In Memoriam

This monument was erected by the Board of Directors of Stratford Hall in 1953. The reference to “those negroes who served Stratford so faithfully” reflects the attitude of the time shown by upper and middle class whites to former slaves and their descendants.

The cemetery is the final resting place for many African Americans, including members of the Payne family, whose association with Stratford Hall dates back to the early 19th century and possibly to the period when Stratford was owned by the Lees. Wesley Payne (1875 – 1954), who continued to work at Stratford Hall after its acquisition by the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation in 1929, provided names of some family members interred here:

Walter Payne (uncle)*

Hannah Jackson Payne (mother), c. 12845 – 1886

Ardrick [Theodorick] Payne (brother), 1879 – 1883

Lal [Lawrence] Payne (brother), 1879 – 1883

Wesley Payne (great-grandfather)

Ardrick [Theodorick] Payne (great-uncle)

William Payne (great-uncle)

Walter Payne (great-uncle)

Hannah Payne (infant sister) 1886 – 1886

*Parentheses indicate each family member’s relationship to Wesley Payne.

Marker can be reached from Great House Road 0.7 miles north of Stratford Hall Road.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: