Hugh Carr Family Cemetery

Association: None
No. of Markers: 8 (View)
No. of Individuals: 5 (View)
Location: Ivy Creek Nature Area, Albemarle Co.

The Ivy Creek Natural Area was originally the home of Hugh Carr (born into slavery c.1840), a successful African American farmer who began to purchase land in 1870 and, by 1890, had acquired 125 acres in the Hydraulic Mills Neighborhood. Carr named his farm River View and it remained in the family (inherited by Mary, his eldest daughter, and Conly Greer in 1914) until 1973. Soon thereafter the farm was purchased by The Nature Conservancy and subsequently by groups in Albemarle County. The Carr Family Cemetery is located behind the original farm house and contains over a dozen graves including granite headstones, two obelisk-shaped stones, and several unmarked graves indicated by depressions.

Interestingly, Hugh Carr is buried under a rather modern, granite headstone even though he died in 1914. Also listd on the stone is his wife, Texie M. Hawkins (1865-1899) and their son, Marshall H. Carr (1886-1916). We know from land records that one of their other children, Mary, lived at the farm with her husband, Conly G. Greer until their death in 1973 and 1956, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Greer are buried under stones identical in style to Hugh Carr, even though he predeceased them by decades. Meanwhile, two carved obelisks lie in the northeast corner of the graveyard (seen at left and below, behind the granite markers). These stones lack inscriptions, but they might be the original gravestones for Hugh and possibly his wife. It is not uncommon for descendants to "upgrade" stones many years after a death. Such a decision would explain why five people who died between 1899 and 1973 would have almost identical gravestones (as opposed to the more common, diachronic changes that we associate with gravestone design).