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Help us save the little cemetery on the site of King's Creek Plantation.  This site is part of the Bay Creek development project that is changing the face of Cape Charles.  The development company wishes to remove these graves to another location.  If you believe that the graves should be left where they are, we encourage you to voice your support for our efforts to save the cemetery by signing the petition that will be presented to the court.

There are six known individuals buried in this cemetery, and possibly more.  Their names:

   John Stratton (1726-1795) and his wife Gertrude Tazewell Stratton (1731-1777)

   Their daughter Ann Stratton Stith (d. 1778), wife of Griffin Stith, whose father Griffin was the clerk of Northampton Court in the 18th century.

   William Burton (d. 1770) and his wife Margaret (1710-1753)

   Edward Pitts Wescoat (Wescott) (d. 1871)

This cemetery has been documented in the GHOTES Virtual Cemetery project.  Click here to see the photographs (opens in a new browser window).  No photographs of the Burtons' graves have yet been posted.  Note, too, that William Burton died on January 9, 1770, at the age of 70 years.  This means that he was born no later than January 9, 1700, and most likely in 1699.  Whether born in 1699 or 1700, he is one of the earliest-born Shore residents whose grave can be conclusively identified.

Documents already presented to the court suggest that no one has visited this cemetery in many years.  If you have ever visited the cemetery, a statement from you to that effect would weigh heavily to prove the inaccuracy of those documents.  If you have tried to visit the cemetery but been denied access, a statement to that effect would also be useful.  Please write a brief statement indicating when you visited (or attempted to visit) the cemetery, sign and date it and mail it to Nancy Garrett at the address below. (You may also sign the petition, of course.)

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