Staff Report
One of the major missions of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is historic preservation, and its cemetery work also honors veteran’s that gave their service for our freedom.
The Alafia River Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution came out to Limona Cemetery on Veteran’s Day to pay honor to the vets buried there. They placed 100 flags at the graves of the veterans and cleaned many of the gravestones. The veteran’s go back as far as the civil war, along with many WWI veterans and a few Spanish American War veterans. Some recent gravestones are for those who served in the Gulf Wars.
Located at the southeast corner of Limona Rd. and Lakewood Dr. in Brandon, Limona Cemetery was established by Judge Joseph Gillette Knapp, a Wisconsin native who settled locally in 1876. The Limona Cemetery Association was established in 1891. Judge Knapp served as a territorial judge of Mexico under Abraham Lincoln. He named the area Limona, which comes from the Spanish word for lemon. The area surrounding the cemetery was later developed for retired employees of the Elgin Watch Co., of Illinois as a winter retreat.
In 1982 Limona Village Chapel United Methodist church and the Limona Cemetery Association, Inc, entered into a Perpetual Care Trust Agreement for the purpose of incorporating the cemetery into and becoming a part of the church family, and to provide the cemetery with the umbrella of protection required by Florida Statutes. Although Limona Village Chapel is responsible for the maintenance of the cemetery, the sale of burial plots is open to the community. The historical marker was erected on the corner of Lakewood and Limona in 1989.
According to DAR Publicity Chair, Lynea D’Angelo, “The DAR exists because of our ancestor veterans that served in the Revolutionary War. The Alafia Chapter plans to come to the Limona Cemetery to clean graves and other general needs once a month through the spring.”
The cemetery trustees welcome anyone in the community to come and help with this great historical cemetery, especially anyone with loved ones in the cemetery, which is open dawn to dusk every day and welcomes the community to visit. For more information, call Limona Village Chapel UMC at 689-8385.
