• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Practice
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Contact

Law Offices of Deborah G. Matthews

Law Offices


703.548.3699
info@dmatthewslaw.com

Family Cemeteries: Time marches on, and sometimes over, them

October 13, 2015 by Deborah Matthews

Family and historical cemeteries are often forgotten or even ignored. Most recently this has come to light in a Virginia matter.

More than 250 years ago, Zachariah and Elizabeth Terrell Moorman purchased land in Lynchburg where they and their descendants lived. In 1972, Embra Moorman Tillotson sold the last parcel to Jerry Falwell’s Old Time Gospel Hour Inc. for $6 cash and $49,700 in a trust fund.

The parcel was home to a family cemetery that held five marked Moorman family graves, 22 additional graves, and graves of an unknown number of slaves.  The deed, according to the newspaper, stated “the conveyance” was subject to all “‘easements, restrictions, reservations and conditions of record and now applicable to said property and expressly to a graveyard 105 feet by 105 feet…”

The Moorman Family Cemetery, which is on the Liberty University campus, is now a 32-foot-by-34-foot patch of grass with a dogwood tree and a bronze marker.

As the article details issues with the handling of the Moorman Family Cemetery are complicated.  There was a 1979 court order.  More recently family members have complained about the treatment of the cemetery and the remains of their loved ones.  In September, Liberty University went to court to uphold the 1979 order and now 89 family members have filed a countersuit.  The Moormans are asking that to have the bodies and any grave markers moved to another local cemetery where generations of Moormans have been buried.

If you have loved ones in a family cemetery, The News & Advance also has a side bar on family cemeteries and how to protect them.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: General Information Tagged With: family cemeteries, historical cemetary, Liberty University, Moorman

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Location

My office is located on
Tavern Square in
Old Town Alexandria

110 North Royal Street
Suite 575
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Click for map & directions

Practice Areas

  • Estate Planning
  • Probate
  • Trust and Estate Administration

Recent Articles

  • Confirm Your Retirement Account Beneficiaries
  • REIMBURSEMENTS FOR COVID-RELATED FUNERAL AND BURIAL COSTS
  • REIMBURSEMENT FOR COVID FUNERAL AND BURIAL COSTS
  • Preparing For COVID-19 Checklist
  • Accessing Medical Information and Directives
  • Options for Cremated Remains
  • Home for the holidays, time to have The Talk: get the new year off to a good start
  • Thanksgiving: A Time for Family and For Remembering
  • New Medicare Tool
  • Planning for Retirement: Federal Employees

Categories

Awards and Recognition

  • Exemplary Service Award from Mount Vernon Unitarian Church: for tireless efforts to support refugees around the globe, including the Afghan family that MVUC supports locally, with Co-Chair Roberta Finkelstein.
  • Door Opener Society member, Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, 2021
  • Fellow, Class of 2020, Virginia Law Foundation
  • Leader in the Law, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 2019
  • Recognition from Delegate Paul Krizek for HB1559, extending renewal period for “Senior IDs
  • Fairfax County Public Schools, thank you for donating 2,000+ masks for vulnerable students- 2020
  • Recognition from Delegate Scott A. Surovell for suggested legislation HB1973 – Clarifying Control of Real Estate Brokerages
  • Fairfax Bar Association, Pro Bono Attorney of the Year 2012
  • American Gar Association GP|Solo, Chairman’s Award, for her leadership of the National Solo and Small Firm Conference, August 2008
  • American Bar Association GP|Solo “Star of the Quarter”
  • Fairfax Bar Association, President’s Award, 2006

Community Events

  • “Simple Estate Planning”, Northern Virginia Pro Bono Law Center CLE – training for lawyer volunteers to assist low income seniors and people with disabilities with estate planning.

Increase Font Size

A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size.

Footer

Deborah G. Matthews
110 North Royal Street, Suite 575
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

SiteLock

703.548.3699
fax: 703 637.1325
info@DMatthewsLaw.com

Copyright © 2023 -Law Office of Deborah G. Matthews. All Rights Reserved. Content Management System Website created by MDT Design LLC.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}