About

Deeply rooted in history, East End Cemetery and St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery are two of the oldest cemeteries in the area and offer a wealth of information about Wytheville and the country's earliest families. The grounds are the final resting places of senators, congressmen, Civil War heroes, early immigrants, even the former governor of Virginia and the parents of a first lady. Several local citizens buried here were well known on the state and national level and include Governor E. Lee Trinkle (Virginia Governor 1922-26), Colonel Robert E. Withers (U.S. Senator & Consult to Hong Kong), General William Terry (U.S. Senator & last commander of Stonewall Brigade), members of the J.E.B. Stuart family and the parents of Edith Bolling Wilson (First Lady and wife of President Woodrow Wilson). Besides numerous graves of Civil War heroes, you will also find a Confederate Monument erected through the efforts of the Wythe Gray Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Dedicated in 1900 with ceremonies and a parade of almost 5000 people, the monument sits over the graves of the unknown soldiers. The base of the monument is a massive block of native limestone. The monument proper is of Vermont granite that was shaped, carved, and dressed by a local business, B. F. Greenawalt and Company. The square sub-base is cut on the southern side in plain Gothic letters "To the Heroes of 1861-1865 - Defenders of State Sovereignty." Crossed flags adorn the eastern side, crossed swords in the western and the initials "C.S.A." are on the northern side. The shaft is about twenty feet high.

The St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery is adjacent to East End on the Peppers Ferry Roadside. Within this area, you will find many of the graves of the first Irish-Catholic immigrants into Virginia. The old St. Mary’s Catholic Church was located on these grounds as well. Dedicated in 1845, it was known as the "Cathedral in the Wilderness,' as it was the only Catholic church between Lynchburg, VA, and Knoxville, TN. The land was donated by Captain John P. Mathews. The first ordained resident priest was Rev. Edward Fox. The church was replaced by a new brick church building on East Main Street in 1937 and the old church was dismantled in the 1950s.