Hidden in a small grove of bushes and trees at the end of Jennifer Val Court in Kirkpatrick Farms is a family cemetery dating back over 150 years. Typical of the small burial grounds found near old homesteads and villages, the Foley Family cemetery has a number of gravesites marked by simple native stones, as well as two marked stones, each with a story to tell.
A third stone, with a rounded top and marked with the initials “M.A.F.” lies flat on the ground. There may be others beneath the soil in the rough, overgrown plot, which now faces several new homes on the cul-de-sac, and is nearly crossed by the power lines that pass through Kirkpatrick Farms.
More than a dozen small, plastic orange flags on rusty wires placed during the December 2007 archeological study commissioned by Greenvest LLC, developer of Kirkpatrick Farms, mark other possible burial sites in the periwinkle-covered, vine-choked cemetery.
Given its location and what is known about the cemetery, at least one and perhaps more of the people who once owned or occupied the Lunette House rest there. Under the larger of the two marked stones lie the remains of Abigail James Foley (1812-1869), the daughter of Benjamin James and Mary Spencer James (1774-c. 1830). According to Sondra Foley–a descendant of William Foley who lives in Missouri– Abigail married William Foley on Feb. 9, 1835, and it is known that they owned Lot 3 in the village of Lunette.
According to the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey regarding the Lunette House compiled in 1982, the Loudoun County map drawn by cartographer Yardley Taylor in 1853 showed that “W. Foley” owned the Lunette House. Later–perhaps after the deaths of William and Abigail Foley–the Carter family acquired the property.
Lying flat upon the ground and surrounded by vegetation, Abigail’s large, white stone conveys a touching message:
“In Memory of Abigail, Consort of William Foley
Who Departed This Life July 31, 1869, Aged 56 Years
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
- Matt. V, VII
Dearest Mother, Thou has left us, We thy loss we greatly feel.
But ‘tis God who hath bereft us, He can all our sorrows heal.”
C. L. Neale, Alex., Va.
Confederate Soldier’s Resting Place
Standing upright closer to the cul-de-sac edge of the cemetery is the gravestone of a Confederate soldier wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862, and brought to Lunette, where he later died.
According to research provided by Sondra Foley, Pvt. William F. Hooke was born in 1843 at Pleasant Valley, in Rockingham County, Va. He enlisted in the Confederate army at Rude’s Hill, Va., near Mount Jackson, on April 14, 1862, at the age of 19, and was mustered into Co. A of the 2nd Virginia Infantry, the famous “Stonewall Brigade.” William followed in the footsteps of his older brother Robert, a member of the 6th Virginia Cavalry, who had died of disease at a camp in Manassas in October 1861.
Scarcely four months after he enlisted, Pvt. Hooke’s unit was fighting Union troops in the opening engagement at Second Manassas, on Aug. 28, 1862. According to regimental records, “The 2nd Virginia was mauled at Brawner’s Farm in an ugly, stand-up firefight. It suffered a staggering percentage of casualties, and apparently never fully recovered its former strength after that.”
Among those wounded was Pvt. Hooke, who suffered a serious injury to his groin. Wounds to the legs usually meant amputation, but that was unlikely in his case, although no record of his treatment have been found.
What is known is that the wounded private was brought from the battlefield to the Lunette House when “Gen. Jackson led his units past the Gum Spring/Braddock roads intersection on his way to the Little River Turnpike (U.S. 50),” according to regimental records. “Jackson was executing a flanking march trying to cut off Gen. Pope’s retreating troops at the U.S. 50/U.S. 29 intersection in Fairfax. This culminated in he Battle of Chantilly two days later, at the intersection of Ox Road and U.S. 50.”
Based on his military records, Pvt. Hooke struggled to recover from his wounds for six weeks, dying on Oct. 11, 1862. Since it is likely that he was cared for during that time by the Foleys–including Abigail–he was buried in the family cemetery across the old Colchester Road from the Lunette House. Years after the War, a standard Confederate veteran’s stone was placed on his grave.
As the surrounding property passed through other hands and descendants of the original residents moved away, the cemetery was basically abandoned. Development in the area has bypassed and accommodated the burial ground, but “…the cemetery behind two lots at the end of Jennifer Val Court on a hilltop with a rocky outcropping is currently not fenced or maintained,” according to Sondra Foley’s source, the Find A Grave Web site at www.findagrave.com.
In other developments in Eastern Loudoun where old family cemeteries have been found, they have eventually been fenced and are maintained. Such is the case of the Spencer Family Cemetery in Brambleton near Legacy Elementary School, and the Lefever Family Cemetery across the road from Hillside, the Lefever homeplace in Broadlands.
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