Atop a hill overlooking the Fort Chiswell Mansion, a former McGavock home, this family cemetery contains an exceptionally rich collection of 19th-century funerary art, including an important group of Germanic stones, the only ones of their type found in a family burying ground. These crisply carved markers, dating from 1812 to the late 1830s, are attributed to Lawrence Krone, the county’s most skillful stone carver. Like most German-style grave markers, these are double-sided with differing designs on the obverse and reverse. Each stone in the McGavock Family Cemetery is highlighted by a single central motif – a tulip, a fern, or a sunflower – and most have footstones. The first McGavock in the region was James McGavock, Sr., born in County Antrim, Ireland. He came to Fort Chiswell from Fincastle in 1771 and was buried here in 1812 with a Germanic headstone marking his grave.