The Friends of Freedmen's Cemetery


Alexandria Black History

Below is a list of the deceased, as well as the individual who designed the bag for each person.

Name Gender Age Decorated by Front
CARTER, Roxy female 19y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
CARTER, Sarah female 18y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
CARTER, Sarah E. female 9m Ariel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
CARTER, Spencer male 3y6m Lillie Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
CARTER, William Henry male 7m Lillie Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
DEAN, Edmonia female 1y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
DEAN, Top male 6y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, Amanda female 39y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, French male infant Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, Infant unknown 7d Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, Lucy female 1m Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, Mary female 40y Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, Patsy female 28y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBB, Rachel female 50y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEBSTER, Martin male 12y Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEEDEN, John male 6y Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEEDEN, Peter male 40y Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEEDEN, William male 8m Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WELLS, Charlotte Ann female 2y Jewel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Betty female 5y K. and B. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Fanny female 7y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Georgiana female unknown Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, John W. male 9m K. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, John male 11y Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Peter male 11y6m Claudia Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Phillis male 3y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Thomas male 7m Claudia Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Water male 2m Claudia Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, Wellington male 10y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, William male unknown Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WEST, William Henry male 21y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WETHERS, Albert male 2y Claudia Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHEELER, James Henry male 22y Claudia Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHEELER, Josephine female 1y3m Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHEELER, Mary female 12y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHIRLEY, Lucy female 7d Ethel S. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Abby female 2y6m Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Amy female 35y Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Benny male 2y4m Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, George  male 31y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Kathy female unknown Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Mary F. female 1y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, N. unknown 2½y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Samuel male 37y Ethel S. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Susan female 21y Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, Tom male 13y Ethel S. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITE, William male 1y3m K. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITELEY, George male 17y Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITING, Edward male unknown Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITING, Elias male 60y Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITING, Infant unknown stillborn Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITING, John male 13y Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WHITING, Robert male 1m Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Catharine female 2m Jim Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Charlie male 2y Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Corney male 20y Keisha Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Florinda female 79y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, George Henry male 4y Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Henry male 30y Jelani Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Horace male 7y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Ida Virginia female 11m Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Infant unknown stillborn Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS,Infant unknown stillborn Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Infant unknown unknown Audrey, Donise and Betty Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Infant unknown 5d Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Infant unknown stillborn Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILLIAMS, Infant unknown 1d Dana Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILSON, Child unknown unknown Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WILSON, Limas male 14y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WINFORD, Dan male 8m Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WINSTON, Eddie male 4y Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WINSTON, William male 2y Ariel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WINTERS, James male 60y Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Eliza female 1y Angel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Emeline female 1y4m Angel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Lizzie female 20y Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Martha female 20y Peggy Ann Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Nelson male 11y B. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Nelson male 50y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Sally female 13y Donise Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WISE, Sarah female 8y Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WOOD, Infant unknown unknown Angel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WOOD, John male 22y Jim Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WORMSEY, Daniel male 15y Anonymous Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WRIGHT, Edeo male 3y Lillie Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
WRIGHT, William male 56y Jim Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
YOUNG, Eliza female 3y Karen Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
YOUNG, George male 6y Ariel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
YOUNG, Mary Jane female 18y K. Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
YOUNG, Peter male 47y Billy Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
YOUNG, Rachel female 19y Sharon Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image
(       ), Child unknown stillborn Angel Illumination Bag Thumbnail Image

Freedmen's Cemetery Historical Site Marker - E 109 Freedmen's Cemetery - Federal authorities established a cemetery here for newly freed African Americans during the Civil War. In January 1864, the military governor of Alexandria confiscated for use as a burying ground an abandoned pasture from a family with Confederate sympathies. About 1,700 freed people, including infants and black Union soldiers, were interred here before the last recorded burial in January 1869. Most of the deceased had resided in what is known as Old Town and in nearby rurual settlements. Despite mid-twentieth-century construction projects, many burials remain undisturbed. A list of those interred here has also survived.

Friends of Freedmen’s Cemetery
638 North Alfred Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
E-mail: freedmen@juno.com

Freedmen's Cemetery Logo - This logo was designed by Alexandria Archaeology Assistant City Archaeologist, Dr. Steven Shephard, in 2006. The beautifully executed final drawing was made by Alexandria Archaeology volunteer, Mr. Andrew Flora, who made a few modifications. At the center of the logo is a headboard of the design seen in historic photographs of the Alexandria National Cemetery, established at the north end of Wilkes Street in 1862. These grave markers were supplied by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department in Alexandria and records state that this department also supplied the headboards and coffins for Freedmens Cemetery. The pine boards were whitewashed and the plot number, and presumably, the name of the deceased, and possibly the date of death, were painted in black on the headboard. The number 1864 in the logo represents the year that the cemetery was established. The black silhouette of the African American woman in the center of the board is meant to represent the people, the Freedmen, who were buried at the cemetery. Civilian men, women and many children were buried here, along with African American soldiers of the United States Colored Troops. The rays radiating from the top of the headboard are meant to represent the light of freedom, as well as the souls of the Freedmen ascending into heaven and their final reward. The F and C are for Freedmen's Cemetery. The surrounding broken chain wreath symbolizes the severed bonds of slavery which resulted from the American Civil War which transformed Alexandria and the nation.

June 4th, 2007