Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery

Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

MOUNT PLEASANT BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY
6477 Lincolnia Road (Route 613)
Lincolnia, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 5 of the Gravestone Books

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery is located at 6477 Lincolnia Road (Route 613) at Lincolnia’s intersection with Old Columbia Pike (Route 712) in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The cemetery slopes down the hill behind the church.

According to a 1971 Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory, “[a]fter the Civil War, Charles H. and Eliza Brown of Westchester County, New York, deeded to the freed men of Fairfax County ‘one acre of land with buildings thereon standing’ exclusively for religious and school purposes and a ‘burying ground by and for colored people’” (Deed Book H4, page 282). Additional land was added to the cemetery in 1913 (Deed Book Q7, page 546), and the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows of America purchased another acre for the cemetery at a later date, according to the survey. The present brick church building was erected in 1931.

The church graveyard was surveyed in 1973, 1987, 1997 and 1998. The site is well maintained and in current use. Surveyors found evidence of many unmarked graves, some uninscribed markers and some fieldstones. The survey begins in the northwest corner of the cemetery, along Old Columbia Pike.

The following grave marker was recorded in 1973, but not found in 1987, 1997 or 1998:

Susie Ford 1880 1965

The following grave marker was recorded in 1973 and 1987, but not found in 1997 or 1998:

[D. Sutton]
(name not legible) 27 Feb 1888

The following grave marker was recorded in 1987, but not found in 1997 or 1998:

Louise W. Watson
aged 82 yr 3 Mar 1986

No Updates from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained entries from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:

Mount Pleasant was named after the attractive high elevation on which this structure and the surrounding settlement are located.

After the Civil War, Charles H. and Eliza Brown of Westchester County, New York, deeded to the freed men of Fairfax County "one acre of land with buildings thereon standing" exclusively for religious and school purposes and a "burying ground by and for colored people." (Fairfax County Deed Book H-4, page 282.)

Additional acreage for a burying place for the reception of the dead was acquired in 1913. (Deed Book Q-7, page 546.) Another adjoining acre was later purchased by the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows of America. It is still in use; the others are full.

The first building on the site was a log one-room combination church and school building, to which a frame addition was made in 1881. This building is no longer in existence. In 1931, the present brick church was erected. The Office of Economic Opportunity sponsored a Day Care Center at the church from 1963-1969 for preschool children of the neighboring communities. This Center was moved to Peace Lutheran Church in 1969, and is now a part of the Head Start Program under the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The Reverend Milton Sheppard has been pastor of the church for more than 32 years. For 12 years he was also president of the Fairfax County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the Annandale Chamber of Commerce website:

Mount Pleasant Cemetery
By: M. Callahan

Founded in 1867 by freed slaves, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church initially consisted of a single pine log cabin. Weekdays it was a school, while weekends it became a joyous place of worship and fellowship.

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on Lincolnia Road: Immediately after the Civil War, Charles Brown sold 60 acres of land to freed slaves. He then deeded to the, “freedmen of Fairfax County” one acre of land, “to be used exclusively for religious and school purposes and a burying ground.” A more substantial structure was built in 1881. More land was acquired in 1913 for the purpose of expanding the cemetery. The church building now present was dedicated in 1931 but the growing congregation found it necessary to add a larger sanctuary in 1971. In September 1992, the old sanctuary was renamed and dedicated the Pinkett and Sheppard Memorial Chapel after past Pastors, Reverend Pinkett and Reverend Sheppard.

Today the congregation numbers about 1,000. The cemetery has an unknown number of unmarked graves along with 75 marked ones.

Mount Pleasant Church is located at 4111 Old Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003. The cemetery is on Lincolnia Road.