Credits, Links, Resources and Suggested Reading:
1. To read a full account of this story, please pick up a copy of Legends, Stories and Ghostly Tales of Abingdon and Washington County, Virginia by: Donna Akers Warmuth
2. To read a full account of this story, please pick up a copy of The Ghosts of Virginia Volume X by: L.B. Taylor, Jr.
The Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, built in 1772 as a log-meeting house, built the Sinking Spring Cemetery. “Parson” Charles Cummings served as Reverend to the church from 1773 – 1792. During that time, he got the nickname of the “Fighting Parson” when he participated in the Overmountain Men’s march to the Battle of King’s Mountain. The battle started when British General Charles Cornwallis began to believe that Georgia and South Carolina were still loyal to the Throne, and he gave Major Patrick Ferguson control of the Loyalist militia. They arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 26, 1780 and sent work for Appalachian frontiersmen to surrender. Colonels William Campbell, John Sevier, Joseph McDowell, Benjamin Cleveland, James Williams, and Isaac Shelby gathered men to meet the Loyalist. When Ferguson heard of the rebel approach he withdrew to King’s Mountain on the North Carolina and South Carolina line to fight. 900 rebels, including Revered Charles Cummings were victorious in pushing the force back into South Carolina on October 17, 1780. In 1981, Cumming’s cabin was moved two miles to the original site of the log Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church in the cemetery. Toady, some people who walk by the cabin on Russell Street swear they hear phantom footsteps behind them on the sidewalk and around the cabin, though no one else is there. They also report strange lights hovering in the cemetery.
The first marked graves are dated 1776 and belong to Henry Creswell and Fredrick Mongle who were killed by a Native North American Indian attack. During the Civil War, with the Martha Washington Inn serving as a hospital for wounded soldiers, it was necessary to put in an Unknown Confederate Dead section.
Some of the tombstones are decorated with bizarre symbols by today’s standards. Some are marked with a star, which is an early Christian symbol and some argue the original Star of David; other are carved with willow trees, a symbol of grief. Some are carved with the Sign of Heaven and Earth, also called the Sign of Preservation, a Christian hand sign adopted from the Babylonians that resembles a closed hand with the index finger pointing upwards. The symbolism was once clear: whatever came from Heaven would return to Heaven from earth.
Another curious gravesite is that of John Henry Martin (1824 – 1899) and his wife, Melinda Martin. It was constructed like a half-mound of dirt, something very uncommon even in the 18th Century. In fact, earth mounds were very common in Paleolithic Europe, particularly in Ireland where locals believed fairies inhabited the mounds of earth. In actuality, the dead were buried on top of one another above ground and covered in dirt, creating the mounds. Some believe that the mounds were once earthen pyramids modeled after the ancient Egyptian custom of burying important people, but after centuries of weathering they have been reduced to what we see today. If this is the case, the Henry Martin went a long way to preserving his body, just like the pharos of ancient Egypt. Some even say he went as far as being pickled in alcohol and is buried standing up.
