Wreaths Across America at Mount Moriah Cemetery

Photograph from Wreaths Across America Website

Historic Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia (incorporated in 1855), has been through some very rough times.  Over the past several decades, the grounds were neglected, used as a dumping ground, and almost forgotten. Since 2011, the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. have been working hard with the help of an army of volunteers to preserve and restore the grounds, educate the public, and assist numerous families in locating the graves of their loved ones.

Naval Asylum Plot, Mount Moriah Cemetery

This 2015 holiday season we want to honor those who helped build this great nation by placing a wreath on every grave in the Soldiers Plot, Naval Asylum Plot, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS) Plot.

Wreath program description:

“December 13, 2008 was unanimously voted by the US Congress as “Wreaths Across America Day.” - http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/about/

From the Wreaths Across America website:

“In 2014, Wreaths Across America and our national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond. We were able to include ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites if the September 11 tragedies. We accomplished this with help from 2047 fundraising groups, corporate contributions, and donations of trucking, shipping, and thousands of helping hands.  Our goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was accomplished in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths.“

Civil War Soldiers' Plot, Mount Moriah Cemetery

On a local note, The Soldiers Plot at Mount Moriah is located on the Philadelphia side of the cemetery and is the final resting place for more than 400 Civil War Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.  The Naval Asylum Plot is located on the Yeadon side of the cemetery and is the final resting place of more than 2,200 Navy and Marine veterans, some of whom go back to the earliest periods of our nation's history.  The cemetery has 23 Medal of Honor recipients with 15 being interred in the Naval Asylum Plot (one of whom is a double recipient). 

"The Silent Sentry"

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. will also be honoring those who are interred within the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS) Plot (Yeadon side near Naval Asylum). Within this plot there are 96 soldiers who fought for freedom and who either died violently in America's bloodiest war or, as in other veterans’ cemeteries, survived to live out their lives in peace before being buried in this Civil War Veteran's plot of ground. (Photo at left shows statue that originally stood guard over MOLLUS Plot.)

More information on these sections and the cemetery as a whole can be found on the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery's website which is located at www.fommci.org.

Young researchers in the Naval Asylum Plot, Mount Moriah Cemetery

Please help us honor the true American heroes at Philadelphia/Yeadon’s Mount Moriah Cemetery by helping us place a wreath on each of these 2,800 graves. We are working with Wreaths Across America to accomplish this goal. This is the same organization that delivers wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery every year. It is estimated that there are over 5,000 veterans throughout the cemetery.  It is our goal to honor all of them with a wreath in the future. This year we will start by honoring those in the Naval Asylum Plot, Soldiers Plot, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS) plot.

Help us honor those who gave so much and support the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery at the same time.

Sponsor a Wreath, Donate Here:

PA0141P- Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery Inc. Donation Form 

Image from Wreaths Across America Website

The mission of Wreaths Across America:

“Our mission, Remember, Honor, Teach, is carried out in part by coordinating wreath laying ceremonies a specified Saturday in December at Arlington [National Cemetery], as well as veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. We also organize a week of events including international veteran’s tributes, ceremonies at State Houses and a week-long “Veteran’s Parade” between Maine and Virginia where we stop along the way to spread our message about the importance of remembering our fallen heroes, honoring those who serve, and teaching our children about the sacrifices made by veterans and their families to preserve our freedoms.” - See more at: http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/about/#sthash.j7WqVfs6.dpuf

"WAA is committed to teaching younger generations about the value of their freedoms, and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed so much to protect those freedoms. We offer learning tools, interactive media projects, and opportunities for youth groups to participate in our events. We also work to create opportunities to connect “the Greatest Generation” with the “Generation of Hope”. The inspirational stories of our World War II Veterans must be passed on to the leaders of the future." - See more at: http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/about/history/#sthash.nKn89IMv.dpuf

 

Reenactors in Naval Asylum Plot, Mount Moriah Cemetery

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Mount Moriah Cemetery by honoring the memory of those interred here through community engagement, education, historic research, and restoration.

Sponsor a Wreath, Donate Here:

PA0141P- Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery Inc. Donation Form 

Disclaimer: Most of what you have read above is either from the Wreaths Across America website or the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. page on the Wreaths Across America website. Except for those indicated, the photographs were made by Ed Snyder. Thanks as always to the indefatigable Ken Smith of the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. for his mighty efforts.

Park Day 2015 at Mount Moriah Cemetery

Park Day 2015

March 28, 2015 is America’s  national “Park Day,” sponsored by the Civil War Trust. For the fourth year in a row, the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. is celebrating with a special event at Mount Moriah Cemetery (half of which is in Philadelphia, half in Yeadon, PA.). Tours and cleanup activities are planned from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., but feel free to join the crowd and just walk around and explore the cemetery’s hundreds of acres of beauty.

About Park Day 

"Since 1996, the Civil War Trust has sponsored Park Day, an annual hands-on preservation event to help Civil War — and now Revolutionary War — battlefields and historic sites take on maintenance projects large and small. Activities are chosen by each participating site to meet their own particular needs and can range from raking leaves and hauling trash to painting signs and trail buildings." (ref.)

If you have never been to Mount Moriah, this is a great opportunity to see the site (and the sights) in this massive sacred place that figures so prominently in local and national history. Entry will be via the front gate at 6201 Kingsessing Avenue.  

The recently cleared Circle of Saint John, Mount Moriah Cemetery

Clearing area around Betsy Ross' grave

If it has been a year or more since your last visit to Mount Moriah, you will be amazed at the newly cleared areas (of weeds and other forestation). Literally thousands of volunteers have helped clear such sections as the (Masonic) Circle of Saint John, the area behind the 1855 brownstone gatehouse, and many large plots on the Yeadon side of the cemetery. One of our tours, scheduled for 1 p.m., “Circle of Saint John Forgotten Heroes,” will focus on this dramatic area of the cemetery and its occupants (the grave of Betsy Ross is near the circle – you can’t miss the flagpole!)

While Park Day is mainly about saving historic Civil War battlefields, it also encompasses related historic sites. The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. is honoring the hundreds of Civil War soldiers and sailors interred in its ground. One of our Park Day tours, in fact, will be “African American Sailors of the Civil War” which will be held in the Naval Asylum plot on the Yeadon side of the cemetery (1 p.m.).

Volunteers transcribing headstone information in the Naval Asylum plot

So what do I mean by “Naval Asylum?” From The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. website:

"Philadelphia was an important hub for the transportation of supplies and troops from the East Coast to the front lines during the Civil War. In addition to arsenals, supply depots and navy yards, Philadelphia also had numerous military hospitals, as well as the U.S. Naval Home—a hospital and residential care facility for sick and disabled sailors.

During the war, the Federal Government acquired a 10 acre parcel of land on the Yeadon Borough side of the Mount Moriah Cemetery as a burial ground for navy and marine personnel. Originally known as the Naval Asylum, the burial plot was intended for soldiers who died in military hospitals or military rest homes. It also houses the remains of those veterans who were disinterred from the grounds of the U.S. Naval Home."

The 21 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients interred in the Naval Asylum, incidentally, may be the most in any cemetery in the country (excluding Arlington National Cemetery), according to one military expert (ref.). Even if you don’t attend the Naval Asylum tour, a peaceful, contemplative walk through this respectful area is quite sobering  – “In Memory of Our Dead Comrades” as the inscription states on one of Mount Moriah’s G.A.R. monuments.

Naval Asylum plot at Mount Moriah Cemetery, Yeadon, PA side

How to Pay Your Respects:

As stated in the 2015 Civil War Trust Park Day press release:

"You can give back to your country, get out of the house, and honor your heritage all at once by joining the Civil War Trust on Saturday, March 28, for Park Day 2015. Park Day is an annual hands-on preservation event to help maintain Civil War — and now Revolutionary War — battlefields and historic sites across the nation."

Our main work area on March 28 (rain date April 11), should you choose to help out with the cleanup, will be Section 27 on the Philadelphia side of Mount Moriah. Mary A. Brady, a celebrated volunteer Civil War nurse is interred here in her family plot.

Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) determined Mount Moriah to be eligible for National Register

Invitation to all, from The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. Facebook Group Page:

Join us for the Friends’ 4th annual Park Day event sponsored by the Civil War Trust and The History Channel. Bring your family and your favorite lawn tools with you to help preserve history.

Location: Philadelphia side

Weather: We’re expecting some cloudy, chilly spring weather; the ground is likely to be wet and marshy. Please wear rain boots or other waterproof boots!

Everyone is welcome to attend a restoration event and help us work to reclaim the cemetery one section at a time. No special skills are needed – just come prepared to work!

We generally have basic hand tools available, such as loppers and clippers, but you are welcome to bring your own tools. Gas powered weed whackers are always welcome, too.

We recommend long pants, sturdy shoes or boots, a hat for sunny days, sunscreen, and bug spray.

Volunteers during a Cleanup Day at Mount Moriah Cemetery

Mount Moriah Location: 6201 Kingsessing Avenue, Philadelphia, PA  19142
(Click here for map.)

Date: March 28, 2015

Rain Date: April 11, 2015
Watch the dramatic video, "Mount Moriah Documentary," by Jonathan Barmby and David Mielcarek of Elevate Cinema

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. website

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. Facebook Group Page