Anna K. daughter of….1887
This past Wednesday evening, the youth from St. Johns Mayfair came to St. Michael’s for a service project. I really didn’t know what kind of project I wanted them to complete: cleaning, painting, devotions…etc. And so, I went out Tuesday afternoon and walked out graveyard. It is a very historical site…soldiers from the Revolutionary War…
So, I decided to take them on a tour of the church with a history of our congregation, which dates back 276 years.
For instance, this is a picture of where 4 soldiers from the Revolutionary War are interred. They originally found them buried a few miles from the church where they had stopped for a moment, before being ambushed. St. Michaels offered to have them interred on our grounds back in 1926, I believe, with a lot of pomp and circumstance.
See that grave that looks like a table? This is where “The General’s Baker” is buried. He was a baker by trade, and eventually became the baker for General George Washington. He also left behind some money to begin a school for the poor persons in this community.
After talking with them for a little bit, it came time for me to lead them to what I wanted them to do…and that was to give some dignity to a few of our cemetery occupants…
As I stood in the cemetery on Tuesday, I found myself at this gravesite, and it just tugged at my heart. It is a little grave…amidst a bunch of branches that have been felled by lightening. And the tombstone reads: “Sleeping”. Upon further investigation, I could vaguely read that her name was Anna K….daughter of Wm and Kate C. Roop. She was born Sept 26, 1886, and died August 25, 1887. The tombstone is by itself. I could not find any family buried nearby. I did wonder how she died so young. Perhaps cholera? Or maybe even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (wasn’t named that back then)…I don’t know…but she tugged at my heart.









