Crawford Cemetery

Locality: Roanoke County                  Temporal Period:                  4th quarter 19th c., 1st quarter 20th c.

Realty Map:          31.00-2-7.1                             Cultural Affiliation:              Euro-American

USGS Map:           McDonalds Mill                   Landform:                              Ridge top

Grid Locus:            K-7                                          Elevation:                              2180 feet

UTM Easting:       565700                                    Aspect:                                  Flat

UTM Northing:    4130320

Site Dimensions:  32 by 50 feet

Survey Description: Site consists of a small family cemetery containing at least 11 graves.  Seven graves were marked with uninscribed fieldstone markers, and four were marked with marble markers.  Two slight depressions in the ground surface may indicate the presence of two additional graves.  The site is well maintained and enclosed by a modern chain link fence.  No historic plantings were observed.  All of the graves are oriented to the east.  Site was field inspected, photographed, and headstone inscriptions were transcribed and compared to previous site documentation.  Site size was derived by measuring the horizontal extent of the existing fence.

Survey Date:         8/97

Field Notes:           x Yes      ___No

Photographs:        x Yes      ___No

Reference(s):         Roanoke Valley Historical Society

                                1986        Roanoke County Graveyards Through 1920.  Privately printed, RVHS, Roanoke.

Additional Comments: Assigned temporal affiliation was based on headstone inscriptions with dates that range from 1882 through 1921.  However, the presence of uninscribed fieldstone markers may indicate an earlier or later use of the site.  Site is marked on the U.S.G.S. map sheet and identified as “cem.” Realty map labels the site “Eakin Cemetery” and indicates size at 31.79 by 49.54 by 31.82 by 49.77 feet.  The name Eakin reflects a previous property owner related to the Crawford family through marriage.

The RVHS surveyed this cemetery and documented biographical information from six graves (1986: 98).  During the 1997 survey only three headstones were legible.  Some of the “uninscribed” fieldstone markers observed during the current survey may have been legible during the earlier survey by the RVHS.

Marker Inscriptions:

Crawford                                                Virginia P.                              John A. Crawford

Charles                   Delila H.                 Crawford                                Born

May 6, 1851           April 2, 1861                          Sept. 24, 1858                        Apr. 27, 1861

Nov. 19, 1917        June 8, 1912                           Oct. 1882                                Died

(modern double headstone with                                                                        July 29, 1921

original marble footstones.)

The RVHS report lists the following information derived from headstones:

T.N. Crawford / Died Oct. 4, 1901 / Aged 76 yrs.

Mariah Crawford / Died Aug. 9, 1886 / Aged 62 yrs. 3 mos., 15 days

Mary Crawford / Born Dec. 25, 1804 / (Death date illegible) / Age 84 yrs. 3 mons. 2 days

John A. Crawford / Born Apr. 27, 1861 / Died July 29, 1921 / For me to live in Christ, and to die again.

Charles L. Crawford / Born May 6, 1851 / Died Nov. 19, 1917 / Farewell my wife and children all / From you a father Christ doth call

Della Crawford / Born Apr. 2, 1861 / Died June 8, 1912 / (illegible) wife / a kind mother and friend to all