Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)

Hollywood Cemetery is a large, sprawling cemetery located next to Richmond, Virginia's Oregon Hill neighborhood at 412 South Cherry Street. Characterized by rolling hills and winding paths overlooking the James River, it is the resting place of two United States Presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler, as well as the only Confederate States President, Jefferson Davis. It is also the resting place of 28 Confederate generals, more than any other cemetery in the country; these include George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart.[3]

Hollywood Cemetery
Details
Established1849
CountryUnited States
Websitewww.hollywoodcemetery.org
Find a GraveHollywood Cemetery
Hollywood Cemetery
Location412 S. Cherry St., Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates37°32′10″N 77°27′30″W
Area130 acres (526,000 m2)
Built1860
ArchitectPratt, William H.
NRHP reference No.69000350[1]
VLR No.127-0221
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 1969
Designated VLRSeptember 9, 1969[2]

History
The Harvie family plot

The land that Hollywood Cemetery currently stands on was once part of William Byrd III's estate. Later, it was owned by the Harvie family and was known as "Harvie's Woods."[3] William H. Haxall was one of the original founders of Hollywood Cemetery. In the spring of 1847, two citizens of Richmond, Joshua J. Fry and William H. Haxall, while on a visit to Boston, visited Mount Auburn Cemetery, a beautiful cemetery near that city. They were impressed by the solemn grandeur of the place and resolved that they would, on their return to Richmond, propose the establishment of a rural cemetery near the city. It was through their original efforts and the subsequent cooperation of local citizens that Hollywood Cemetery was created. On June 3, 1847, Haxall, Fry, William Mitchell Jr., and Isaac Davenport Sr. purchased from Lewis E. Harvie, who sold under a deed of trust from Jacqueline B. Harvie for the sum of $4,075, a certain portion of the lots or parcels of land in the town of Sydney, in the County of Henrico, together with "the privileges and appurtenances to the belonging, which said portion is adjoining to Clarkes Spring and contains by survey forty-two acres, three roods, but of which one rood, known as Harvie's rood, or graveyard, with free ingress and egress to the said graveyard is reserved." This purchase was made with the design of establishing a rural cemetery.[4] Hollywood Cemetery was designed as a garden cemetery, or park cemetery, which was the trend at the time borrowed from the French in an effort to provide more green space in urban areas.

In the late 1840s, William Haxall, William Mitchell Jr. and Joshua Fry hired John Notman (architect of Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia) to design the cemetery in the rural garden style. Its name, "Hollywood," came from the holly trees dotting the hills of the property.[3] Oliver P. Baldwin[5] delivered the dedication address in 1849.[6]

James Monroe was reinterred from New York City to the "President's Circle" section of Hollywood cemetery on July 4, 1858 due to the efforts of Governor Henry A. Wise.[3]

The Monument of Confederate War Dead at Hollywood Cemetery

In 1869, a 90-foot (27 m) high granite pyramid designed by Charles H. Dimmock was built as a memorial to the more than 18,000 enlisted men of the Confederate Army buried in the cemetery. It was a project supported by the Hollywood Ladies Memorial Association, a group of Southern women dedicated to honoring and caring for the burial sites of fallen Confederate soldiers.

The capstone of the pyramid has been a source of legend for Richmonders. No one could determine how to place the capstone atop the lofty 90-foot pyramid. Thomas Stanley, a criminal working on the pyramid proposed and executed the solution. In retellings, locals say the prisoner was freed due to his contribution to the pyramid's construction. The only evidence of this is a note was added to his prison schedule that read “transferred,” suggesting he was moved rather than freed.

The pyramid became a symbol of the Hollywood Memorial Association, appearing on its stationery as well as on the front of a pamphlet of buried soldiers, the Register of the Confederate Dead.[7]

In 1890, a chapel was constructed next to the entrance of the cemetery. This chapel now serves as the cemetery office. In 1915, the original entrance was closed and the present one was opened to better facilitate cars.[3]

Interior of Palmer Chapel Mausoleum at Hollywood Cemetery

The Palmer Chapel Mausoleum was built 1992, adding 730 crypts for caskets and 160 cremation niches.[8]

Hollywood Cemetery is one of Richmond's major tourist attractions. There are many local legends surrounding certain tombs and grave sites in the cemetery, including one about a little girl and the black iron statue of a dog standing watch over her grave.[9] Other notable legends rely on ghosts haunting the many mausoleums. One of the most well-known of these is the legend of the Richmond Vampire.

A place rich in history, legend, and gothic landscape, Hollywood Cemetery is also frequented by many of the local students attending Virginia Commonwealth University.

Confederate Memorial Day

In the 1870s, the South was crumbling, and southerners yearned to preserve their culture and heritage. One preservation effort was Confederate Memorial Day, a series of celebrations that “became imbued with cultural and religious symbolism that underscored the gravity of what it meant to be a southerner.”[10] Though some of these celebrations were ornate with speeches, poems, and prayers, the ones at Hollywood Cemetery were simple, and ultimately set the trend for future celebrations: a modest procession to the cemetery and decoration of the graves. Young men would also recreate Thomas Stanley's heroic act and climb the monument to hang a wreath from the top. Though simple, it is estimated that around 20,000 people attended the first Confederate Memorial Day at Hollywood Cemetery in 1866.

List of notable interments and their families

(Note: This is a partial list.)

Use the following alphabetical links to find someone.

A

B
  • William Barret (1786–1871), American businessman, tobacco manufacturer in his time considered to have been the wealthiest man in Richmond
  • Benjamin Barrett, Artist, poet, writer
  • Frances Hayne Beall (ca. 1820–?), wife of Lloyd James Beall, daughter of South Carolina Senator Arthur Peronneau Hayne
  • Lloyd James Beall (1808–1887), American military officer and paymaster of U.S. Army, Colonel Commandant of the Confederate States Marine Corps for the entire length of the War
  • Edyth Gertrude Carter Beveridge (1862-1927), Journalist, photojournalist
  • Frederic W. Boatwright (1868–1951), President of the University of Richmond (1895–1946)
  • Kate Langley Bosher (1865-1932), Author, suffragette
  • Thomas Alexander Brander (1839-1900), Confederate officer, leader of the United Confederate Veterans
  • John Fulmer Bright (1877-1953), American politician, physician
  • William W. Brock Jr. (1912–2003), Brigadier General: World War II, Principal of Richmond's famed Thomas Jefferson High School for 18 years
  • John M. Brockenbrough (1830–1892), Confederate Army colonel and brigade commander at Gettysburg
  • Dave Brockie (1963–2014) Musician, painter, author, and actor. Brockie portrayed Oderus Urungus, lead singer of the band Gwar
  • Benjamin Thomas Brockman (1831-1864), Merchant and Confederate officer
  • Charles Bruce (1826-1896), American businessman, builder of Staunton Hill, father of Charles Morelle Bruce and United States Senator William Cabell Bruce

C

D
Jefferson Davis grave at the Hollywood Cemetery

E

F
  • Douglas Southall Freeman (1886–1953), American journalist and historian; author of definitive biographies of George Washington and Confederate General Robert E. Lee; namesake of a local high school

G
Lewis Ginter's grave at Hollywood Cemetery

H
  • James Dandridge Halyburton (1803–1879), U.S. and Confederate judge, Eastern District of Virginia (1843–1865)
  • David Bullock Harris (1814-1864), Confederate Colonel
  • John Harvie (1742–1807), American lawyer and builder, delegate to the Continental Congress, Signer of The Articles of Confederation
  • William Wirt Henry (1831–1900), lawyer, member of the General Assembly of Va., president of the Am. Historical Association (1890–1891)
  • Louis Shepard Herrink (1892–1965), lawyer and law teacher
  • Henry Heth (1825–1899), U.S. Army officer and Confederate general, participated at the Battle of Gettysburg
  • Ambrose Powell Hill, Jr. (1825-1865), Confederate General
  • Eppa Hunton (1822–1908), U.S. Representative and Senator, Confederate brigadier general

I
  • John D. Imboden (1823–1895), lawyer, teacher, Virginia legislator, Confederate cavalry general and partisan fighter

J
  • Edward Johnson (1816–1873), U.S. Army officer and Confederate general, American Civil War
  • Mary Johnston (1870–1936), American novelist and women's rights advocate
  • David Rumph Jones (1825–1863), U.S Army officer and Confederate General, American Civil War
  • Samuel Jones (1819–1887), U.S. Army, Confederate General, American Civil War

K

L
  • John Lamb (1840–1924), U.S. Congressman (1897–1913).
  • Fitzhugh Lee (1835–1905), Confederate cavalry general, Governor of Virginia, diplomat, U.S. Army general in Spanish–American War and the nephew of General Robert E. Lee
  • Thomas M. Logan (1840-1914), Confederate General
  • James Lyons (1801-1882), American politician, Confederate congressman

M
James Monroe's grave at Hollywood Cemetery after its September 2016 renovation
  • Hunter McGuire (1835–1900), Confederate Army surgeon who amputated General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's arm after Jackson was mistakenly shot by Confederate soldiers at Chancellorsville . (Despite McGuire's efforts, Jackson later died of pneumonia.) After the war, McGuire founded the Virginia College of Medicine, and was president of the American Medical Association.
  • Angus William McDonald (1799–1864), American military officer and lawyer in the U.S. state of Virginia and colonel in the Confederate States Army
  • Walter Scott McNeill (1875–1930), law teacher
  • David Gregg McIntosh (1836-1916), Lawyer, Confederate officer
  • John Marshall (1823–1862), editor of the Jackson Mississippian and Austin Star-Gazette. Appointed a Colonel in the Texas Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, he was killed in action at the Battle of Gaines Mill.
  • John Young Mason (1799–1859), U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1844–1845, 1846–1849), U.S. Attorney General (1845–1846)
  • Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–1873), World Renown American oceanographer, scientist, author, and educator; first superintendent of the U.S. Navy Observatory
  • William Mayo (ca. 1685–1744), Colonial civil engineer
  • David J. Mays (1896–1971) author and lawyer
  • Robert Merhige (1919-2005), Federal judge
  • John Lucas Miller (1831-1864), Attorney, Confederate colonel
  • Polk Miller (1844–1913), American pharmacist and musician
  • Willis Dance Miller (1893–1960), Justice, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1947–1960).
  • John K. Mitchell,(1811–1889), Confederate Navy commodore during the American Civil War, see USS Alpha (1864)
  • Samuel Phillips Mitchell (1815-1866), merchant and silversmith, Mitchell & Tyler Silver Company, supplier of Confederate Army, younger brother of William Mitchell, Jr.
  • William Mitchell, Jr. (1795-1852), one of the original purchasers of land for Hollywood Cemetery; merchant and silversmith at Taft & Mitchell before establishing his own silversmith business that he grew to be largest in Virginia and eventually became Mitchell & Tyler
  • James Monroe (1758–1831), fifth President of the United States
  • Elizabeth Kortright Monroe (1768–1830), U.S. First Lady, wife of James Monroe
  • Richard Channing Moore (1762–1841), Second Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (1814–1841)
  • Samuel P. Moore (1813-1889), Confederate Surgeon General
  • Eileen Bridget McCarthy Mott (1950–2013) Active in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
  • Mary-Cooke Branch Munford (1865–1938), civic leader; education, women's suffrage, and civil rights activist

O

P
George Pickett's grave

R
  • John Randolph (1773–1833), American politician, leader in Congress from Virginia
  • William Francis Rhea (1858–1931), Virginia lawyer, judge, and U.S. Congressman
  • Dr. William Rickman (1731–1783), director of hospitals for the Continental Army of Virginia; devoted husband to the daughter of Signer of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Harrison, Miss Elizabeth Harrison
  • Conway Robinson (1805–1884), lawyer and legal scholar
  • Henry W. Rountree (1850-1928), businessman, civil leader, founder of H.W. Rountree & Bros. Trunk & Bag Co.
  • Hilton Rufty (1909–1974), pianist, composer, teacher
  • Edward H. Russell (1869-1956), first President of Mary Washington College (now University of Mary Washington)

S

T
John Tyler's grave at Hollywood Cemetery

V

W

Y
  • Thomas Yates
  • The cemetery caretaker's house (now apartments)
  • The chapel at the entrance of Hollywood Cemetery
  • Fitzhugh Lee's grave
  • J.E.B. Stuart's grave
  • Matthew Fontaine Maury's grave in Hollywood Cemetery
  • George Pickett's grave
  • The Sauer family Mausoleam in Hollywood Cemetery
  • William Wortham Pool's grave in Hollywood Cemetery
  • Louis Otto Wendenburg's grave marker
  • Brig Gen William Edwin Starke's grave marker
  • Maj Gen Samuel Jones grave marker
  • Peachy Ridgway Grattan's marker in the family plot
  • Dave Brockie Cenotaph at Hollywood Cemetery

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. National Park Service. "Hollywood Cemetery and James Monroe Tomb". Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  4. https://www.hollywoodcemetery.org/william-h-haxall; Source of information: Library of Virginia Digital Collection; LVA Titled Files: Survey Report, Hollywood Cemetery: March 23, 1937; research by Malcolm T. Earley.
  5. "Re: Oliver Perry Baldwin, Publ - Genealogy.com". www.genealogy.com.
  6. Alfred L. Brophy, "The Road to the Gettysburg Address," Florida State University Law Review 43 (2016):831-905.
  7. Hollywood Cemetery (2015-04-29), Confederate Memorial Pyramid (Hollywood Cemetery), retrieved 2018-10-15
  8. "Our History-Hollywood Cemetery". Hollywood Cemetery. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  9. "165watchdog". www.civilwarfieldtrips.com.
  10. Kinney, Martha (1998). "If Vanquished I Am Still Victorious: Religious and Cultural Symbolism in Virginia's Confederate Memorial Day Celebrations, 1866-1930". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 106: 237–266.
  11. CWGC casualty record.

Further reading
  • Kollatz, Harry (2007). True Richmond stories: historic tales from Virginia's capital. Charleston, SC: History Press. ISBN 978-1-59629-268-0.
  • Mitchell, Mary H (1985). Hollywood Cemetery: the history of a southern shrine. Richmond: Virginia State Library. ISBN 978-0-88490-109-9.
  • Peters, John O (2010). Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery. Richmond, Va.: Valentine Richmond History Center. ISBN 978-0-615-39192-2.
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