Cemetery Rosters
[About some of the people laid to rest]

The Union of Churches Cemetery was laid out early in the nineteenth century and was strictly segregated, with the black section to the rear. Both sections contain fine marble monuments, but many African Americans could afford no more than a roughly flat stone brought in from some field, or just a wooden marker that quickly weathered away. The resulting gaps in the rows testify to the inequalities of the day.

Civil War veterans of both races - and both armies - lie peaceably together in the same cemetery. Their graves bear appropriate military markers. One designates the grave of James Lewis (born 1844) who traveled to Pittsburgh during the war where he joined the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, a white-led black unit like the famous 54th that was Immortalized in the film, Glory.

The rosters have been kept separated to make lookup easier. Rosters of other Loudoun County cemeteries are available from the Loudoun Cemetery Database. We thank the Thomas Balch Library for assembling this data. Photos of some of the gravestones are available at Fine a Grave.

The white section of the cemetery contains 389 graves, 253 have identifiable names.

The African American section contains 208 graves: 77 have identifiable headstones, 81 have markers with no names, and 50 have no marker.

A memorial area was added in 2020 to allow Waterford residents and families connected to the village to be remembered with bronze plaques and cremains burial.