Existing comment:
Chancellor Cemetery:
This is the Chancellor family cemetery. In the first half of the 19th century, the Chancellors dominated this section of Spotsylvania County. Fairview was the original family seat, but branches of the family eventually lived at Chancellorsville, Hazel Grove, Forest Hall, and Dowdall's Tavern. (Chancellorsville, Hazel Grove, and Fairview all burned during the war. Dowdall's Tavern was gone by 1869. Only Forest Hall still stands.) Residents of all those places are likely buried here. Not buried here are the family's slaves. The location of their graves is not known.
The earliest known grave in this cemetery dates to 1812. By 1860, there were at least six Chancellors interred here. Today, there are 25 headstones -- all of them dating after the Civil War. The brick wall surrounding the cemetery replaced a white picket fence that stood here in 1863. |