Woodbine Cemetery Records

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Parts of the collection are restricted, due to the presence of personally identifying information. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. Staff have taken special care to identify and remove sensitive materials. However, in rare instances, privacy protected information may be revealed during use of this collection. Researchers agree to make no notes or other recordation of privacy protected information if found within this collection, and further agree not to publish or disclose such information for any purpose. Researchers agree to alert Special Collections staff if potentially privacy protected information is found within this collection. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Woodbine Cemetery Records, circa 1830-2006 (bulk 1940-2006), SC 0236, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
26.17 cubic feet 74 boxes, 6 flat files
Creator:
Woodbine Cemetery and Woodbine Cemetery
Abstract:
The Woodbine Cemetery Records, circa 1830-2006, consist of materials relating to the operation of Woodbine Cemetery, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The collection includes a wide array of financial and commercial materials, including receipt books and loose receipts, account books, checks, ledgers, bank statements, board minutes and reports, customer correspondence, insurance information, maps, and other materials produced during the course of business over approximately the past 150 years.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Woodbine Cemetery Records, circa 1830-2006 (bulk 1940-2006), SC 0236, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

The Woodbine Cemetery Records, circa 1830-2006, are comprised of materials related to the operation of Woodbine Cemetery, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The collection includes a wide array of financial and commercial materials, including receipt books and loose receipts, account books, checks, ledgers, bank statements, board minutes and reports, customer correspondence, insurance information, maps, and other materials produced during the course of business, between the 1850s and 2006. This includes records relating to the management of the Woodbine Mausoleum, which existed as a separate entity until 2006, when it was acquired by Woodbine Cemetery.

Due to the lengthy time period covered, the materials were collected and organized by a variety of individuals, and completeness of the records varies. When possible, the original order and naming conventions were retained. The material relates almost exclusively to Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg VA, though some of the ephemera relates to other cemeteries as well.

Biographical / historical:

Woodbine Cemetery Company was founded on March 19, 1850 by the Virginia General Assembly, as a non-denominational burial ground in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The first land for the cemetery was purchased seven months later, on October 11, 1850, from Harrisonburg's first mayor, Isaac Hardesty, who sold 2½ acres to the cemetery company. It has continued to expand in size over the years, and the current grounds cover about 18 acres. Woodbine Cemetery contains roughly 11,550 burial plots with approximately 9,000 interred.

Soon after the Civil War, the cemetery created an area dedicated to Confederate soldiers and veterans. This section was originally maintained by the Ladies Memorial Association, founded in 1868 with the charge of caring for the graves of Confederate soldiers buried in Rockingham County. The Ladies Memorial Association erected a soldiers monument in 1876, and in 1899 with the aid of the Turner Ashby Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, replaced all wooden head boards with white marble stones. The section was expanded in 1886, when Samuel Shacklett donated a 5 acre-plot, containing land likely already in use as a Confederate cemetery. There are now over 200 Confederate soldier or veterans buried there, representing states of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee. The cemetery also contains area known as "Little Arlington," dedicated to those who served in World War I and World War II.

The Community Mausoleum was erected in 1926, though there are no records of incorporation until 1936, when it was incorporated as the "Communal Mausoleum Crypt Owners, Inc." In February 2006, the mausoleum merged with Woodbine Cemetery Company.

According to a Woodbine Board of Trustees report dated April 2, 1853, the original cemetery contained plots designated for African Americans, stating, "…in the rear plats have already been appropriated to single interments, and likewise for the use of colored persons." According to Nelson J. Liskey's, "History of Woodbine Cemetery," in 1969, the board adopted a policy that "no restrictions as to race would be applicable to lot purchasers." Certificates of Ownership of Communal Mausoleum Crypts at Woodbine Cemetery state that "the crypts are for the entombment of the human dead of the Caucasian race only."

Superintendents of Woodbine Cemetery include, but are not limited to, the following individuals: John Foster (1851), J.P. Hyde (1863), J.E. Good (1880), Bowman Gilmer (1918-1958), Sherman Gilmer (1958-1981), David Schrock (1981-1992), Lisa Batchelder (1992-present).

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated by Charlie Chenault, Woodbine Cemetery Board of Trustees, Secretary/Treasurer, on August 27, 2015. Additions were made by Lisa Batchelder, superintendent of Woodbine Cemetery, in September and October 2021.
Processing information:

Due to the lengthy time period covered by this collection, the materials were created, collected and organized by a variety of individuals, and completeness of the records varies. Where possible, the original order and naming conventions were retained. The collection also originally contained various stamps, keys, and other 3-dimensional objects, which were not retained.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in six series. Broadly speaking, each series is arranged first by the type of material, and then chronologically within these broader categories. Exceptions to this arrangement were made in order to pay respects to the original order, as well as when precise dates could not be readily determined.

  1. Financial Files, circa 1840-2006 (bulk 1890-2006)
  2. Administrative Files, 1853-2002
  3. Business Records, 1898-2006
  4. Mausoleum Records, 1924-2006
  5. Ephemera, 1985-2000
  6. Maps, 1913-1966
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard