Buckingham Houses: Cedar Croft, Part I
Lawford, Buckingham County, 1896 postal map.
Last winter, I posted a letter to the Appomattox and Buckingham Times written by Willie Witt in Lawford, Buckingham County. Click here to read the post: 1898: News From Lawford
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Willie Witt’s intriguing letter sparked my curiosity about the village of Lawford.
Lawford appears on the 1896 postal map, located near the Cumberland County border with Buckingham County. In 1904, it was still listed among the post offices in Buckingham included in the Gazetter of Virginia. Jane C. Lawford once served as postmistress and, in 1907, John W. Sharp was postmaster. In the autumn of 1908, the mail delivery moved to nearby Nuckols.
Slate River Ramblings reader Diane Apperson wrote that a farm called Cedar Croft was located near Lawford, noting its inclusion in “The Courthouse Burned —,” Book Two.
The entry begins: “If one enters the driveway at Cedar Croft, one immediately assumes that the place took its name from the magnificent cedars which circle part of the yard. Mrs. Estelle Atkinson, who owns the property, thinks it was built by a Lawford couple whose graves are at the bottom of the hill.”
Can a Slate River Ramblings reader identify precisely whose graves are at the bottom of the hill at Cedar Croft? Are they a Mr. and Mrs. Lawford, likely the namesakes of the village?
Coming next: Buckingham Houses: Cedar Croft, Part II
slate river ramblings . . . . 
Hi Joanne. The Lawford graves at Cedar Croft are identified in Book I of Buckingham Burials (pg. 338). Apparently there are two cemeteries near the house. The one I mentioned after your first post on Lawford is just past the house, right by the side of Tatum road. I know Herndons and Yanceys are buried in that cememtery but do not know who else may be buried there.
I have since found out there is another cemetery near Cedar Croft where members of the Lawford family are buried. The Burial book lists them as: Liza Lawford (1805-1895), born in Elberton, Gloucestershire, England and Thomas Wright Lawford (1807-1895), born in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England. They died several months apart in 1895. There are three other Lawfords listed in the same cemetery. Mrs. Mary T. Lawford (1861-1941), John P. Lawford (1892-1949) and Benjamin Francis Lawford (189?-194?). Benjamin is listed as 42 years of age at his death.
Looking forward to the next installment on Lawford.
Thanks, Diane, for helping with the Lawford burials. More to come!
Joanne