 | MASONIC CEMETERY, NW. corner Charles and George Sts., a half acre of turf dotted with mossy tombstones and enclosed by a stone wall, is one of the oldest Masonic burial grounds in America. The land was bought in 1784 by Fredericksburg Lodge No.4. Here is an impressive array of chiseled names, virtue-claiming epitaphs, and coats of arms. Basil Gordon (1768-1817), one of the first millionaires in North America, Robert Lewis, private secretary to his uncle, George Washington, and twice mayor of Fredericksburg, and officers of three wars are buried here.
Covered with wild vines in a far corner is the grave of Lewis Littlepage, born in Hanover County in 1762 but a resident of Fredericksburg during his early years. As a boy of 18, after writing poetry at the College of William and Mary, he went to Madrid as protege of John Jay, American minister to Spain, with whom he later quarreled. He joined the Due de Crillon, distinguished himself in the storming of Gibraltar, and met La Fayette. He visited Poland, was knighted by King Stanislaus, made minister in the Polish cabinet, and sent to conclude a treaty with Catherine of Russia. The Empress 'borrowed' him and sent him against the Turks in the Black Sea, where his fellow townsman, John Paul Jones, was an admiral in the Russian fleet. He served against Russia during the Polish revolution of 1791
and joined Kosciusko in storming Prague in 1794. After an unfortunate
love affair with a princess of North Poland and the capture of King Stanislaus by the Russians, Littlepage retired to Fredericksburg, where he died in 1802. Virginia: A Guide To The Old Dominion 1940 |
The Masonic Cemetery is still dotted with mossy tombstones and there is definitely an impressive array of names and epitaphs although the elements have rendered many hard to read.
The grave of Robert Lewis has suffered damage and weeds have taken root in the broken crypt cover rendering the epitaph hard to read. There is a stone tablet that was added to the foot of the crypt in 1944 by the great granddaughters of Lewis, that mirrors the inscription on the cracked marker.
The grave of Lewis Littlepage is no longer covered in wild vines. Indeed, no vines were found in the immediate area.
The three wars of which officers are buried here are the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.