Adam Thorowgood Gravesite Discovered

The following messages was sent to the Tarvin Mailing List and refers to the possible discovery of the submerged gravesite of Tarvin family ancestor Adam Thoroughgood. The Tarvin Family Association is investigating how it might contribute to the project. Family members are welcome to contact Mr. Treanor directly.

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Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 01:16:00 -1000
Reply-To: c.middleton@worldnet.att.net
To: tarvin@ucsd.edu
Subject: Adam Thorowgood's gravesite

Dear Tarvins, 
I am forwarding the letter below to you all because I think it may be of
interest to some of you -- it is a copy of a letter sent to Bob
Thorowgood from another cousin Paul Treanor (who is offline), and
attached are Bob's comments. He would like to hear from you if you have
anything to offer on the matter of the Thorowgood graves. (In case you
are unfamiliar with GHOTES to which Bob refers-- that is the online site
and list associated with genealogy and history of the Eastern Shore of
VA).

I might also add that I have personally correponded with Paul Treanor
and spoken with him by phone and he is doing a really neat thing in
trying to recover something of Adam Thorowgood's (and Sarah Offley's)
gravesite. He has also a wealth of information on that family.
Best to you all, 
Carol Middleton
-------------------------------------------------------
>From Bob:

Clan,
 
Here is a copy of what I sent to GHOTES concerning the letter from Mr.
Treanor of Richmond Virginia.  I will wait until the end of the week
before I reply to him in the event that someone may have a comment that
I can pass on.  If you have any suggestions send them this way.  Hope
this gets some results.
 
Happy Mother's Day
Bob Thorowgood
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris & Bob Thorowgood 
To: ghotes@esva.net 
Date: Sunday, May 09, 1999 5:51 PM
Subject: Thoroughgood/Thorowgood Headstones

Fellow Ghotes, 
 
The following letter was sent to me and other members of the Thorowgood
family by Mr. Paul Treanor of Richmond Virginia.  I realize that that
almost none of you are direct descendants of Adam Thorowgood but many of
you may have ties to the name.  This gentleman is not online so his
contacts are limited.  If you know of anyone who may be of assistance to
Mr. Treanor please contact him at:   W. Paul Treanor, 906
Andros Road, Richmond Virginia 23225-7202.  The open letter follows.
 
An open letter to all descendants of Capt. Adam Thoroughgood and Sarah
Offley
 
     For almost three hundred years, the remains of our ancestors have
rested in the mud of the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven River at
Virginia Beach, Virginia.  This occurred, when the channel of the river
changed course and finally engulfred not only the cemetery but also the
remains of the first Church which it served.  Bishop Meade, in his book
on the Old Churches of Virginia gives a delightful account of how this
happened.  The only thing saved from the First Church was the baptismal
basin which was found years later in the possession of a fisherman who
was using it as a boat anchor.  A lady now living in Richmond, a
descendant of this couple, had the pleasure of being christened from
this basin, which is now located in the Old Donation Church (Episcopal)
in Virginia Beach.  
     Several years ago the Suffolk Chapter, Colonial Dames XVII,
purchased and had installed, a marker on the shore on Lynnhaven, near
the spot where the Church stood.  This marker indicates that the founder
of Lower Norfolk County and Virginia Beach is buried under the waters
off shore.  They also instigated a search for this exact site, in the
hope of recovering the tombstones of Adam and Sarah.
     I have been digging up my roots for many years and when I learned
of the Ladies efforts, I contacted them and was invited to join them in
their task.  I had written an essay on Capt. Adam and I was able to get
Mr. Bill Geroux of the Richmond Times Dispatch, to request permission of
his editors to write a piece on the subject.  He did a great job. 
Through the efforts of Ladies of the Colonial Dames, Mr. John Broadwater
an underwater archaeologist and Mr. Mike Phaneuf of Marine Sonic
Services of Gloucester Point, Va., volunteered to do a sonic survey in
an attempt to locate the cemetery.  I was there when the survey was done
and was on hand when they returned to tell us they had located the
cemetery and nearer to the shore a large structure under water that
could be the remains of the old church.  What a day.
     Unfortunately, with winter upon us, no dive was scheduled.  This
was in November 1997.  In May 1998, Mr. Phaneuf accepted a new job in
Houston, Texas and when we tried to contact him about the tape with the
sonar scan on it, he was gone.  When he learned that I was trying to
reach him, he called me.  He told me, he had no idea where the tape
could be, that the machine he used was faulty and he thought his
company had traded it in on a new one.  I contacted, through a friend in
Gloucester, the manager of Marine Sonic, they searched together for the
tape but could not locate it.  We are now back to square one, except
that I know about where the cemetery is and it wouldn't take a half hour
to make a new scan.  Mr. Broadwater is the manager of the "Monitor
Project" trying to recover some remains of the Monitor off the
North Carolina coast, for the time being he is lost to us.  We're trying
to replace both of them.
     The main focus of the Ladies of the Colonial Dames, has been and
still is to locate the tombstones of Capt. Adam and Sarah and to remove
them, possibly to the site of the Thoroughgood House.  This may be all
that we can hope for, however there are plans, now active, for the Corp
of Engineers to dredge this channel.  There is a good possibility that
the cemetery site could be destroyed forever.
     The Ladies, asked for and received, a delay in this dredging.  Due
to our problems, the hold on dredging has been extended until January
31, 2000.  I asked for and received a map prepared for the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, by the Corp, indicating where the
dredging was to take place.  The letter that accompanied it stated that
the dredging would not come closer than 800 feet to the cemetery.  Since
I am one of the very few people who know where the site is, I don't know
how they reached that conclusion.  It appears to me that the channel
will go through the middle of the cemetery.  The former Thoroughgood
land in the area of the marker is now the site of number of beautiful
homes in the 3/4 million to 2 million dollar price range.  The homes
along the Western Branch, all have docks.  It is only a matter of time
till these folks demand that the dredging begin.  There is no doubt in
my mind that they have a right to this.
     Besides this being a cemetery site, it and the church are also of
great archaeological significance.  I am therefore proposing that an
attempt be made to find someone to make a project of this effort.  All
of those buried in the River should be removed and reburied somewhere in
the area.  Preferably in Old Donation Church Cemetery, where some of
their descendants are already buried.  The Church officials would have
to approve this.  
     The purpose of this letter is to learn the attitude of those
descendants that care enough to express their opinion.  Your comments
and ideas are solicited and will have a strong bearing on any future
actions taken in this matter.  I am familiar with the need for permits,
approval, etc.  These will all be handled one step at a time and his
letter is the first step.
 
W. Paul Treanor
 
Postscript (from Bob):  I am drafting a letter to Mr. Treanor in regards
to this  matter.  Because of my association with the contruction trades
I am well aware that it's a big No No to be digging up people's bones
and I can't remember where it said that because water was on top of a
grave it was okay.  So if Mr Treanor can get another scan of the site,
maybe a permanent hold can be put on the Army's dredging until the
markers and whatever else is down there is removed.  If you have any
other comments that might help this gentleman please contact either one
of us as
soon as possible. 
 
Thanks
Bob Thorowgood, GHOTE




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Last updated 31 JUL 1999 by Gary Hoffman, ghoffman@ucsd.edu.