Next in…

Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series:

Lovettsville’s Hidden History:
Mount Sinai Church & Cemetery

Sunday, April 3, at 2:00 p.m.

In-person at Lovettsville Town Council Chamber (behind the Museum) and online via Zoom

During April, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is expected to decide on measures to preserve and protect the Mount Sinai Free Will Baptist Church and Cemetery site, which is located at the intersection of Mountain Road and Britain Road, southwest of the town of Lovettsville. This is the result of an initiative presented jointly by Phyllis Randall, the Chair of the Board of Supervisors, and Caleb Kershner, the Catoctin District Supervisor, last November.  The initiative asked the Board to have County staff look into options for either acquiring the cemetery property, or to take other measures to preserve and protect the historic property. It is likely that the staff recommendations will be presented to the full Board at its April 19 business meeting.

On April 3, the Lovettsville Historical Society will present the story of the Mount Sinai Church – organized in 1883 as a mission of the Free Will Baptists at Storer College in Harpers Ferry – and its cemetery.

The cemetery was in use from at least 1887 until the 1950s, and as many as 100 people could be buried there. We will also tell the stories of some of the families who are buried there, and we will discuss the efforts now being made to restore and preserve this hidden gem of Lovettsville history.

Speakers will include the founders of the Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery:

  • Claudette Bard, a trained genealogist, will present her findings of some of the families who have members buried at Mount Sinai, including the following families: Curtis, Redman, Paris, Morgan, and Young. She will also talk about Henry Howard, a Lovettsville Delegate to the 1883 “Colored Mass Meeting” which demanded civil rights for Loudoun’s black citizens.
  • Howard Gilbert Timbers has studied his ancestor Pvt. Samuel Timbers, who served with the 29 the U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War, and who is buried at Mount Sinai. Private Timbers served in the latter phase of the War, at Petersburg, Richmond, Appomattox, and then in Texas along the Mexican border.
  • Edward Spannaus has been studying the history of Mount Sinai – how it was founded as a mission of the Free Will Baptists who also founded Storer College in Harpers Ferry, and how the property was eventually sold off and abandoned.

This event will held be both in-person at the Lovettsville Town Council Chambers and will be streamed online via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent out a few days before the lecture. To request the Zoom link, please RSVP to events@LovettsvilleHistoricalSociety.org

The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations and are welcome to defray expenses of the program.

The mission of the Lovettsville Historical Society is to foster a sense of place and community by preserving, protecting, and educating about the history and heritage of Lovettsville and the German Settlement. The Society is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions and membership dues are tax deductible under Internal Revenue Code Section 170.

For more information, visit www.LovettsvilleHistoricalSociety.org or email events@lovettsvillehistoricalsociety.org.