In February 1999 I had occasion to be in Northern Virginia and on the
15th I made a trip to Front Royal to do some research. Among other
things, I was hoping to find the graves of some of the Lehews who first settled
in the area. Many are said to have been buried on the land Peter owned on
"Happy Creek" but to my knowledge no one knows exactly where they are.
I visited the Warren County Heritage society and inquired about the
locations of old graveyards. They were only aware of the Prospect Hill
Cemetery a check of which revealed it wasn't what I was after. Next
I checked with the local mortician who said there was an old cemetery on the
hills overlooking the river. He said the guys that took care of Prospect Hill
also did some mowing there and would know how to get there. Sure
enough, the maintenance crew at Prospect Hill knew about the cemetery and said
there was a Lehew grave there. However, they also said there were only
3 or 4 graves there and the place was hard to get to as it was way back in the
woods with only the faintest path leading there. Of course my interest
was really tweaked by now and so I got directions and was off.
Well they weren't kidding. As directed I parked behind the middle
school and found the path. I walked about a mile through the woods, traveling
up and down hills and across the creek never being quite sure of the path as it
was overgrown and barely discernable. As I fought my way through the
undergrowth I sure felt sorry for those maintenance men dragging mowing equipment,
weed eaters, and such down this path. Finally I spied a stone wall
through the trees and sure enough it was a graveyard.
I am sad to say the place was in bad shape. The stones were broken
and vandals and mother had really taken their toll. The photos below
show what I saw.
Gravestone of Eda Lehew
Eda Lehew
Wife of Jacob Van Nort.
Born May 12, 1780
Died May 23, 1857
Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.
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