The Last of Richmond!

26 June 2022--Did some running around yesterday, trying to fit in as much as we could while we're here.  We started at St John's Episcopal Church, which has a ton of history to it.  From Patrick Henry, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, to the traitor Benedict Arnold, they have all been right here.

  

It's a small church, but bigger than when it was 1st built and when the historical events happened.  I heard a guide say that there are approximately 400 headstones on the grounds, but they believe about 3500 people are actually buried here.  Most of the markers are so old there is no discernable writing anymore, but this one of George Wythe has been restored and tells us that he was the 1st professor of law in the US, and the 1st Virginian to sign the constitution.

  

   

We stopped in the small visitor center/gift shop first, where there was some history for us to read.  I had never seen anything about Patrick Henry's speech beyond "Give me Liberty...", but I read this excerpt from that speech and thought it was pretty good.  I also didn't know that he was not a supporter of the US Constitution as originally written...he thought too much power was placed in the hands of the federal government, so he was a big reason why we ended up with the Bill of Rights.  Touché, Patrick!  

   

Inside the church our guide told us that up until 1776 every church in America was, by law, an Anglican church, (with the exception of Rhode Island), and all Anglican priests had to be ordained in England, so that while we have all been told as kids that our country began with people leaving England for religious freedom, that isn't really true. It makes sense--we started as subjects of the King of England, the head of the Anglican Church.  This church only became Episcopalian in 1785, after the war.

In the 3rd pic, the guide said the balcony was where the servants sat.  I asked if that was a nice way of saying slaves, and he said yes.  Geez! 

   

These flags are flown inside the church, with the 1st one being the Union Jack, the 2nd one being the Grand Union flag representing the 13 colonies still under the king, and then of course our flag today.

  

So from St. John's we headed about a mile and a half away to what we thought was the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. This was my 1st picture of about a half dozen before we realized we were not at the cathedral at all...lol  Freakin Virginia Commonwealth University is all over this town...you simply can't get away from it.  This building, looking like a church to the uninitiated, is actually the VCU music department's performance hall.  (Took us at least 15 minutes to realize this--lol) 

So we walk another block or so, and here it is!  Now I don't care what religion you are, but the Catholics really know how to express "grandeur"!  lol

   

In 1883 the 5th Bishop of Richmond travelled to Jerusalem and sent back this stone, which was cut from stone in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then implanted into the cornerstone of the cathedral in 1903 when it was being built.

 

This was the 1st cathedral built primarily with funds donated by one family.  They donated $500,000--the equivalent of about $10 million today.  You need to blow up the pics to see how pretty this is.  And check out the organ in the 2nd pic.

      

Our next stop is called Monument Ave, which until very recently had big statues of Confederate War heroes, but have now been taken down.  What they still have though are some very nice houses lining both sides of the street.

  

  

Going down the street, at rotary intersections, huge statues used to be displayed--Robert E Lee, JEB Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, etc.  Now all that remains are empty rotaries and Arthur Ash.  This 1st pic is where Robert E Lee used be.

   

Off we go again--here's another church, Grace and Holy Episcopal, that we passed on our way to our next stop.  Lots of churches here.

 

Believe it or not, this cemetery, called the Hollywood Cemetery, is on the list of "best things to see in Richmond"...lol  So we had to go, of course.  I could not find anything that told me just how many plots are in here, but the dates on the stones go back to the early 1800s up to present day.  The overwhelming majority are very, very old, but even our friends Dayle and Dale have a plot here for their final resting place.  It is massive! 

I posted these pictures and videos so you could see how many are here.  This is just a snap shot, of course, but blow up the pics and watch the videos and you'll get a small idea of just how many plots are  here and maybe an idea of how big it is.  We probably spent 2 hours in here riding around, getting out to see things, and then riding around in circles trying to find certain gravesites that are on the map we got.  Once you go in, it can be like the Twilight Zone trying to get out.  lol

       

We did see that there are 18,000 Confederate soldiers buried here...this 1st pic is a memorial to the officers while the 2nd is to the enlisted.

  

Two of the most famous are JEB Stuart, although I'm not quite sure why he is revered as he was only 31 yrs old when he died, and Jefferson Davis--he had the biggest area that we saw.

  

   

Two presidents are buried here, in "President's Circle" that took us forever to find...along the St James River.  The 1st is John Tyler followed by James Monroe.

  

So that's all we've got for Richmond--our journey south continues tomorrow as we head to Williamsburg for a couple days.  More to follow!