Gov. Ralph Northam joined about 50 others at the cemetery in Hampton’s Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood to sign a ceremonial easement for the centuries-old cemetery where relatives of William Tucker are buried.

William Tucker is thought to be the first person of African descent born in North America.

The William Tucker 1624 Society, which is overseen by William Tucker’s descendants, owns the cemetery. While the easement doesn’t change ownership of the land, it gives it public access and protects it from development.

This May, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation — a land preservation group — awarded $100,000 to the William Tucker 1624 Society to help the family maintain and preserve the land.  Friday’s easement was another way to secure the land from any sort of development.

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