April 12, 2015

Remembering Gleedsville

Church at Gleedsville

Yesterday we went to a pair of history-related events near Leesburg. They honored the enslaved people of  the Carter Plantation (Oatlands) and the freed people who settled nearby after the Civil War. Here we see an event at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun, where a marker was unveiled.

The church was originally the Mt. Olive Methodist Episcopal Church of Gleedsville. It was built in 1890.

The new Civil War Trails Marker tells the story of Martin Buchanan, who in 1863 left his existence as a slave at the plantation and joined the Union Army. It also summarizes the story of the village of Gleedsville, founded by African-Americans after the Civil War.
Unveiling the Marker



Click on the Picture to See a Larger Version

Joining current church members for the event were history buffs and people whose families came from Gleedsville. Some remembered attending church here.

The signs tells us that the village was found by recently freed families — Gleeds. Buchanans, Days, Turners, Allens, Valentines, Johnsons, and Washingtons; and those previously free —Bryants, Thorntons, and Murrays.

My sister attends the church that currently meets here and this is where memorial services were held for my parents.

Sharing with Inspired Sunday

3 comments:

  1. What a great bit of history Linda. Tom The Backroads Traveller

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very educational experience. That's a pretty church. I love small country churches.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A lot of history- and well worth commemorating.

    ReplyDelete

The View from Squirrel Ridge features thousands of views of the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding area. I post frequently so please visit often.

Your comments are appreciated. If you are responding to a post older than a few days, your comment will be held until we have a chance to approve it. Thanks for your patience!

Sorry, anonymous comments cannot be accepted because of the large number of spam comments that come in that way. Also, links that are ads will be deleted.