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Just 100 yards southeast of the house lay the family graveyard. The wall surrounding the area is made of dressed stone quarried on the Stagville land. The tapered design of the wall--wider at the base than at the top--is unusual. The entrance is adorned with the original iron gate. Within the graveyard are three burials: Richard, Mary, and Thomas Bennehan. Copies of the tomb inscriptions, which are difficult to read today, are available to visitors. Many wonder why there are so few graves in such a large area. It is likely that Richard Bennehan anticipated that many generations of his descendants would be buried there. However, Rebecca married Duncan Cameron and made her home at Fairntosh, where she and her children were buried. Thomas never married and left no heirs. The tombs in the graveyard were ordered from Philadelphia. They are box-tombs, a style typical in England and preferred by the southern plantation elite.
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