Hanover County has entered into a contract to purchase several properties located on Route 360 in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and owned by Linwood Paul Bosher and Joanne T. Bosher for construction of a new high school and middle school. During the course of a Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of the properties, an unnamed and unmarked cemetery (the “Cemetery”) was located on one of the properties. The Cemetery was delineated and found to contain the unmarked graves of 13 deceased individuals. The County’s archeological consultant determined that the graves appear to date to the nineteenth century, and that no body has been interred in the Cemetery for more than 100 years. The graves have no identification markers (such as tombstones or other monuments); therefore, the identities of the individuals buried in the Cemetery and their next of kin are unknown.
The location of the Cemetery potentially conflicts with the County’s plans for the construction of the new schools, therefore Hanover County has filed a Bill in Equity requesting that the Hanover County Circuit Court authorize the County’s contractor, Bennett Funeral Home, to remove and reinter the remains to Roselawn Memory Gardens. Because the heirs of the individuals buried in the Cemetery are unknown, the County is required by Virginia Code § 57-38.1 to undertake active, good faith efforts to locate interested parties including notice to and consultation with area historical and genealogical
societies.
A hearing on this matter is scheduled for 28 November 2023 at 11:00 a.m. in the Hanover County Circuit Court. If you have any information as to the identity of the individuals buried in the cemetery, or if you have any suggestions as to where such information may be found please contact Rebecca B. Randolph at rbrandolph@hanovercounty.gov or 804-365-6035.
The Order of Publication is available at https://www.vgs.org/7-amended-order-of-publication-9-13-23/.