Enslaved Burial Ground at Ford's Mill

Enslaved Burial Ground at Ford's Mill. . , This small graveyard likely holds the remains of people enslaved by Edward Ford. Ford owned this land, as well as the nearby Ford’s Mill and about 500 acres of farmland. The 1860 Census recorded that Ford held 33 enslaved people. Those buried here probably labored on the Ford farm and at the mill., Cemetery History , The seven graves at this site are aligned west to east. The larger of each grave's two stones indicates the head to the west. This is typical of enslaved burial grounds of the era., One of the graves is not sunken, which usually means the person was buried without a wooden coffin. Ford's Mill had a lumber mill in addition to a grist mill, so wood might have been available for coffins in the other six graves. However, it wasn't common for an enslaver to bear that expense for an enslaved person., African American Graves , Enslaved cemeteries were often located at edges of fields to avoid interfering with farming activities, and that might have factored into the choice of this site. This bluff overlooking the waters of the Occoquan River might have also been desirable for burials., Enslaved Africans were first brought to what would become the United States in 1619. By 1804, the Northern states had mostly outlawed slavery, but the system was expanding throughout the South and West. Al the start of the Civil War in 1861, Virginia had more enslaved people than any other state, 490,000. In 1860, 3,117 people were held in slavery in the region that is now Fairfax County, which was nearly 30 percent of its population., This resting place of enslaved people is tangible evidence of the institution which thrived in Virginia until it was partly ended by President Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and permanently abolished by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865., (captions) , Above: Outlines show the placement of the burials. A few of the graves are very short in length, the person buried there might be a very short adult or a child. , Below: Most of the identities of the enslaved owned by Edward Ford have been lost, but a few are found in the birth and death records from the 1850s. , Background. View of the Occoquan River near the site of Ford's Mill. , Source: Chuck Fazio Photography., Above: The enslaved burial ground indicated in blue on an 1860s map. Source: Library of Congress.