108 - Caroline Terry - Sperryville VA - Headstones of Centenarians on Waymarking.com

Caroline Terry was born a slave in 1833. She spent most of her life in Rappahannock County, Virginia including Culpeper and Woodville. Right before the outbreak of the Civil War, Caroline's owner and his slaves moved to Sperryville where he bought and ran the Sperryville Hotel or Hopkins Ordinary which still stands on Main St. today.

After the War broke out, Sister Caroline, as she was known locally, saw the Union army occupy Sperryville during the summer of 1862 and the Confederate army move through before and after the Gettyburg campaign the following summer. Sister Caroline collected many war and military artifacts. Caroline bore three children, whom the other slaves termed as 'gifts from the big house' because her owner and probably his son fathered them.

After the War and emancipation, Caroline stayed in the area with the people she knew and moved into her own house. She married Jeffrey Terry and bore him three more children. In 1873, Sister Caroline was among a small group of black Christians who organized the Hopewell Baptist Church, breaking off from the predominantly white Sperryville Baptist Church. The original church has since been moved and rebuilt, but the congregation is still active today. The church established a cemetery on land they bought. Also known as the 'black cemetery', this is where Sister Caroline was buried. It is located off Rt. 211 on a rustic mountain road called Oventop Mountain Ln.

In her later years, Sister Caroline reminisced of her slavery days, her experiences with the soldiers during the Civil War, and her life after emancipation. Her great-grandson, James Russell who helped care for her, published a book based on her recollections.

References:

• The Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Sperryville Historic District
• HMdb.org: Sister Caroline Marker

Location of Headstone: Hilltop cemetery

Visit Instructions:
Upload a photo of the headstone and, if possible, the surrounding area.(nothing should be placed on grave stone) If you can provide more information about the waymark than what is currently provided, please include that information in your visit log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.