For most people, a family history is just that - history. But former Charlottesville resident Alice Norris' genealogical records have leapt to life, serving as important clues unlocking the University parking garage's archaeological enigma.
About three weeks ago, University-hired archaeologist Ben Ford discovered possible remnants of a human burial in a grave shaft under the University's planned parking garage site. Five nails, wooden fragments and a U-shaped iron bar suggested that a coffin once was buried at the site.
But until Norris came to Charlottesville last weekend to meet with University officials, neither the University nor the team of archaeologists possessed any documentation confirming the findings.
Norris, a self-proclaimed amateur genealogist, presented stacks of family documents to University officials, including Leonard W. Sandridge, University executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Norris provided proof that her great-grandmother Amanda Wood Ford was buried on the site in 1895.
At the time, the land was situated on a family farm owned by Amanda Ford and her husband, George Sidney Ford.
But in 1954, Norris said her great-grandmother's body was exhumed and re-interred at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Ivy, Va., where her husband had been buried in 1911.
To the best of Norris' knowledge, Amanda Ford is the only person ever buried on that site, although she said she does not know "for sure that there wasn't anyone buried before then." Between 1940 and 1954, when Norris lived on the farm, "there were no burials, I can attest to that," she said.
Ben Ford, who has no relationship to Amanda Ford, said he has seen neither documentary evidence nor physical evidence indicating that someone else was buried there in addition to Amanda Ford.
"We're as certain as we can be right now," he said. "It's my best information that no one else was buried there."
It is highly likely that the coffin remains on the site are fragments from Amanda Ford's grave, he said, and not those of another individual.
Sixty years had elapsed between Amanda Ford's initial burial and exhumation, so "if we presume it was just a simple wooden coffin, it probably would not have much left," Ben Ford added.
"In these types of soils, preservation is not good," he added, as further evidence that the remnants probably belonged to Amanda Ford's coffin. Norris' documentation will allow the final stages of excavation to proceed according to the Department of Historic Resources' guidelines for archaeological sites, rather than human burial sites.
Archaeological sites require fewer regulations, but Ben Ford said he will "continue to treat the site with sensitive precautions."
Ford will be on site beginning Monday, July 8, to complete the excavation, said University spokeswoman Louise Dudley.
Norris said she hopes the University will incorporate a small remembrance garden into the public space in front of the parking garage. She said this would honor both her great-grandfather, who was a University employee for 30 years, and her great-grandmother, who "loved her gardens."
Norris added that her family has numerous connections to the University.
"I think the really interesting thing about the story is that George S. [Norris' great-grandfather] was superintendent of Buildings and Grounds at U.Va.," Norris said. "That's a nice little tie to U.Va."
A memorial is "definitely a possibility," Dudley said. "It will fit into the [landscaping] plans for the site," she said.
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