Chesterfield leaders plan next steps after 19th century burial site found during construction project

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Leaders in Chesterfield County came together for a public meeting at L.C. Byrd High School on Monday evening to figure out what their next steps should be after construction workers discovered what they believe to be a 19th century gravesite.

They found it while working on the Nash Road Extension Project in late April of 2024 and leaders believe that they have finally made an identification.

The gravesite of Nancy Graves Hopkins was discovered near the intersection of Beach and Nash Road, where a bulk of the construction for the project has already taken place.

Now, county and project officials are working on finding decedents and figuring out the best way to move the project forward.

The project, which broke ground back in October, aims to help alleviate some of the traffic congestion in the area and will make navigating parts of the county easier for its residents.

“We believe that those burials are all a family. A cemetery associated with Nancy Graves. Nancy Graves, we know, died in 1858. And the goal here is just to chat with the descendants, chat with the community, talk about how we can respectfully move forward,” said Lauren Gryctko, the senior archeologist with JMT (Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson) , the company working on the Nash Road Extension Project alongside Chesterfield County.

She says that after workers made the original gravesite discovery, JMT used special ground penetrating technology to search the surrounding area for other possible remains-which have not been disturbed. During the two weeks from the time the original gravesite was made, workers and archeologists with the company found 17 more graves.

“The graves cannot remain where they are, and the project is pretty far in advance,” Gryctko said. “Who goes on to say that the work that needs to be done now is seeking out Graves family descendants to determine how to best relocate the interred. So, we did identify a couple of people who we do think are descendants.”

Mary-Katharine Hancock Easter was at the July 22 meeting, and she believes she could be descendent of Nancy Graves.

“My maiden name is Hancock, it’s emotional. It’s emotional, and it’s rewarding to see that care out there,” Easter said.

According to Gryctko, the county has plans to transfer the gravesites to the Maury Cemetery nearby — which Easter says would be the best idea.

“I would like to see those graves moved to Maury Cemetery with the other graves that were moved there in 1999,” Easter said. “They are contacting families and reaching out and asking them what they want. And I think that’s really noble.”

Officials say they expect the excavating process to begin by mid-August and for the process to be complete and have the grave site moved by October.

For more information about the Nash Road Extension Project and to figure out if you could be descendent of Nancy Graves contact J. Elias O’Neal of Chesterfield County at 804-768-7516 or oneal@chesterfield.gov .

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