Locality:
Realty Map: 72.00-1-1 Cultural
Affiliation: Euro-American
USGS Map: Elliston Landform: Terrace
Grid Locus: G-3 Elevation: 1180 feet
UTM Easting: 572970 Aspect: Flat
UTM Northing: 4120970
Site Dimensions: 40
by 90 feet
Survey Description:
Site consists of a small family cemetery with at least 20 graves. Identified graves included nine marked with
inscribed granite or marble markers, one marked with a fired brick, and ten
marked with uninscribed fieldstone markers.
According to various oral histories, the cemetery contains many other
graves without apparent markers.
Portions of a deteriorated fence of wire mesh and wood posts still
surround part of the cemetery. Five marked graves have been enclosed by a
modern chain-link fence that measures about 27.5 feet by 20 feet. Historic plantings include periwinkle, yucca,
privet, daffodils, and iris. Site was
field inspected, photographed, grave marker inscriptions were transcribed, and
subsurface testing was conducted to investigate site size. Site size was derived from a scaled plan map
of the cemetery that appears in an archaeological survey report.
Surveyed By: Preservation
Technologies, Inc.
Survey Date: 1992
Field Notes: ___Yes ___No
Photographs: ___Yes ___No
References: Barber,
Michael B.
1992 The Phase II Evaluation of Four
Archaeological Sites Associated With the Spring Hollow Reservoir Project,
1986
Works Progress Administration of
Additional Comments:
Assigned temporal period was based on the 1870 through 1955 range of
death dates inscribed on documented headstones.
However, the presence of uninscribed fieldstone markers and unmarked
graves may reflect an earlier or later use of the site. The cemetery is not marked on the USGS
Elliston map sheet or on local realty maps.
This cemetery was initially surveyed in 1936 by the Works
Progress Administration of Virginia and recorded as the “Deyerle Cemetery” in
Document #166 of the Historical Inventory of Roanoke County, Virginia. The WPA file provided biographical
information for the graves of Rebecca Hatcher (Died December 27, 1870 / Aged 22
years), Abraham Deyerle, and Sallie Deyerle.
The WPA file described the cemetery as a private cemetery, “not well
kept,” with an older and newer section.
The cemetery was documented in the RVHS report on Roanoke
County cemeteries and listed as the “C.M. Deyerle Graveyard” (1986: 109).
The report provided biographical information derived from inscriptions
from four headstones that predated 1920.
These included the headstones of Rebecca Hatcher, Luella A.
Deyerle, Wm. R. Kelley, and Mary L.
Sayer.
C.M. Deyerle Cemetery
(continued)
An intensive survey of the cemetery was conducted by
Preservation Technologies, Inc. in 1992 prior to the construction of the Spring
Hollow Reservoir. The associated survey
report contains a detailed description of the cemetery including transcriptions
of inscribed headstones and a plan map illustrating the distribution of
graves. Fieldwork included limited
subsurface testing to investigate the size of the site. No additional graves were identified by this
work. Most of the information presented
here was derived from the report prepared by Preservation Technologies.
Marker Inscriptions:
Charles F. Musser Edna
K. Musser Markie
Musser
Feb. 14, 1870 Oct.
24, 1921
Jan. 28, 1926 Aug.
12, 1926
(footstone: CFM) (footstone:
EKM) (footstone
(MM)
Marble monument with Wm.
B. Kelley Nannie
M. Kelley
“Kelley” on east side and July
31, 1855
“Musser” on west side. June
25, 1911
(footstone:
WBK) (footstone:
NMK)
Luella M. Mary
L. In
memory of
Beloved wife of C.M. Deyerle Wife
of N.A. Sayers Rebecca
J. Hatcher
Dec. 23, 1876 Born
Jan. 19, 1846 Died
Jan. 31, 1902 Died
July 20, 1887
Deyerle All
things work together
for good in them
that
love God