About the Cemetery

About 1790 a small group of believers in upper James City County came together in the vicinity of what is now called Norge,  a community of farming families at that time. They became known as Methodists and founded the James City Chapel.  An historic entry in the Book of Trustees for James City Chapel on Tuesday March 3, 1805, stated that; "Deed made July 11, 1791, giving piece of land with  James City Chapel to the Methodist Episcopal Church." [1]

During a 1790 visit to the area, itinerant Methodist preacher, Francis Asbury had preached at the Chickahominy Church, an abandoned colonial period Anglican Church nearby.  In 1797, Francis Asbury, the first Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, noted in his journal that “Two good meeting houses had been erected since his 1790 visit to the Williamsburg area: one in James City County (the James City Chapel) and one in New Kent (The Tabernacle Church, near Holly Forks)." [2]

The meeting house in James City was the James City Chapel erected in 1791 on the present day (2025) James City Chapel Cemetery property on Richmond Road just east of the Richmond Road and Croaker Road intersection.  This little community of believers quickly grew in number.  In 1812, on March 2nd, Asbury noted in his journal: "I passed a night of great suffering. We came off this morning to James City and preached in the chapel to many people. We had an evening meeting. (That night I) Lodged at John Taylor's . . ." [3] The Taylor family has played a prominent role in the life of the James City Chapel and the Methodist community. Bishop Asbury often noted that he stayed with the Edmund Taylor, Sr., family when he stopped to preach at the James City Chapel during his travels through James City County.  John Taylor was a son of Edmund Taylor, Sr.  There is no doubt that Asbury’s presence in the Taylor home influenced Edmund’s children.  John Taylor, for example, became a traveling Methodist Itinerant Preacher, serving the church in the Ohio Methodist Conference for 19 years. Another brother of John, William Taylor, Sr., served as the Class Leader of the Chapel for many years.  Likewise, one of the most prominent members of the Chapel was John and William’s younger brother, Pinkethman A. Taylor, who according to his obituary, was "Born of the Spirit" during a camp-meeting at Bellamy's (Farm) in Gloucester in 1840 at the age of 28.  From 1840 until his death in 1867, "Pink" as he was called by friends, served James City Chapel as Class Leader [Lay Leader], Exhorter (Lay Speaker), and was later appointed by the Virginia Methodist Conference as a Licensed Local Preacher.

The first grave of James City Chapel was that of Edmund Taylor, the 4-month-old son of Pinkethman A. and Susan B. Taylor.  The child was buried in 1843. "Pink" and Susan would go on to bury three (3) more young children in the cemetery, and eventually seven of their eight sons would rest there.  Very early history of James City Chapel has not been found, however, the "Church Book" of the Chapel offers insight into the families worshiping there from 1829 until 1871.  Records appear again beginning in 1884 while under the pastorate of Reverend J. P. Woodward.  "In that year, because the church was not thriving and the building was getting in disrepair," discussions among the leadership of the Chapel began to consider moving the Chapel, or building a new church in Toano, previously called Burnt Ordinary.” [4] Perhaps those discussions were influenced because Toano "had assumed some importance since the railroad came through in 1883.  At the time the railroad crossed Church Street just at the bottom of the hill below Mt. Vernon UMC’s present day (2025) parsonage.  There were six passenger trains a day, in addition to freights stopping in Toano for water.”  [5] 

Toano proved to be an appropriate location for the new church serving the western reaches of James City County.  However, the Toano location was considered to be too far away to serve the Chapel members living in the Lightfoot area in the late 1880’s, then  called “Kelton”, a community name apparently established by the name which the railroad had  assigned to the train depot built there.  During the November 1889 Quarterly Conference, construction of a new Kelton Methodist Church was announced, and trustees were named.  The new Kelton Methodist Church opened for worship in the fall of 1891.

Unfortunately, the Kelton church, a victim of population  shift, found that it could not sustain its membership, and after 28 years of service to the Lightfoot community, was closed and sold in 1919.  On January 27, 1919, the Quarterly Conference selected a committee to sell the Kelton church and apply the proceeds to improve the James City Chapel Cemetery.  The committee accomplished the directive by August 1919.  During the 1919 Conference the James City Chapel Cemetery was designated to be the burial ground for members of the James City Chapel, Mt. Vernon Methodist Church and Kelton Methodist Church.  With the closure of the Kelton church, Mt. Vernon Methodist Church was given the responsibility for operating and maintaining the James City Chapel Cemetery. [6]

James City Chapel Cemetery Association

In 1952, members of Mount Vernon Methodist Church, whose family members were buried in the cemetery, saw the need for perpetual care of the cemetery, and organized the James City Chapel Cemetery Association for that purpose, under the oversight of the Mount Vernon’s Board of Trustees.  Since 2018, the cemetery, owned by Mt. Vernon UMC, has been operated and maintained by a modern non-profit incorporated version of the 1952 James City Chapel Cemetery Association.  The goal of the association is to maintain an atmosphere of dignity and serenity, while providing safety for its visitors as it operates and maintains of the resting place of so many who have worshipped at the James City Chapel, Kelton Methodist Church, as well as those who continue to worship at Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church.

References

[1]  A note concerning the original 1791 Deed was made in the Book of Trustees for James City Chapel on Tuesday, March 3, 1805, (Book  4, B4-16).

[2]  James City County, The Cornerstone of the Commonwealth, by Martha W. McCartney, The Donning Company Publishers, Page 545.

[3]  Copy of The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, Volume III, J. Manning Potts, Publisher By Epworth Press and Abingdon Press, Book 2, B2-27A, Page 422.

[4]  Francis Asbury's America, Compiled and Edited by Terry D. Bilhartz, Pub. By Zondervan, 1984, Page 75.

[5]  Previous History of Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church written by Florence Cottrell, Book 3, B3-1A.

[6]  Methodist of Earlier Times In Upper James City County, Virginia, written by Rev. Norwood P. Montgomery.