Jeffry Burden

Jeffry Burden is a recently-retired attorney in Richmond, Virginia, and a longtime student
of American history, particularly the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Since 2006, he has
been a member of the “Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery”, a volunteer citizens group that
helps the City of Richmond maintain, improve and interpret the historic Shockoe Hill Cemetery
near downtown Richmond.

Shockoe Hill Cemetery, created in 1820, is the burial place of Chief Justice John
Marshall, Civil War spymaster Elizabeth Van Lew, four Virginia governors, two United
States Senators, and a host of other fascinating figures from American and Virginia
history. Richmond was the adopted home town of Edgar Allan Poe, and Shockoe Hill is
dotted with the graves of Poe’s friends, enemies and loved ones — including his foster
parents, John and Frances Allan. An estimated fourteen hundred veterans rest there,
among them more than 400 men who served in the War of 1812, perhaps more than any
cemetery in the country.

Since its formation in 2006, the Friends group (often working with lineage societies and
community groups) has worked to repair and reset damaged or fallen markers, order and
place more than 300 government-supplied military markers, design and place interpretive
markers, assist families in placing new private markers, and clean and improve the
Cemetery grounds. The group organizes regular tours and other interpretive events for the
public.

Shockoe Hill Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia
Landmarks Register, and is a member of the Civil War Trails network.