Marshall Family Cemetery

Marshall Family Cemetery. Burke Station, Virginia. , Prior to the Civil War, John and Mary Marshall, early prominent Burke area citizens, bought this land and built a family dwelling on fifty acres of land purchased in 1852. The Marshalls donated land to the Church of the Good Shepherd and to the Ashford School, one of the community's first schools. Orange and Alexandria Railroad cars would have carried goods and produce destined for the Marshall's general merchandise store here in Burke Station. Mr. Marshall served as the Postmaster of Burke Station from 1852-1854. John Marshall also managed the affairs of the widowed neighbor, Mrs. Silas (Hannah) Burke., Although childless, the Marshalls had a large extended family and, upon their deaths, willed their property divided among twenty-four nieces and nephews. This memorial cemetery honors two people who generously contributed to what is today known as Burke, Virginia., On this land is also a surviving portion of the original 1851 Orange and Alexandria (O&A) railroad bed (bordering Burke Rd., just south of this spot - the berm behind the cemetery). In 1848, the O&A was chartered to connect Orange County, Virginia with Alexandria and by 1860, extended to Lynchburg, Virginia. Used for the transport of goods and Federal troops during the Civil War, it was frequently attacked by Confederate forces. The Marshalls would have seen significant Civil War activity in this area. In 1903, new tracks were laid at their present location, several hundred feet north and the O&A eventually became the Norfolk Southern railroad.