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The headstones are worn and cracked. The setting
has changed dramatically. A history book etched in stone, waiting to
be read, the Baptist Cemetery is a quiet reminder of a previous era.
After years of neglect and abandonment, old burying grounds such as
this one on Jefferson Street are beginning to be recognized as
social and historical resources worthy of preservation.
Bethel Baptist Church grew out of a congregation
near Seneca Creek. In 1821, 15 Baptists established a new church in
Rockville and two years later acquired half an acre at the western
boundary of the small town. They soon erected a church and began
burials in the adjacent graveyard.
The group incorporated in 1863 and replaced the
original wooden church with a brick building the following year.
They erected a picket fence around the graveyard and kept it clean
with whitewash. A half century later, the congregation built a
larger church and parsonage at the corner of Washington and
Jefferson Streets, demolished the brick church, and enclosed the old
cemetery with a new iron fence.
From 1839 to 1896 there were nearly 50 burials in
the cemetery. They include the miller Samuel Veirs and his family,
clerk of the court Brice Selby and his namesake grandson, “Little
Bell Key” (aged 2), the large family of Elizabeth and William
Braddock, and three children from the Bogley family.
In 1897, the Trustees of the Baptist Church
deeded a triangular piece of land to the Mayor and Council to widen
Van Buren Street in exchange for “sufficient electric current to
maintain 22 light of 16 candle power, and water to the church for
the period of five years, and bringing the wires from the street to
the church building.” In this trade, 16 graves were moved to the
Rockville Cemetery.
The Church sold its Washington Street property in
1971 and moved into a modern building on Adclare Road. The old
cemetery was conveyed two years later to the Montgomery County
Historical Society, which in 1983 transferred title to Peerless
Rockville for caretaking. The cemetery was designated by the City of
Rockville and listed in the National Register as part of the West
Montgomery Ave. Historic District.
Peerless Rockville views its Baptist Cemetery as
a window to local history and an opportunity to showcase
preservation. Since 1983, Peerless has worked to document,
interpret, maintain, and use the cemetery to create interest in
restoration. “Adopt-a-Stone” volunteers assessed the condition of
the stones and researched census and other records to learn about
those interred here. Mary Ricketts, killed as she and her husband
crossed the railroad tracks in a carriage, and William Veirs Bouic,
president of the Town Commissioners and judge, now seem more real.
Ground penetrating radar yielded more data, as did Church minutes.
Peerless published a brochure and teamed with local groups to
recreate the wood fence. A master plan was written to guide future
plantings and work, and gravestones were cleaned and straightened.
Recently, a bench, sign, and plaque were installed to aid
interpretation.
Through the Baptist Cemetery, Peerless Rockville
has sparked interest in other historic Rockville cemeteries. As an
early member of the Coalition to Protect MD Burial Sites, Peerless
helped to pass State laws and call attention with workshops and
networking to these special historic places in our back yards.
Peerless erected a metal fence around
the cemetery. It reflects an era of the cemetery’s history and
reaffirms Peerless Rockville’s role as caretaker.
The new fence was dedicated October, 2004.
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