Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery Restoration Scrapbook 1998-1999 (SC 0147), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Previously catalogued as V REF 929.3 RIC

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

Previously catalogued as V REF 929.3 RIC

Processing Information

Laura Christiansen, 23 April 2019

Historical Information

In 1765 German settlers near Lovettsville, Virginia established the New Jerusalem Lutheran Congregation. A church building was soon constructed, and before 1770 burials began in the adjacent cemetery. The earliest legible grave marker is of "Isack Vckens" [sic], although there are several graves that are unmarked or with unreadable inscriptions that may predate Vickens burial. Pastors of the church began recording burials in 1785.

In 1949, the cemetery was overgrown and in disrepair. Aurelia M. Jewell (1900 -1992) inventoried headstones that were visible. In 1959, Pastor Michael Kretsinger (1929 -1993) organized a cleanup of the cemetery, and at that time, several additional stones were located and added to Jewell's list. In 1995 Marty Hiatt and Craig Roberts Scott compiled a new list of burials in the cemetery between 1770 and 1943, publishing it as New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery: Lovettsville, Virginia, 1770-1943. Proceeds from the sale of this book were donated to the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery Restoration Fund, a project initiated to stabilize the 700 identifiable stones and gravesites Hiatt and Scotts were able to locate during their survey. An additional 400 burials are known to exist in the cemetery, however, their locations are unknown.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a scrapbook created by Dorothy K. Rickard (1925-2015) a member of New Jerusalem Lutheran Church to promote the restoration of the cemetery. Included are promotional materials for the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery Restoration Fund, lists of contributors to the fund, background information about the cemetery and previous restoration efforts, and 116 photographs.

Arrangement

Folder

Related Material

Loudoun County, VA Cemetery Collection, 1990- (M 017); Lewis/Edwards Architectural Surveys of Loudoun County 1972-1983 (M 022); New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery: Lovettsville, Virginia, 1770-1943, V REF 929.50975528 HIA; New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia: Old Lutheran Cemetery Grave Sites (1824-1898); Parish Register (1784-1927), V REF 929.50975528 GAG

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery Restoration Scrapbook 1998-1999 (SC 0147), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None