LANCASTER—The Lancaster Virginia Historical Society (LVHS) will co-host a Black history presentation, “Old Saint John’s Baptist Church and Cemetery: Revisiting a Community’s Legacy of Faith” Saturday, February 7, at the Lancaster Community Library, 16 Town Centre Drive, Kilmarnock.
Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. and the program will follow at 1 p.m. Admission is free.
The program will feature members of the Old Saint John’s Baptist Church Cemetery Project Committee, a citizen committee co-chaired by pastor Tyron Williams of Mount Olive Baptist Church and history advocate Francine Aytes Hunter. Williams, Hunter and other church and community leaders will speak about the history, significance and families of Old Saint John’s and discuss recent efforts to document and restore the cemetery.
According to the committee’s research, Old Saint John’s Baptist Church was organized in 1868 as the first independent Black congregation in Lancaster County and the cemetery was established soon after.
“Old Saint John’s was an important place for African Americans to root their faith and build their social roles in the emerging freed Black community after the Civil War,” said LVHS executive director Karen Hart. “Although the congregation dissolved by 1892, several daughter churches were formed and the use of the cemetery continued for generations.”
Pastors from Calvary Baptist, Mount Vernon Baptist, New Saint John’s Baptist and Sharon Baptist—the four churches that serve as trustees of the cemetery, also may give remarks. Additional planned or invited speakers include Dr. James E. C. Norris; Brenda Campbell; Bessida White; Joanna Green, state archaeologist for cemetery preservation; and Kerry Petersen, author of Old Saint John’s Cemetery: A New Look at a Forgotten Church and a Lost Cemetery in Kilmarnock, Virginia.
This event is organized by the committee and LVHS, with additional participation or support from Interracial Conversations of the Northern Neck, Historic Christ Church & Museum, Kilmarnock Museum, Northern Neck Hidden History Trail, Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical & Historical Society, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Kilmarnock Branch and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
