Jerusalem Baptist Church Cemetery

Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY
5420-5424 Ox Road
Fairfax Station, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 2 of the Gravestone Books

This church cemetery surrounds the old church building on the west side of Ox Road (Route 123) near its intersection with Popes Head Road (Route 654), at 5420-5424 Ox Road. A new church building stands at the rear of the cemetery.

The charming old church building is still used occasionally and is in good condition. A bronze plaque on the front of the building carries the emblem of the Daughters of the American Revolution and reads: “Placed by Providence Chapter, NSDAR. 1985. Site of Payne's Church, Church of England.....1768.”

The brick structure known as “Payne's Church” was built in 1768 by Edward Payne for Truro Parish, according to the 1969 Historic American Buildings Survey. The church building went unused after the American Revolution and the disbandment of the Church of England as the state church. When the Jerusalem Church of Jesus Christ was organized in 1840, the congregation met in the old brick structure.

According to History of the Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1840-1990, by D’Anne A. Evans (1990), the church building was used by Baptists as early as 1800, perhaps by the Mt. Pleasant congregation whose organizer and pastor was James Reid. Jerusalem Baptist Church may have been formed from Mt. Pleasant's congregation during the Baptists' dispute over missions at about the time Jerusalem was organized. Lovell Marders, an heir to James Reid's estate, was the first pastor of Jerusalem.

The buildings survey states that the brick church was demolished during the Civil War by Union soldiers who used the bricks for chimneys in their nearby camps, citing The History of Truro Parish in Virginia by George W. Jacobs (1908) as its source.

This well-maintained cemetery dates back to the time of Payne's Church, according to the buildings survey. In addition to the many gravestones scattered about the cemetery, there are several standing, uninscribed slate markers, some wooden markers, and many fieldstones. A few gravestones are in the bushes at the rear of the cemetery. The gravestones in the cemetery have been read several times: in 1924, 1955, 1973, 1977, 1988, 1993 and 1994. The following list begins with the gravestones nearest the parking area.

Lee Hubbard, church historian, knows a great deal about the cemetery, its burials -- both marked and unmarked -- and about the history of the church. He is willing to share his knowledge and can be reached at 703-273-7776, or in care of the church.

On 27 April 1994, nineteen years after a court order for the rights of removal, the remains, gravestone and footstone for Elder James Reid were moved from their original location (see Reid Gravesite) to the Jerusalem Baptist Church Cemetery. This site was chosen for Reid's reinterment due to his connection with Lovell Marders, Jerusalem's first pastor. Funds are available for a new marker to replace the original monument which is broken and illegible, and has been laid flat and buried in the ground at this new site.

Elder James Reid
aged 42 yr, 4 mo
(also Green Funeral Home marker -- see Reid Gravesite for complete inscription on old gravestone) 30 Apr 1788 3 Aug 1830

No Updates from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books


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Here follows an excerpt from the Find A Grave website:

This church cemetery surrounds the old church building on the west side of Ox Road (Route 123) near its intersection with Popes Head Road (Route 654), at 5420-5424 Ox Road. A new church building stands at the rear of the cemetery. The charming old church building is still used occasionally and is in good condition. A bronze plaque on the front of the building carries the emblem of the Daughters of the American Revolution and reads: "placed by Providence Chapter, NSDAR. 1985. Site of Payne's Church, Church of England ..... 1768." The brick structure known as "Payne's Church" was built in 1768 by Edward Payne for Truro Parish, according to the 1969 Historic American Buildings Survey. The church building went unused after the American Revolution and the disbandment of the Church of England as the state church. When the Jerusalem Church of Jesus Christ was organized in 1840, the congregation met in the old brick structure.

According to "History of the Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1840­1990," by D'Anne A. Evans (1990), the church building was used by Baptists as early as 1800, perhaps by the Mt. pleasant congregation whose organizer and pastor was James Reid. Jerusalem Baptist Church may have been formed from Mt. Pleasant's congregation during the Baptists' dispute over missions at about the time Jerusalem was organized. Lovell Marders, an heir to James Reid's estate, was the first pastor of Jerusalem. The buildings survey states that the brick church was demolished during the Civil War by Union soldiers who used the bricks for chimneys in their nearby camps, citing "The History of Truro Parish in Virginia," by George W. Jacobs (1908) as its source.

This well-maintained cemetery dates back to the time of Payne's Church, according to the buildings survey. In addition to the many gravestones scattered about the cemetery, there are several standing, uninscribed slate markers, some wooden markers, and many fieldstones. A few gravestones are in the bushes at the rear of the cemetery. The gravestones in the cemetery have been read several times: in 1924, 1955, 1973, 1977, 1988, 1993, 1994, and 2006. Lee Hubbard, church historian, knows a great deal about the cemetery, its burials -- both marked and unmarked -- and about the history of the church. He is willing to share his knowledge and can be reached at 703-273-7776, or in care of the church.


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REID GRAVESITE
Jerusalem Baptist Church Cemetery
Fairfax Station, VA USA

When he wrote his will, James Reid requested that he be laid to rest “on the land of Noah Martin, just above his spring on the right of the lane as he goes from his house to the court house between the two cherry trees” (Will Book Q, page 51). Today this spot is deep in the woods along the south side of New Guinea Road at its intersection with Talon Court in the Woodylynn area of Burke.

In the 1970s, the owner of the site wanted to develop it and plans were made to move James Reid’s grave to a more suitable location. Jerusalem Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, whose first pastor had been Reid’s heir, agreed to reinter the remains in the church cemetery. After verifying that no one else was buried at the site, that there had been no interment, visitation, or maintenance in the past 25 years, and that there were no reserved rights to the cemetery, a court order was granted on 8 September 1975, for the disinterment, transit and reinterment of the remains of James Reid. The court order was not acted upon until 27 April 1994, nineteen years after the court's decision, when the remains and gravemarkers were removed from the woods and laid in the ground at Jerusalem Baptist Church Cemetery (see index).

James Reid’s large and impressive gravestone has been vandalized and broken over the years. The inscription on the gravestone is now illegible. Funds are available for a new marker which will bear James Reid’s name and dates of birth, death, and reinterment. This will be placed at the new gravesite. According to information on file in the Virginia Room of the Fairfax City Regional Library, the original inscription read as follows:

In memory of
Elder JAMES REID,
A diligent and successful Minister
of the Gospel,
of the Baptist denomination.
He was born the 30th. of April, 1788,
And finished his earthly course
the 3rd. of August, 1830,
aged 42 years & 4 months.
His life was devoted to the glory
of God and the salvation of his
fellow men;
and while a numerous circle of
Christian friends mourn his
early removal, they are consoled
with the conviction that their
loss is his eternal gain.
“Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord.”
“My flesh shall slumber under ground,
Till the last trumpet's joyful sound,
Then burst the chains with sweet surprise,
And in my Saviour's image rise.”