MARYE - Luray VA
N 38° 39.878 W 078° 27.301
17S E 721427 N 4282635
An obelisk stands tall in an old cemetery in Page County VA marking the grave of the founder of Luray.
Waymark Code: WMCXPG
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 10/23/2011
Views: 4
A 12' obelisk marks the MARYE grave in the
Green Hill Cemetery
in Luray, VA. The monument stands in the center of a stone curb circle.
Inscription at the base:
WILLIAM STAIGE MARYE.
BORN FEBRUARY 15, 1775.
DIED SEPTEMBER 28, 1837.
_________________
MARY RUFFNER.
WIFE OF
WILLIAM STAIGE MARYE.
BORN APRIL 25, 1785.
DIED DECEMBER 26, 1852.
There are three other graves with headstones and footstones within the circle -- the inscriptions are worn and one headstone is broken.
William was born in Culpeper County, VA. He moved to Shenandoah County when he was 19 and lived in Mundlesville, about one mile south of present-day Luray. He was a graduate of William and Mary and became a well-known scholar in languages and mathematics. He married Mary Elizabeth Ruffner in May 1802.
William served as a member of the legislature in 1831 and helped organize a new county -- Page, where Luray is located today. William is considered the founder of Luray which was located on Peter Ruffner's, his father-in-law, land.
Interestingly, William's grandfather, James Marye, was the first of the family to settle in America and he built his home on the Rappahannock River where Fredericksburg was founded in 1729. Marye's Heights would later become an infamous battlefield during the Civil War.
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