The Ashby’s Gap Turnpike GeoTrail
Sharon Cemetery
Presented by the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area
This cache is part of a series that takes you along the former Ashby’s Gap Turnpike. For centuries, this path was a vital thoroughfare across Northern Virginia. From its beginnings as a Native American trail, through its use as a colonial road and 19th century turnpike, to its transformation into a modern highway, this road has seen a lot of history. The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area invites you to follow in the footsteps of Native hunters, colonial settlers, enslaved African-Americans, Civil War soldiers, and more.
It is recommended that you park outside of the cemetery and explore on foot, if you are able!
Established in 1849, Sharon Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Middleburg’s most prominent citizens. The cemetery is a reflection of changing attitudes towards cemeteries in the mid-19th century, when older churchyard burials gave way to more stylish “garden” style cemeteries. Cemeteries became places of recreation as well as reflection, and began to feature winding pathways, ornamental plantings, and a wider variety of gravestones.
This trend is evident even in a small town like Middleburg. The wealth and status of ante-bellum planters and merchants can be seen in the artistic complexity and quality of many of the stones here at Sharon. As you explore the cemetery, take note of the many prominent families and how inter-connected they are. Many of the same families continue to live in the surrounding area.
As with many communities in Northern Virginia, the Civil War had a dramatic impact on the community. For four years, Middleburg lay at the center of an ongoing guerilla conflict between the US Army and Confederate guerrillas, including those led by Col. John S. Mosby. This conflict fell heavily on civilians as well as soldiers. Soldiers on both sides marched along the turnpike, confiscating supplies and livestock. Soldiers bivouacked on farms and homes and churches became hospitals. Enslaved African-Americans used the chaos of war to seek freedom from slavery.
The toll of war can be seen in Sharon Cemetery. The coordinates will take you to a monument erected to some of the local men who lost their lives during the war, as well as others who died here in the town’s many hospitals. Count the number of gravestones here in the circle.
Your total will be AB.
To reach the next stage enter the digits into the following coordinates.
N 38° 58.B85 W 077 43.A43
This should direct you to the grave of Catherine Barbara Broun, a prominent resident of town who recorded her observations in a detailed diary of the Civil War years. Its pages provide an amazing insight into the civilian side of the war, discussing politics, the life of her enslaved workers, military movements and personalities, and the destruction and loss of life the war brought.
On June 3rd, 1861, Catherine wrote. “These are dark days in our beloved country. Civil war has commenced. All business is suspended.”
At the first approach of the US Army in 1862, she wrote of the fear and anxiety she experienced: “March 12, 1862 Everyone looks care worn and troubled, everything insecure. Expect the Yankees at any moment and know not but they may destroy everything we have, and what is infinitely worse, take our husbands prisoner. Servants are running off some in almost every family…” She recalled another enslaved woman running off to the Union Army in April, 1863 – “I see a servant girl Sallie passing with her bundle and child running off. I called at her and started to go after her but some Yanks rode up and I was afraid to venture.”
Catherine worked as a nurse for the sick and wounded soldiers who filled Middleburg. On September 15, 1862 she woke up in the middle of the night to write “I cannot sleep. Feel wakeful and disturbed, distressed. Saw so much to distress me yesterday. One young man lies on a little straw, with bedsores. I went there yesterday to try to make arrangements to get him in a private home, but found it was too late, he was too far gone, had passed into another world before his time…His brother was by his side, wounded, and is much distressed.”
Once you have located Catherine’s grave, answer the following questions:
What year was Catherine born? 1AB0
How old was she when she recorded the US Army approaching Middleburg for the first time (Her birthday was Christmas Day)? CD
What year did she die? 1E0F
The final cache location can be found at:
N 38° 58.D(Fx2)E W 077° 43.A(Bx4)(Cx2)
The final stage is located just outside of the cemetery boundary. Please only seek this cache during daylight hours and be respectful of the cemetery and burials within.
VPHA’s mission is to educate and advocate for the preservation of the extraordinary historic landscape and culture of the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area for future generations. The Area includes all or parts of five counties in the northern Virginia Piedmont and lower Shenandoah Valley: Loudoun, Fauquier, Clarke, Prince William, and Warren Counties.
By telling our stories, we hope to inspire people to care for and protect our outstanding historical resources.