Centuries-old bones could halt Danville industrial project

A 158-acre tract of land acquired by the Danville Industrial Development Authority for development as industrial sites has turned up some surprises — remnants of a plantation dating back to the 1700s, as well as signs of outbuildings and a cemetery.

The property is located on Gypsum Road, with road frontage on Celotex Way as well. It stretches back to the banks of the Dan River, and was purchased from Ben Coleman for $635,182 in the fall of 2011.

In 1783, Thomas Fearn — one of the original trustees of the Town of Danville — began acquiring property in that area, ultimately owning more than 1,200 acres. By 1823, the property had changed hands and his descendants had scattered around the country. Now, the only signs left of the Fearn family at the site are foundations and some bits of floors for the main house, what appears to be a separate kitchen, barns and other outbuildings, slave quarters, a cistern, a well and outhouses.

The only sign of a cemetery is one simple headstone that reads “Fearn Burying ground” and depressions in the ground that indicate there could be as many as 100 graves at the site, according to Lyle Browning, the investigative archeologist handling the site studies for the IDA.

Browning said family members have been tracked down in several states, and none knew about the plantation or the burial ground, but are hunting online and through family records for any information about the cemetery’s inhabitants that they can find.

Jeremy Stratton, the city’s director of economic development, said the IDA is applying to the state for permission to move the remains to the Highland Burial Park so the site can be developed. Since the cemetery is located in the middle of the property, it would make the property very difficult to develop unless removal is permitted.

Browning said removal would be handled very respectfully and every effort would be made to identify the remains. He said it seems unlikely that the cemetery holds direct Fearn family members or descendents, since it was a wealthy family and none of the graves have markers.

A forensic anthropologist would go over each set of remains to determine the size, age, ethnicity and sex of the remains, as well as any information tests on the bones can yield about diseases. Hopefully, Browning said, many of the coffins, or remnants of coffins, will have name plates to identify the remains. Even shreds of clothing can help date the remains, he said.

“There is a lot of information to be gained from that operation,” Browning said.

The remains will then be re-buried.

Browning said his recommendation is always to avoid moving remains — “The best thing to do is leave it alone,” he said — but the next-best thing is to respectfully move the inhabitants of a cemetery elsewhere.

Browning acknowledged that the cemetery is a great deterrent to developing the property because of its location, but said sometimes the state turns down applications to move graves.

“You have to be able to prove there is an overwhelming need to move the remains,” Browning said.

Stratton said Danville does have an overwhelming need for more industrial development sites, and this is a rare, sizable piece of developable land.

“It will take two-three years to develop, and by then we’ll be out of industrial development sites,” Stratton said.

Editor's Note: This original story did not specifically state the Danville Industrial Development Authority knew about the cemetery and the remains of old buildings on the property it purchased on Gypsum Road. The IDA followed the normal process of “due diligence,” according to Jeremy Stratton, Danville’s director of economic development. Stratton said the IDA conducted initial environmental, wetland and historical studies before the purchase, and knew what was on the property. Stratton said with those studies in hand, it was determined it would be easier for the IDA to deal with the burial ground than for an absentee owner to try and deal with it before the sale.