About Monocacy Cemetery

Monocacy Cemetery is located along Rt. 28 in Beallsville, Montgomery County, Maryland. With its rich history and rolling grounds, it is a beautiful and peaceful resting place for many of Upper Montgomery County citizens, dating as far back in records as 1752.

From the Beginning

The cemetery’s earliest graves are located in close proximity to the chapel, reflective of the early custom of burying the dead in small churchyards close to church structures. Many of the early graves are of the distinctive red Seneca sandstone found in this region of Maryland and date to the 1820s and 1830s. The flat, tablet-style grave markers with low-relief carving exhibits the quality workmanship of early American craftsman.

A focal point of the cemetery is the Monocacy Chapel, which was built in 1915 by the E.V. White Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to replace an earlier chapel. Built sometime between 1734 and 1747, the original chapel at the site was a chapel of ease for early Anglican parishioners. A second chapel on the site was built circa 1760. During the Civil War, Union soldiers reportedly used this chapel as a stable for their horses and destroyed it beyond repair. In 1874, the Monocacy Cemetery Society took over the operation of the cemetery.

A large stone slab memorial dedicated to Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery sits nearby the chapel. The current marker is a replacement for the original, but rests on a portion of the original stone. The stone contains the following inscription, “In Loving memory of the valor and self-sacrifice of the Maryland soldiers in the Confederate Army whose names are inscribed heron,” and lists 32 soldiers. The original memorial marker was erected by the Ladies of Old Medley’s District, Montgomery County in 1911 and replaced by the Ladies Auxiliary of Monocacy in 1975. Both the marker and the chapel are examples of the work of women’s organizations that proliferated across the country in the post-bellum period.

To the north and west of the chapel is a high concentration of mid- and late-nineteenth century graves. These graves exemplify the “rural” cemetery movement. During the Victorian era, cemetery designers incorporated picturesque landscapes and family burial plots with a wide variety of decorative and statuesque grave markers in a reflection of American’s growing sentimental attitude towards death and increased reverence for nature. The Monocacy Cemetery reflects this movement in its overall design with sloping hills, winding paths, numerous trees, and ornamental landscaping. Large family burial plots feature vertical forms, such as columns and obelisks. Graves featuring sentimental carved figures, such as lambs and angels, were also common in this era. Monocacy Cemetery has an excellent example of a large carved stone angel that marks the grave of Arthur Nicholson. Other features found in the cemetery include plot-defining barriers, such as short, cast iron fences, and low marble walls.

In the early twentieth century, cemetery design shifted from the romantic picturesque to the more orderly designs of perpetual care lawn cemeteries. This period of cemetery design deemphasized monuments in favor of unbroken lawn scenery and regularity. Management of cemeteries shifted from plots sold to private owners to maintain according to individual taste to sponsoring institutes, such as the Monocacy Cemetery Company, that could extend perpetual care to every lot and grave. The result was a smoother landscaping, which was easier to maintain.

Monocacy Cemetery Today

The priority of Monocacy Cemetery is to maintain a welcoming environment to the community. Great efforts have been taken recently to improve the grounds, clean and restore grave markers, and to provide family genealogy resources to our visitors.

Through the valuable website, FindaGrave.com, every grave has now been identified and placed on the Internet.

All military veterans have been added to a database so their burial sites are mapped and can be easily located when flags are placed on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day.

Monocacy Cemetery encourages the community to remember the history of this portion of Montgomery County and those who created it. The legacies of the people buried here continue to thrive in the community they built.