteries
>>
>>
>> I would love to hear from others working in the old antebellum cotton
>> belt in the U.S. about cemeteries on big plantations.
>>
>> Up to this point I've been working mainly with graveyards within the
>> boundaries of former towns or villages, but am now turning my
>> attention to some nearby plantations, and am repeatedly finding that
>> logging, farming and/or road crews have "relocated" gravestones into
>> ravines, separating them from their original graves. After much
>> thought, I toying with the idea of trying to help these relatively
>> intact grave markers find their way back to their graves -- especially
>> after reading some wills with heartfelt instructions about the
> construction and care of these same burial places).
>>
>> So, I am wondering if anyone on HISTARC can recommend some literature
>> that contains discussions of a predictive model that speaks about the
>> relationship of the family cemetery relative to the "Big House."
>>
>> Because of the task at hand I'm talking here mainly about the
>> plantation owner's family burial ground but I would also like to hear
>> if there is some predictability in the location of the burials of
>> enslaved inhabitants of these
>> plantations)
>>
>> Any incidental knowledge based on experience would also be
>> appreciated. Mostly, I am wondering if there a consistent
>> relationship between the two (mansion and burial ground), or not?
>>
>> I know there are survey archaeologists out there in the South that
>> that have noticed a pattern, and am hoping you will answer my question.
>>
>> Linda Derry
>> Site Director
>> Old Cahawba
>> 719 Tremont St.
>> Selma, AL 36701
>> ph. 334/875-2529
>> fax. 334/877-4253
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Smoke Pfeiffer
> In other news, the wolves and coyotes have finished investigating a break-in
> at the henhouse. The fox has been cleared.
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