Historical re-enactors brought names from the past to life at the Mount Olivet United Methodist Church Cemetery last weekend.
The event, which involved re-enactors portraying some of the notables interred on the grounds, was hosted jointly by the church and the Arlington Historical Society. It was an opportunity to celebrate 170 years of “education, healing and spiritual growth,” said Mary Waters of the church’s history committee.
Monte Campbell, long active in the church, was one of those portraying parishioners of the past. She said events like the Sept. 28 program — which drew about 80 people of all ages — are “helping us to understand our past.”
‘Center of civic life’ since 1850s
Mount Olivet served as a “center of civic life here from the moment of its consecration” in the mid-1850s, said George Axiotis, who has researched and written about local life at the time of the Civil War.
Back then, what was known as Alexandria County contained about 13,000 residents: most of them in the town (now city) that maintains the name, and the remainder in farms along the rural areas that became modern-day Arlington.
The rural area was seen as a “backwater” of sorts, Axiotis said.
“It’s where farmers lived. It just wasn’t a good place to be,” he said.
As war loomed, parishioners and the broader Alexandria County community found themselves split on secession. Most of those in the farming areas were less eager to leave the Union than those in the town of Alexandria, but some families were gung-ho in support of the emerging Confederacy.
William Veitch (1806-78) and his wife Sara Veitch (1808-93) were among the founding members of the church supporting secession, with a majority of their five sons serving in the Confederate Army. The couple is interred in the graveyard.
Among them was George Veitch (1836-1911), a lieutenant in the 6th Virginia Cavalry who served under J.E.B. Stuart and was captured in battle toward the end of the war. He and his family also are buried in the cemetery.
Another Veitch son, Richard “Dick” Veitch, served as sheriff of Alexandria County from 1883-95.
The Marcey family is well-represented in the cemetery. Among the most recent family members interred were spouses William Marcey (1909-1996) and Sara Marcey (1917-2011).
William Marcey’s ancestors, William and Mary Ann Marcey, donated a portion of land for the church in the 1850s, and are believed to be among those buried in the cemetery with unmarked gravesites.
A number of re-enactors at the event portrayed ministers who served the congregation and are buried in its cemetery. They include the Rev. William Livingston (1836-1888), who served at the church from 1883-88.
His wife, Amanda Livingston (1838-1912), left the area after her husband’s death but later returned, becoming a pillar of the Mount Olivet community until her death.
Also buried on the grounds is the Rev. Edwin McGregor (1817-95), who was assigned to the church in 1888-90 and again in 1892-94.
Also interred in the cemetery is Hampton Dye (1844-96), one of approximately 200 parishioners who converted to Christianity during the church’s “great revival” period of 1865-66.
Licensed as a local preacher in 1872, Dye and his wife had many children; their ancestors remained prominent at the church for more than a century.
Remembering those enslaved by church leaders
The presentation included new research into slavery and its relationship to Mount Olivet.
“The church did not enslave anyone, but many of the trustees who founded the church did,” said Jessica Kaplan. She heads the Memorializing the Enslaved in Arlington initiative, a joint project of the Arlington Historical Society and the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.
Kaplan said the actions of Mount Olivet congregants were not surprising, given the times.
“They were mirroring what was going on in this general area,” she said.
Campbell said the effort to understand the lives of past church leaders is part of an effort “coming to terms with our past.”
While not dwelling on the era of slavery, “we don’t want to sugar-coat it,” she said. “Hopefully today the church speaks to another ethos.”
Among those in church leadership holding people in bondage were William and Catherine Minor, who owned a 110-acre farm and from the 1830s to 1850s enslaved upwards of 30 people.
Several of those enslaved by the family recently were honored with “stumbling stones” marking their lives.
Another branch of the Minor family fled to D.C. at the start of the Civil War. In 1862, that family freed seven enslaved servants under terms of the Compensated Emancipation Act.
Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, the legislation provided up to $300 per emancipated slave to the former enslavers in D.C. Those being emancipated received nothing unless they opted to emigrate outside the United States, in which case they received $100 each.
Keeping history alive for future generations
One reason so much is known of those interred at the cemetery is the work of Henry “Hank” Hulme (1923-2013). After retirement as the county’s public-works director, Hulme served in numerous volunteer roles at the church, including historian.
“Because of his tireless efforts, the history of this cemetery and this church has been preserved,” church officials say. “The Mount Olivet leaders of today stand on the shoulders of this remarkable Mount Olivet leader of our recent past.”
Hulme, who is buried on the grounds, also helped the church play a role in the civil-rights struggle of the 1960s.
Late in that decade, Arlington Public Schools’ leaders opted to ban school dances at middle and high schools rather than integrate them, citing concerns about safety.
Hulme and other Mount Olivet leaders offered the church as an alternate site for students from nearby Washington-Lee High School to gather for dances after football games.
The events, held in the same room as the Sept. 28 presentation was conducted, continued for several years until school leaders relented and school-based dances resumed.
Land dispute led to church’s founding
The land at the corner of N. Glebe Road and 16th Street N. on which the church and cemetery are located has an interesting history.
Ownership of the parcel in the 1850s was disputed by the William Marcey and John Brown families, which owned large tracts in the vicinity. Rather than continue the dispute, the two families opted to donate the site for church use.
Waters said it was appropriate that an act of reconciliation led to the 170-year history of the church on the site.
The current building dates to the mid-20th century. The original had been commandeered by the military during the Civil War. For several months it was used by federal troops as a field hospital, and the following winter the church was”literally torn apart by Union soldiers desperate for firewood,” Waters said.
Succeeding buildings were impacted by fires and other ravages of time.
“It just shows the resilience of the congregation,” Waters said. “It gives you pause to see what the founding and early members of the church had to go through.”
Not just the founding members have dealt with adversity. A fire and ensuing water damage in October 2022 caused significant damage to office space and church classrooms, and restoration work is only now approaching its conclusion.
The sanctuary, fellowship hall and preschool building were largely unharmed in the event.
