Payne Family Cemetery

"Red House" (now called "Cedar Hill") is two miles northeast of Leedston, a small settlement on the Rappahannovk River, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. It was the ancient seat of the Payne Family.

The first Payne owner of the land on which Red House stood was "Mr. John Payne of Rappahannock", born in 1625 , in England.

About one hundred yards south of the residence is the ancient family burial ground, the antiquity of which is indicated by the inscription of the oldest gravestone now in existence there, that of Daniel Payne, born 1728, whose epitaph reads "buried with his ancestors."

The last owners sold the home and the land in 1860 stipulating in the deed that "it is expressly understood that the grave-yard on the said land is not included in this conveyance, and is reserved with a convenient right-of-way thereto to the grantors, their heirs and assigns, and all appurtenances whatsoever belonging or in any wise appertaining thereto."

Since that time, ownership of the land has passed through several hands, and the old grave-yard has gone the way of all private burying grounds in remote places and on alien property. Members of the family of the last persons buried at Red House have made repeated efforts to maintain a wire fence around the more recent graves. But with passing of the elders, the scattering of the younger generation and the increasingly general use of public cemeteries, the condition of the Red House grave-yard finally reached a point where even traces of its existence were vanishing. For this no one can be justly blamed.

In June of 1934, a stream of bulletins calling for help was started. these appeals were addressed to all discoverable descendants of the immigrant, John Patne, the founder of Red House.

The response to these 324 calls was prompt and generous, and work on the restoration began in November of 1934.

A wall was built around the remaining graves and measured 24 feet by 40 feet. It is made with re-inforced concrete with brick coping, and is broken at regular intervals with eleven brick posts. An opening on one end is enclosed by an ornamental wrought iron gate. In the inner face of the wall opposite the gate, is a set bronze tablet.

Driving down the dirt road in the rain is not recommended as I almost got stuck in the mud. Parking about a half mile away in a church parking lot I had to walk through the mud. Good thing I stopped at Walmart in Fredricksburg just before to purchase an umbrella and rain boots, note they have a no hassle 90 day return policy that I was happy to use on the way back. ;)