THE LANGLEY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION

The cemetery served those who lived along Dividing Creek, a community settled by the 19th century. During Prohibition, a floating speakeasy operated next door. An oyster and crabbing commercial marina operated nearby where Dividing Creek and Buckingham’s Cove meet. Families with ancestors buried in the cemetery still reside nearby and are involved in conserving the cemetery, which suffered from poor stewardship under a prior owner. The earliest burial in Langley Cemetery was Mary Ellen Arnold (1863-1900), wife of John Richard Arnold (1844-1924). The latest was Clara L. Frantum (1879-1970). Within the cemetery’s 46’ square perimeter are 13 marked graves and 18 more unmarked graves detected through a ground scanning radar survey in late 2021.

Concrete boundary markers delineate each edge of the cemetery. Various burial marker materials were used: marble, cast concrete, and granite die on base grave markers. A marble, Veteran’s Administration-issued military tablet was secured by S. Irving Langville in 1969 for the grave of his brother John W. Langville. Three burials are enclosed by marble coping. A central flat marker is engraved: “S.Langville Family Lot.”

In 1989, a house was built 25 feet northwest of the northwest cemetery boundary. The purchaser of that house for decades defied the deeded cemetery access easement. He blocked the cemetery gate with an illegal tall fence, shed, and construction debris. He barred cemetery visits and maintenance by the families of the dead. Graves were vandalized. The cemetery became heavily overgrown.