Zion Episcopal Churchyard
Notable Occupants
The present church, the fourth on this site, was completed in 1851. Federal troops occupied it during the Civil War and severely damaged it.
The churchyard contains the graves of many Washington family descents. They are buried near the eastern edge of the church. Several other notable Charles Town residents are buried here as well.
George W. Turner attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, 1827-1831 (Robert E. Lee attended 1825-1829). Turner served in the U.S. Army until he resigned in 1836 and returned home to Charles Town. John Brown’s men shot him on the streets of Harpers Ferry on October 17, 1859: one of four civilians killed. His grave is on the west side of the church toward the south wall.
John Yates Beall was a Charles Town resident who served in Co. G, 2nd Virginia Infantry, until he was wounded and discharged. He then sought to serve as a privateer on the Great Lakes. Eventually, he tried and failed to commandeer a train near Niagara, New York, to free captured Confederate officers on board. He was captured, tried, and convicted of espionage. He was hanged on February 25, 1865. His grave is in the northeastern corner of the cemetery. Beall allegedly was a friend of John Wilkes Booth.
Col. R. Preston Chew led Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s Horse Artillery. After the war, he started the Charelstown Mining, Manufacturing, and Improvement Company in present-day Ranson, West Virginia.
Marker is at the intersection of E Congress Street and S Church Street, on the right when traveling east on E Congress Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
