Schurtz Cemetery

Mount Calvary is the name of the church in front of the cemetery, but the cemetery is privately owned and its name is Schurtz. The late Brother Schurtz who was involved in the removal of the graves from the Talbert/McGuin Cemetery on Van Dorn Street stated there were three unknown Confederate soldiers dressed in uniform that were moved to the Schurtz Cemetery. Unfortunately, they were simply marked as "Unknown" on their tombstones.

The Cemetery at Mt Calvary Community Church:
The cemetery was established by JOSEPH E. SCHURTZ c. 1945 and was being maintained under the direction of a group of trustees (Db 1525:466). The cemetery contains 120+ headstones and a number of unmarked graves.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

MOUNT CALVARY COMMUNITY CHURCH CEMETERY
Bbehind the church parking lot at 6731 Beulah Street (Route 613)
South Alexandria, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 5 of the Gravestone Books

Mount Calvary Community Church Cemetery is situated behind the church parking lot at 6731 Beulah Street (Route 613), near the intersection of Beulah with Fleet Drive, in the Franconia area. The church was formerly known as Bethel Full Gospel Assembly of God Church and the cemetery has also been called Schurtz Community Cemetery. The cemetery is divided from Beulah Cemetery (on the grounds of Calvary Road Baptist Church) by a fence and narrow road.

The cemetery was established about 1945 by Joseph Edward Schurtz, according to research conducted by Society members in 1987. They reported that the graveyard was owned by William E. Schurtz and maintained in a trust arrangement established by P. V. Schurtz. Schurtz Drive intersects Beulah Street to the northeast of the cemetery.

During the 1960s, burials from the eighteenth-century Talbert (Talbott) Family Cemetery (q.v.) were moved to Mount Calvary Community Cemetery to make way for construction of the Capital Beltway (Interstate highways 95 and 495). The Talbert Family Cemetery was located near the intersection of Van Dorn Street with the Beltway. A few old marble gravestones were moved with the burials, some of the Talbert graves are marked “unknown,” and many are marked with modern granite headstones. At least 37 markers along the eastern fence represent the removals from the Talbert Family Cemetery.

The half-acre site was surveyed in 1973, 1988, 1997 and 1998. The area is fenced and well cared for. The survey begins in the back of the graveyard in the northeast corner. The gravestones in this area face Beulah Street. The grave markers were read row by row toward the street. Clusters of markers standing near each other and far from other rows were read together.

No Updates from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books


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TALBERT FAMILY CEMETERY
VAN DORN ST. & RTE. 495, FRANCONIA:
This cemetery was moved to Mt. Calvary Community Church (FX 31) in the late 1960's, during the construction of Rte. 495. There were 38 markers lined up in a row by the eastern fence. Most of the stones were contemporary granite markers placed at the time of reinternment, though a few were original marble headstones that were moved with the remains.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2010 edition of the "Franconia Remembers" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

Mrs. Harry McQuinn held up the highway construction bulldozers with a shotgun. She said she didn’t want the graves to be disturbed. The case went to the State Supreme Court - it ruled that the cemetery could not hold up the building of the road as long as the government moved the graves to a new location that would be suitable to the families. They had guards watching the graves all the time. So his father let the Talbot's move their cemetery into his and started massive negotiations between the state and the county. Schurtz would not let them bury the graves without being paid for by the state, but they finally paid, and he prepared the grave yard. They found bodies from the Civil War buried in coffins with glass lids that were still not broken, and you could see the uniforms through the lids. Probably there are still some people not found who were buried under 495, because the fence was burned. So they did not know exactly where the cemetery boundaries were. They found 30 Confederate soldier’s bodies outside the regular cemetery, but they do not know if all were found, and some could have been left. The soldiers bodies were put in 6x4 concrete vaults that were brought down on flatbeds and dropped in a trench.


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GEORGE T. TALBERT
Born:
Died: AUG 16, 1878
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PENNELOPE TALBERT
Born:
Died: DEC 6, 1859
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NORMA T. TALBERT
Born: SEP 5, 1879
Died: APR 2, 1952
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GEORGANA TALBERT
Born: DEC 8, 1878
Died: NOV 8, 1982
Inscription "AUNT GEORGIE ....ABSENT FROM THE BODY, HOME WITH THE LORD."
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JAMES R. TALBERT
Born: OCT 17, 1855
Died: JAN 28, 1929
Inscription "IN MEMORY OF....At Rest."
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MARGARET R. TALBERT
Born: APR 30, 1857
Died: MAR 26, 1911
Wife of: JAMES R. TALBERT
Inscription "IN MEMORY OF....At Rest."
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ALLEN TALBERT
Born: FEB 6, 1898
Died: FEB 6, 1898
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WILLIAM E. TALBERT
Born: FEB 18, 1881
Died: MAR 16, 1886
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MRS. MILLS
Inscription "MRS. MILLS DIED IN THE 1800's."
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MRS. MARY TALBERT
Born:
Died: JUL 1, 1900
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GEORGE W. TALBERT
Born:
Died: JAN 9, 1856
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THOMAS TALBERT
Born: 1770c
Died: OCT 3, 1852
Inscription "SACRED To the memory of ....a native of Fairfax County, Va."
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CHARLES H. TALBERT
Born:
Died: SEP 21, 1819
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WILLIAM R. TALBERT
Born:
Died: MAY 21, 1851
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ANN B. TALBERT
Inscription "ANN B. TALBERT DIED IN THE 1800's."
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MISS MARY TALBERT
Born:
Died: MAR 20, 1900
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CHARLES W. TALBERT
Born:
Died: NOV 20, 1858
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CHARLES H. TALBERT
Born:
Died: DEC 1, 1858
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WALTER B. TALBERT
Born:
Died: OCT 7, 1864
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LYBIA ANN TALBERT
Born:
Died: JAN 10, 1868
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MARTHA A. TALBERT
Born:
Died: NOV 7, 1880
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JAMES M. TALBERT
Born:
Died: MAR 8, 1893
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VIRGINIA TALBERT
Inscription "VIRGINIA TALBERT DIED IN THE 1800's."
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JOHN T. TALBERT
Born:
Died: JUL 1897
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CHARLES H. TALBERT
Inscription "CHARLES H. TALBERT DIED IN THE 1800's."
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WILLIAM B. TALBERT
Inscription "WILLIAM B. TALBERT DIED IN THE 1800's."
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C. H. TALBERT
Inscription "C. H. TALBERT DIED IN THE 1800's."
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GILES F. TALBERT
Inscription "GILES F. TALBERT DIED IN THE 1800's."
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JAN AYRES