Edmund Ruffin's Grave

Edmund Ruffin's Grave is a Virginia historical marker in Hanover County, dedicated 2000.

Rte. 360, just east of intersection with Spring Run Road

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Here at Marlbourne is the grave of Edmund Ruffin (1794-1865), one of the leading American agriculturists of the 19th century. He published and edited the Farmer's Register, an agricultural journal, for several years. In 1843, Ruffin moved to Marlbourne, where he performed many experiments to maintain the fertility of the soil using marl (a natural deposit of calcium carbonate) as fertilizer, resulting in increased crop yields. An ardent secessionist, he fired one of the first shots at Fort Sumter on 13 April 1861, and kept detailed journals documenting events during the Civil War. Despondent over the South's defeat, he committed suicide in June 1865.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · State of Virginia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower right sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1818 · Map of Virginia, 1818 (lower right sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, 1794, covering the location of Edmund Ruffin's Grave, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, 1794, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

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