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Edge Hill Cemetery contains the graves of two figures from John Brown’s 1859 raid on the Federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry:
Fontaine Beckham, the mayor of Harpers Ferry at the time of the raid and
John Avis, John Brown’s jailer in Charles Town, also one of the civilian casualties of the raid.
Other notable graves include:
Johnson, George William b. November 10, 1869 d. February 24, 1944. US Congressman. Elected to represent West Virginia's 4th District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1923 to 1925. He was defeated as Democratic in 1924. He was also an attorney.
Wilson, William Lyne b. May 3, 1843 d. October 17, 1900. US Congressman, Presidential Cabinet Secretary. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was elected to represent West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1883 to 1895. He then served as United States Postmaster General from 1895 to 1897, and established the first rural free mail delivery in Jefferson County.
Hawks, Major Wells Joseph b. 1814 (Massachusetts). d. May 28, 1873. He served as commissioner and superintendent of public schools in Jefferson County, as mayor of Charles Town, and was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1855 and 1857. Major Hawks was the Chief Commissary Officer of the famed Stonewall Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia under General T. J. Jackson during the American Civil War. He also served on the staffs of Generals Ewell, Early and Lee. After the war he returned to Charles Town.
Hopkins, Abner Crump b. October 24, 1835, in Powhatan County, VA. d. February 4, 1911, Charles Town, WV. He graduated from Hampton-Sydney College in 1855. He attended Union Theological Seminary and served as the minister at Martinsburg Presbyterian Church. He was commissioned as the chaplain of the 2nd Virginia Infantry (Stonewall Brigade) on May 3, 1862 and served as the Chaplain of the 2nd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. After the war, he served as pastor of the Charles Town Presbyterian Church from 1866-1911 (50 years).
Hooff, Major James Lawrence b. October 2, 1825. d. August 24, 1887. Served as a private and as the Quartermaster Sargent in the Second Virginia Infantry (Stonewall Brigade) and as Assistant Quartermaster in the 11th Virginia Cav. After the war he was a merchant in Charles Town and was elected to the WV legislature in 1875. He later became President of the Jefferson County Court.
Charles William "Lefty" Willis (November 4, 1905 – May 10, 1962) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1925 to 1927 with the Philadelphia Athletics.
Eileen Brennan (born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen; September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire Divorce American Style (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), which earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.She gained further critical acclaim for her role as Captain Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in a television adaptation, winning both a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy Award.Brennan also starred in the mystery comedy Clue (1985), and had a minor role in the horror film Jeepers Creepers (2001). She prolifically worked in television, receiving Emmy nominations for her guest roles on Newhart, Thirtysomething, Taxi, and Will & Grace.
When visiting, please be sure to find the West Virginia Civil War Trails marker near the old entrance gate. Also visit our Genealogy page.
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