A vibrant flag-waving parade from a small chapel at the crossroads of Mary Ball Highway and Devils Bottom Road in Kilmarnock to a rediscovered cemetery transformed a quiet November Sunday into a celebration of history and service.
More than 100 participants—including church members, community volunteers, and descendants of those interred—came together to honor the lives of World War I and II veterans and their families buried in a long-forgotten burial ground.
The Kilmarnock Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the LDS Church or informally as the Mormons) made a discovery earlier this year on its chapel property: a forgotten burial ground once belonging to Moreau and Isabella Nickens, African American landowners from the late 19th century.
Despite numerous efforts to locate the rumored site, the burial ground had remained hidden beneath decades of dense overgrowth. Its rediscovery came when Branch president Kerry Petersen, determined to try one f...