Poplar Lawn in Petersburg, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

The Home of Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, October 11, 2025

1. The Home of Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson Marker

Inscription. Originator of Memorial Day
Charter Member of Ladies Memorial Association
and of
Petersburg Chapter U.D.C.
Charter Matron Alpha Charter No. 1 O.E.S.
Here was the Confederate School where she and her sister taught 45 years
She being Principal

Born Feb. 19, 1836 - Died Feb. 10, 1929

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • War, US Civil • Women. A significant historical date for this entry is February 19, 1836.

Location. 37° 13.55′ N, 77° 24.079′ W. Marker is in Petersburg, Virginia. It is in Poplar Lawn. It is at the intersection of South Adams Street and Surry Lane, on the right when traveling south on South Adams Street. Marker is on the front of the residence. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 126 S Adams St, Petersburg VA 23803, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Virginia.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: McKenney Library (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); McKenney House (about 400 feet away); Joseph Jenkins Roberts (about 600 feet away); Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809-1876) (about 600 feet away); William Langhorne Bond (1893-1985) (about 700 feet away); Weddell-McCabe-Chisholm House (about 700 feet away); Formation of the Southern Methodist Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Drilling Ground (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Petersburg.

Another marker is no longer nearby. McKenney Library (was about 300 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Regarding The Home of Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson. Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson's importance is to Petersburg, with her 26 May 1866 decoration of graves at Blandford Cemetery being the root of Petersburg's annual 9 June Decoration Day (The Ladies

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, October 11, 2025

2. The Home of Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson Marker

On the front of the house. The house was built in 1834 for John Smith.

Memorial Association, of which she was a founder, followed Davidson's example on 9 June 1866). The date of 9 June is significant as the anniversary of the Battle of Old Men and Young Boys, in which Federal troops arrived on Petersburg's outskirts in 1864 while Confederate forces were elsewhere - leading to a defense by local reserve forces until frontline soldiers could arrive. Traditionally in Petersburg, this decoration practice is said to have inspired Mary Logan, the visiting wife of Federal General John A. Logan, in 1868 - and her descriptions of said day to her husband allegedly inspired modern Memorial Day. This, however, is false. In 2014, Bellware and Gardiner dismissed this claim in The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America, pointing out that that General Logan was aware of southern memorial observances prior to Mary's Petersburg trip, even mentioning them in an 1866 speech. Bellware and Gardiner instead credit Mary Ann Williams and the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia as the true originators of the holiday, rather than Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson; Mary Ann Williams had urged the ladies of the South

Paid Advertisement

to annually decorate soldiers' graves in a widely printed letter published in The Richmond Times on 31 March 1866 - more than two months before Miss Nora and her school children went to Blandford.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 86 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 20, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.