Candlelight tours bring past to light

By Liz Barry

Published: October 9, 2008

On Oct. 16, 1878, a service at Court Street Baptist Church turned deadly.

The congregation, believing the church was about to collapse, erupted into panic. They rushed the front doors to escape, causing bodies to get trampled by the stampede. Others jumped from balcony windows, and did not live to tell about it.

Eight people — all young women — died in the rush to get out. The day went down in history as The Panic.

“It was the worst catastrophe in Lynchburg in the 19th century,” says Ted Delaney, archivist and curator of the Old City Cemetery Museums & Arboretum.

“What was so tragic about it was the church was not collapsing and there was nothing wrong with in structurally.”

On Oct. 17 and 18, the Old City Cemetery will host Candlelight Tours, where professional actors bring to life the story of The Panic, along with other strange but true stories from Lynchburg history.

Led by flickering lantern light, people will visit six graves, where the actors, dressed in period costumes, will perform monologues or re-enact scenes about the person buried there. Each story is based on primary sources documents, including obituaries, burial records, journals and letters.

“In a couple cases there is really something unexplainable, something odd or uncanny about the story, something that you can’t explain by any rational methods,” says Delaney.

“We’re not making up anything, we’re not fictionalizing anything. These stories are so great, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.”

The Old City Cemetery, established in 1806, has a storied past. It is home to more about 20,000 graves, the majority belonging to African Americans, as well as a Confederate solider section and graves from prominent civic leaders.

At the end of the tour, people can review historical records of the gravesites and enjoy refreshments in the community room.