Broders-Moore Family Cemetery

Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

BRODERS FAMILY CEMETERY
South of Forestdale Elementary School, 6530 Elder Avenue
Springfield, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 2 of the Gravestone Books

The Broders Family Cemetery is located south of Forestdale Elementary School, 6530 Elder Avenue, Springfield, on land which was once a part of “Oak Grove Plantation.” The plantation home which was built about 1820 stands at 6541 Franconia Road (Route 644).

The Oak Grove mansion was built by John Broders on land which was once owned by the Fitzhugh and Dulany families, according to a 1970 Historic American Buildings Survey. Brick for the home was made on the plantation. The survey describes the nearby Broders and Moore family cemetery: “...Several large oaks over 200 years old and a holly tree over 100 years old grace the yard, which has been so skillfully planted and screened with botanical specimens that the property is an island of tranquility even though major traffic arteries, shopping areas, and schools exist within a few hundred feet of it. The parcel is adjacent to land which has recently been rezoned for the proposed Springfield regional shopping center.”

Today the cemetery is off Elder Road on a walled embankment, bordered on two sides by the school parking lot and by a store parking lot on the other two sides. A 35-by-56-foot cinderblock wall over four feet in height surrounds the cemetery. This in turn is surrounded by a 56-by-68-foot chain link fence which is six feet high and kept padlocked. A seven-foot chain link fence with gate separates the cemetery from the school parking lot. On the commercial side, the perimeter just outside the fences has been nicely landscaped, screening the cemetery from view.

The cemetery has been vandalized in the past. Several gravestones have been overturned and broken. In 1990, two of the stones were face down and too heavy to turn. Pieces of gravestones and their bases are scattered around the site. The area is reported to be very overgrown at times, but is periodically cleared of overgrowth. The cemetery was surveyed in 1974, in 1991 by a Broders family descendant, and in October 1994.

When the site was visited in 1988, a sign posted near the cemetery read:

Broders’ Cemetery
This cemetery is the family cemetery of the Broders who built and developed Oak Grove Plantation in 1820 and owned it for almost a century. During the Civil War, when the plantation encompassed over 1000 acres in the Springfield-Franconia area, Col. Mosby's men attacked a Union encampment located where Forestdale School is now. The oldest stone in the cemetery is dated 1827 and is that of John Broders [J]r., the son of the first Broders to come to America. The Broders family was a mainstay of the community during the time they lived in the Springfield-Franconia area.

This sign was erected by a Boy Scout Troop after a cemetery clean-up project. Shortly after it was put up, the 1827 gravestone disappeared. The sign was removed for security reasons.

Mary E. Smith, a Broders descendant who maintains the cemetery, can be contacted by writing 6410 Rose Hill Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22310.

Updates/Corrections/Additions from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books

The old plantation home “Oak Grove” on Franconia Road has been torn down since the publication of Volume II. An assisted living complex stands in its place. The old cemetery still lies safely tucked in between the school and the shopping center.


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Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

What’s in a Name?
Forestdale Elementary School was built on land that was once part of Oak Grove, a historic property owned by the Broders family. Learn more about the history of our area and the origin of the name Forestdale in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21:

Forestdale Elementary School opened in 1964. The name "Forestdale" is a creative combination of the names of the two communities the school was originally built to serve, Springfield Forest and Loisdale Estates. Forestdale Elementary School was built on the site of the historic Oak Grove farm. In December 1822, John Hewitson Broders, a grocer living in Alexandria, Virginia married Elizabeth Compton. Three years later, they purchased 394 acres of land on the south side of what is now Franconia Road. There the couple built a house, which was later named Oak Grove. Their farm produced wheat, rye, corn, oats, and potatoes. John Broders died in February 1860, shortly before the start of the American Civil War.

During the war in July 1864, men under the command of Major John Mosby attacked a force of Union soldiers and camped on Oak Grove where Forestdale Elementary School stands today. Bullets from that engagement were found on the Forestdale school property as late as the 1970's.

Following the war, many changes came to Oak Grove. Elizabeth Broders passed away in 1872 and shortly thereafter, the estate was divided among the children. The Oak Grove house passed to her daughter, Rebecca, who had married William G. Moore in December 1877. William Moore was appointed postmaster by President Rutherford B. Hayes. It is believed Moore operated his post office called Moore out of a two-room addition to the Oak Grove farmhouse.

In 1881, the post office was moved to the Franconia railroad depot and the name was changed to Garfield in honor of President James Garfield. After William's death in 1907. Rebecca sold Oak Grove to their son, Dr. Samuel Moore.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Oak Grove farm was sold and resold several times. By the 1960's, the farm land around it had been transformed into suburban communities. In 1964, the Fairfax County School Board condemned more than six acres of the remaining ten-acre lot around Oak Grove to build Forestdale Elementary School.

The Oak Grove house stood northwest of Forestdale until 1996 when it was sold to developers who built the Sunrise Assisted Living community on the site. The family cemetery of Oak Grove still stands today. adjacent to Forestdale Elementary. Memorials to John and Elizabeth Broders and William and Rebecca Moore preserve the legacy of these historic Fairfax County families.


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Here follows an excerpt from Donald Hakenson's "This Forgotten Land" tour guide:

The Broders cemetery is adjacent to Forestdale Elementary School behind a walled embankment, bordered on two sides by the school parking lot and by a store parking lot on the other two sides. A cinderblock wall over four feet in height surrounds the cemetery. Buried in the Broders family cemetery is John Broders who built Oak Grove. Family legend has it that if you should be driving past the Broders cemetery, you might see the wraith of the Broders ghost. It has been reported that he rolls a keg of flaming whiskey through the cemetery and down to the creek.

A sign that was erected by a local Boy Scout Troop near the cemetery states:
This cemetery is the family cemetery of the Broders who built and developed Oak Grove Plantation in 1820 and owned it for almost a century. During the Civil War, when the plantation encompassed over one thousand acres in the Springfield-Franconia area, Colonel Mosby's men attacked a Union encampment located where Forestdale School is now. The oldest stone in the cemetery is 1827 and is that of John Broders Jr., the son of the first Broders to come to America. The Broders family was a mainstay of the community during the time they lived in the Springfield-Franconia area.

Shortly after this sign was posted, the 1827 headstone of John Broders disappeared. In November 2007 the headstone was finally returned to the cemetery. As for the Boy Scout sign it was removed for security reasons.

PRIVATE WILLIAM G. MOORE.
Buried in the cemetery is Private William G. Moore. Private Moore was born in Loudoun County on October 6, 1828 and enlisted in Captain Welby Carter's Cavalry Company (Militia) and was sent to Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia to assist guarding John Brown and his co-conspirators. On April 27, 1861, before Virginia officially seceded from the Union, he enlisted with Captain Carter's Cavalry Company, (which would later become Company H, First Virginia Cavalry) at Union and was present for duty until he was captured on December 12, 1863 at Snickersville and was sent to Fort Delaware, Delaware. He was released on June 4, 1865 at age thirty-seven. He died at his home near Franconia on May 23, 1907, at the age of seventy.

CONFIRMING A FIGHT AT BRODERS FARM, JULY 30, 1864.
According to the Broders family, Mosby's men attacked a Union force encamped between the family cemetery and Oak Grove (where Forestdale Elementary School is now located). During the fighting the Broders family sought refuge in the house to evade the bullets. Several historians had tried to verify the family oral history but had been unable to do so.

There were only two Confederate guerilla units that operated behind enemy lines in the Lee District area during the period 1863-1865. One unit was Company H, Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry (known as the Chincapin Rangers). This unit was made up of men residing in Fairfax and Prince William Counties before the war. The other unit was the Forty-third Battalion Virginia Cavalry, or Mosby's Rangers. The Chincapin Rangers would join Mosby on many raids in Northern Virginia and would be incorporated into his command before the war would end.

Researching this incident the author found a report in the Union Operational Reports stating Lieutenant-Colonel H.H. Wells reported that a party of Confederate guerillas attacked his cavalry picket post near Springfield on July 30, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Wells sent out all the available men he had to re-enforce and pursue the attackers. Additionally, John Berfield, a long time relic hunter in the Lee and Mount Vernon Districts, stated he found Sharps carbine bullets where the Forestdale Elementary School stands today and across the street from the school in the mid 1970's. Berfield also said these were spent bullets and had been fired in anger.

Susan Hellman, a noted Fairfax County historian was involved in the verification of the Mosby fight. While she was transcribing the 1864 diary of Ebenezer E. Mason who lived on a farm at the foot of Woodlawn, next to the old Washington Grist Mill found an interesting entry. The diary described a rebel raid on the Broders farm on Saturday, July 30, 1864 that finally verified the Broders oral family history.

OAK GROVE PLANTATION
John Broders built the Oak Grove plantation house about 1820 on land that was once owned by the Fitzhugh and Dulany families. Approximately one hundred and seventy-six years later, to the dismay of local Franconians and many Fairfax County historians, the house was torn down on June 15, 1996. The demolition of the historic structure only took one hour. Franconia had lost one of its most treasured possessions.

HARRISON THE SPY.
On September 28, 1863, Laura Broders married Henry Thomas Harrison in Washington City. Henry Harrison held the rank of Second Lieutenant and was a scout and the mysterious spy of Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Lieutenant Harrison roamed at will between Union and Confederate lines depending upon his mission. He obviously spent time at Oak Grove, where Laura lived during the early years of the war. After the war, Harrison went to the gold region of the Montana Territory to seek his fortune, eventually losing contact with his wife and his two young daughters. On August 27, 1873, thinking Harrison dead, Laura, age thirty-two, remarried. The wedding was held at Oak Grove. She had five additional children with her second husband.

But Harrison was not dead. He returned to Fairfax County in November 1900, in an unsuccessful attempt to see his daughters, now grown and married. He left in two days, never to be heard from again. Laura lived to be seventy-seven years old.

Harrison whose identity and occupation was a mystery during the War Between the States remained an even greater mystery after the war. Family members finally found his final resting place in a cemetery in Kentucky.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2008 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter as published by the Franconia Museum:

John Broders Broken Tombstone Comes Home After 25 Years!
Written by Don Hakenson

The word “fortuitous” in the Standard College Dictionary means, “occurring by chance rather than by design.” The word “fortuitous” is the only way to describe finding the missing half of John Broders broken tombstone. The missing fragment from the tombstone had been proudly displayed by a family for approximately twenty-five years, in their yard in the Walhaven neighborhood, situated behind Franconia Elementary School.

In the October 2007 Franconia Museum newsletter, I wrote a story about the confirmation of a Mosby skirmish at the Broders Farm on July 30, 1864. It was a story that verified the Broders family oral history, concerning a Mosby fight that occurred on their property at Oak Grove. During the skirmish members of the family ran into their house to evade the bullets.

In November 2007, Joanna Knoles just happened to see a copy of the newsletter that had fortuitously made its way to the Faith Presbyterian Church, located behind Edison High School. Joanna noticed that it had ghost stories about the Franconia area, so she picked it up and brought it home to read them to her son.

Her husband Scott fortuitously found the newsletter laying about the living room, saw that it had stories concerning the Franconia area, and sat down to browse through it. When he saw the Broders-Mosby article, he immediately recognized the name, and realized that it was the same one annotated on a broken tombstone situated in their side yard.

The tombstone had been left as a Halloween prank in Joanna’s yard almost twenty-five years ago. Joanna was captivated by the tombstone, and not knowing what to do with it; she simply left it displayed in her yard from that moment on.

Later Joanna met Scott Knoles. Ironically, when Scott saw the Broders tombstone he mentioned to her that he also had a gravestone. So I guess you could say that the Broders stone had a significant role in bringing those two together. They have remained together since 1987.

They also told me that when the house next door was up for sale various potential buyers would see the tombstone in their yard, become freaked out, and would leave post haste. However, one potential buyer noticed the tombstone at the Knoles property and saw that it had a form of their own name. The buyer thought it a good omen and purchased the property.

Joanna contacted Jac Walker, told her about the Broders tombstone, and inquired about returning the marker to its rightful place. Jac then asked me to contact Joanna to coordinate the return of the stone.

After various conversations between myself and Joanna I finally met with her and her husband Scott at their house on Sunday afternoon, around 1 pm, on March 2, 2008. Sure enough, on the left side of their yard, under a tree was a broken tombstone that simply read:

John Broders
Feb 7, 1831

Pictures were taken of the tombstone under the tree, and photographs were also taken with Joanna and Scott holding the artifact. After documenting the scene, Joanna retrieved a box and the broken tombstone was placed with care into the back seat of my car.

Upon arriving home I contacted Jac Walker for the phone number of Mary Smith, the great granddaughter of John Broders. Acquiring the number I called and asked for Mary. I told her the story about the Knoles family and informed her that I had John Broders’ broken tombstone in my car. I also inquired what she wanted me to do with it. She immediately asked if I could meet her at the Broders Family Cemetery located next to Forestdale Elementary School, off of Elder Avenue.

At approximately 2:25 pm, that day, less than thirty minutes after obtaining the valued treasure from the Knoles family, both pieces of the tombstone were carefully reunited in the Broders Family Cemetery. The memorial now reads:

John Broders
Feb 7, 1831
May 5, 1905

Mary Smith was very elated to finally have the top part of her great grandfather’s stone returned to its rightful place. Again, photographs were taken to commemorate the occasion.

When the photography was completed Mary informed me that Virginia’s Broders’ tombstone (John’s wife), had been returned to the family cemetery after I had conducted a Franconia Civil War bus tour at the site in the year 2002. Mary was especially happy and so was I.

The author is greatly moved and honored to be involved in the fortuitous return of both of Mary’s great grandparent’s tombstones to the family cemetery where they truly belong, and hopefully will remain forever.

Historic preservation is one of the most important missions of the Franconia Museum.