A Brief History of Joppa Cemetery (Burying Ground Ridge)
Graves at right of Squire and Sarah Morgan Boone. Wilcoxson graves are at left foreground. Photo by Robert Alvin Crum copyright 2024. More images below.
Robert Alvin Crum copyright 26 April 2024
This past year, I had the honor of being involved in organizing the Col. Daniel Boone Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in Boone, North Carolina. This was especially an honor for me since I became a member of the Sons of the American Revolution as a direct descendant of Col. Daniel Boone.
One of the missions of the Sons of the Revolution (SAR) is to mark with granite stones the graves as “Patriots” of those who served as soldiers, in the government, or contributed financially to the fight for independence from Great Britain. On April 15, 2023, our Boone Chapter, sponsored its first Patriot Grave Marking at Joppa Cemetery in Mocksville, North Carolina, along with another SAR Chapter and a Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. The Grave Marking Ceremony was for Patriots Basil Gaither and Isaac Jones, and there were about sixty people in attendance along with the Mayor Marklin of Mocksville and North Carolina House Member Howard.
As a historian, I was asked to write a brief history about Joppa Cemetery and give an oral presentation to the crowd attending. Those with whom I was involved in planning this ceremony knew my connection as a Boone descendant and that I had frequented the cemetery to leave flags and coins and flowers. They also knew that I had enough research to write a book about the subject, but we didn’t want to put our audience to sleep, so I kept my presentation fairly brief.
After my presentation, I was surprised that most who attended had never heard of the history of this place. There are many descendants of Squire and Sarah Morgan Boone who make pilgrimages to Joppa Cemetery to visit the graves of their ancestors, but most of them also have not seen its history. I know many of them are members of The Boone Society, so I thought what better place than The Compass to pass along this history. My presentation about Joppa Cemetery to those in attendance at the Grave Markings on April 15 is as follows.
Originally known as Burying Ground Ridge, the area around today’s Joppa Cemetery was settled in the early 1750’s. The cemetery is believed to hold the graves of many of those early settlers. Until recently, the earliest marked grave was that of Squire Boone, who was buried here in 1765. It’s believed that his son Daniel carved Squire’s headstone, which includes many Masonic symbols. Squire’s wife, Sarah, died in 1777 and was buried beside him. A bronze plaque mounted above their gravestones quotes the text on each of their stones. Squire’s text recites, “Squire Boone departed this life they sixty-ninth year of his age in thay year of our Lord 1765 Geneiary tha 2.” The text on Sara’s stone is simpler and says, “Sah + Boone departed this life aged 77 years.”
More recent research confirmed the location of the grave of their oldest son, Israel, who died in 1756. He’s buried to the left of his parents, and his grave was marked in May 2009 by his descendants and The Boone Society. John Boone, Squire’s nephew, died in 1803, and he’s believed to be buried near the grave of Squire and Sarah Morgan Boone. Squire’s oldest daughter, Sarah, married John Wilcoxson who also is documented as being buried near Squire and Sarah Boone. As of this writing, the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution are continuing with plans to conduct a Patriot Grave Marking of John Wilcoxson’s currently unmarked grave.
I dwell on the Boone graves, because many, including historians, believe that people have worked to preserve this cemetery as the final resting place of the parents of Daniel Boone. In 1938, North Carolina Highway Marker M 3 was first installed here which said, “DANIEL BOONE’S PARENTS – Squire and Sarah Boone are buried here. Daniel Boone, 1734 – 1820, lived many years in this region.”
In addition to the Boone family association, this cemetery is connected to the Presbyterian congregation originally located here. The first known building at Joppa Cemetery was a small, one-room log meeting house. It’s believed to have been in the southeast corner of the cemetery just inside today’s old stone wall marking the original cemetery. First Presbyterian Church of Mocksville traces its founding to this place.
The May 1767 minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia and New York first mention a group of worshipers at the meeting house in Joppa Cemetery. There’s speculation that a congregation was meeting here as early as January 1765, when Squire Boone was buried in the nearby cemetery. The May 1789 Presbyterian Church records refer to the church name for the first time as Joppa, which is a Biblical word meaning beautiful. A frame church was built in 1793 on the same site as the original log structure. The Joppa church members moved from this country church into the town of Mocksville around 1834, which subsequently became the First Presbyterian Church of Mocksville
In 1951, the Presbyterian Church deeded the cemetery to Joppa Cemetery, Inc. who is still the owner. There are many unmarked graves in the old part of the cemetery surrounded by the stone wall. In this area, there are five Revolutionary War veteran graves whose names are Evan Ellis, Basil Gaither, Isaac Jones, Aaron Van Cleve and John Wilcoxson (The husband of Sarah Boone 1724-1815.) There are at least seven graves of Civil War veterans in this area. Quite a few veteran graves are also located in the front and newer part of the cemetery.
In 2022, the historic highway sign at the front of the cemetery was replaced due to the previous sign’s age and weathering. It now reads, “SQUIRE AND SARAH BOONE – Parents of frontiersman Daniel Boone settled in N.C. ca. 1751, received land grant nearby, 1753. Squire died, 1765, and Sarah, 1777. Buried here.”
This cemetery has also become a popular historical destination for visitors to Mocksville. It’s located on Yadkinville Road – east side of U.S. Highway 601 North, Mocksville, North Carolina. Location coordinates are N35.90914; W80.57750.
Sources:
Cemetery Census, Davie County North Carolina Cemeteries, Davie County Historical & Genealogical Society, http://cemeterycensus.com/nc/davie/cem089.htm
Daughters of the American Revolution, www.dar.org/library/onlineresearch/ ancestorsearch.
Davie County Register of Deeds, Mocksville, NC.
Draper, Lyman Copeland, Draper Manuscripts, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Heitman, Mary J., History of Joppa Church, Martin-Wall History Room, Davie Public Library, Mocksville, NC.
Martin-Wall History Room, Davie County Public Library, Mocksville, NC.
North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC, www.ncmarkers.com.
Rowan County Register of Deeds, Salisbury, NC.
Sons of the American Revolution, www.sarpatriots.org/patriotssearch and cemetery search.
Spraker, Hazel Atterbury, The Boone Family, The Tuttle Company, Rutland, VT, 1922.
State of North Carolina, Department of Revenue, Raleigh, North Carolina.
U.S. Quaker Meeting Records 1681-1935.
Wall, James W., A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Mocksville, North Carolina, Mocksville, NC,1963.
