The historic Oak Grove Baptist Church was filled with praise on Monday as church members dedicated headstones for children buried at the church’s rediscovered cemetery.
The 10 children, who died between the 1930 and 1960s from infancy and miscarriages, are buried less than a half mile from the church behind a Dominion power plant on Waller Mill Road near Williamsburg. Each name was solemnly read aloud during a sometimes tearful ceremony: Baby Boy Roots, Baby Girl Roots, Baby Boy Robinson, John K. Wynne, Vincent Tyrone Piggott, Larry Brown, William Haggins, John Haggins, Joseph Hundley and Baby Paul.
As each name was called, church historian Collette Roots and Daughters of the American Revolution Regent Sherril Buckner rang the church bell for the children and others who lie in the nearby cemetery. Afterward, attendees visited the gravesites — already decorated with forget-me-knots and baby’s breath — to pay their respects to the 10 children.
Pastor Steven Keller prays with the congregation of historic Oak Grove Baptist Church during a dedication ceremony for the church’s baby cemetery. James W. Robinson/The Virginia Gazette
Church historian Collette Roots, left, and Daughters of the American Revolution Regent Sherril Buckner ring the church bell in honor of the cemetery’s children. James W. Robinson/The Virginia Gazette
Established in the 1940s, the cemetery was used by Black families from the York County village of Magruder. Johnette Weaver, a Williamsburg historian who recently co-founded the nonprofit Williamsburg History group, said the cemetery was founded during a time when the community was being dispossessed of their land.
The families fought for access to their loved ones, who were buried on what is now Camp Peary, which became restricted property. Seeing the struggle, the Henderson family, a local Williamsburg family, deeded the back part of their land for church members to have a place to bury their children.
After the 1970s, the cemetery began to deteriorate, with underbrush and trees growing in the cemetery. After the cemetery was uncovered in 2021 by a timber company, Roots began working to restore it, similar to her work with the church’s other cemetery on Rochambeau Drive. Over the years, she has worked with the Let Freedom Ring Foundation, the Lemon Project and additional supporters for the cemetery, which along with the church’s four other properties is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Roots said she is working with York County, Dominion Energy and others for further cemetery improvements, such a road, a brick wall to protect the gravesite and an official plaque.
“We need a road, because I can’t keep the cemetery clean without a road,” she said. “So God is good today, to me, and he’s shining down on all of our ancestors.”
A headstone for John K. Wynne, one of the 10 children buried in the church’s cemetery. James W. Robinson/The Virginia Gazette
Steven Keller, Oak Grove Baptist’s pastor, credited the church’s Family and Friends group, the DAR, Williamsburg History co-founder Leslie Skinner and other supporters for helping make the dedication possible.
Keller said he spoke with Douglas Holroyd, vice chair of the York County Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Danny Diggs about the cemetery. He said they want to do “everything that they can” to provide church members and family access to the cemetery going forward.
Diggs, who attended Monday’s ceremony, said he believes the dedication is only the beginning and that improvements will come “over time.”
Robin Doucette, honorary regent of the DAR Williamsburg chapter, said she learned of the cemetery four years ago in a newspaper. She and her husband tried to locate the cemetery, but were unable to find it because of the overgrowth. After Roots joined the chapter two years ago, Doucette said they worked together to clean the cemetery and provide funding for the headstones. The Williamsburg chapter donated $2,500 to purchase the 10 headstones.
“These children should not be forgotten,” Doucette said. “There needs to be a marker here forever.”
Janice Mitchell, a church member and Highland Park resident who said she grew up cleaning cemeteries, said it meant a lot to return to the cemetery a few years ago, the first time in over 30 years.
Mitchell has family buried at the cemetery, including John K. Wynne, Larry Brown and Vincent Tyrone Piggott, of whom she holds fond memories.
“I know right now, my aunts, my uncles, they’re smiling,” Mitchell said. “They’re up in heaven having a ball because we are preserving their kids. I know that without a shadow of a doubt.”
Family members, church officials and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution honor 10 children who received their headstones at Oak Grove Baptist Church’s cemetery. James W. Robinson/The Virginia Gazette
To donate toward restoration of the cemetery and for more information, visit givebutter.com/NP7hww.
James W. Robinson, 757-799-0621, james.robinson@virginiamedia.com
