Philadelphia Cemeteries that Mark Our Nation's 250th Birthday - Part 3

So would YOU look this good after 250 years? This banner was draped on the wall of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church graveyard in Philadelphia – back in 2011. Yes, the church and graveyard were here before the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 (1761 to be precise). 

Peale painted the portraits of George Washington we are all familiar with (see link).

As you walk the historic district in Philadelphia (where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are), many cemeteries and graveyards pop into view. While it might seem super cool to step into Ben Franklin’s Post Office a few blocks away (316 Market Street), it really isn’t his actual post office. 

St. Peter's Church, 3rd and Pine Streets

Like so many “historic” buildings in this Old City historic district (the original city of Philadelphia), Franklin’s post office is just a facsimile. On the other hand, there are twenty Colonial-era cemeteries and graveyards in the area that are NOT facsimiles! They are the real deal. You can walk through St. Peter’s graveyard and touch the same tombstones that Colonial-era artist Charles Wilson Peale’s family touched as they laid him in this very ground. You can even pick up one of the hefty osage oranges that drop (watch out!) from these trees on the property. Horticulture was a big thing back in the eighteenth century, when people imported all kinds of exotic bushware and treeware to ornament these sites.

Roger Wing's sculpture of Duffield

Then, you can walk across Fourth Street (at Lombard) to another church graveyard that was established prior to 1776, the graveyard of Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church. Old Pine was established in 1768, and has over 200 Revolutionary War soldiers buried in its graveyard. Rev. George Duffield was one of the church’s first ministers, and served as chaplain of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and then chaplain for General Washington’s army at Valley Forge in that winter of 1777-78 (ref.). I really wish the tree that my friend Roger Wing carved into a giant likeness of patriot Duffield still stood in the graveyard for you to see, but alas, it was removed a few years ago. 

Teach your children well - daughter Olivia in the Old Pine Churchyard, 2013.

So if you’re into cemeteries, it is super convenient to have two back-to-back, at two separate and wonderful historic sites. Unlike Christ Church Burial Ground (est. 1719, across from the U.S. Mint at Fifth and Arch Streets), St. Peter’s and Old Pine Presbyterian Church graveyards are free to visit. Yes, you actually have to pay to get in to visit Christ Church itself and its cemetery (which is run by the National Park Service). 

Old Pine Street Church building with Colonial-era graveyard.

Religion in The Colonies

Franklin's grave, Christ Church Burial Ground

You may have noticed in my prior blogs on cemeteries for “America 250” that these extant Colonial-era burial grounds are typically associated with a church. An astute observation. The practice of burying our dead in the ground is one we brought from Europe. Burial grounds were initially associated with specific communities, e.g. the Quakers, the Swedes, and the early Protestant religions. Christ Church, established in 1695, was Anglican, the Church of England. Its original burial ground was (and still is) on the grounds of the church itself at Second and High Streets (near Market Street). The church building is magnificent, having been completed in its present form in 1754! The relatively remote (a few blocks away) Christ Church Burial Ground was an expansion of the church’s small graveyard and was established in 1719 at Fifth and Arch Streets. It’s big claim to fame is that it boasts the grave of Ben Franklin. By some extreme quirk of non-greed, there exists in the brick wall a stretch of open metal fencing through which observers can see (and toss pennies onto) Franklin’s grave. You don’t actually have to pay admission fee to the graveyard to see the graves of Old Ben and his wife.

Volunteers tend to flowers in Old Pine 

So what do you get to see in St. Peter’s and Old Pine burial grounds? Well, Old Pine had its last burial in 1958 so it is no longer an active graveyard. Interestingly, St. Peter’s is still active! And both graveyards are meticulously kept up by volunteers - planting flowers, weeding, mulching, and so on. The grass is cut so you don't have to worry about weeds and deer ticks. It is a bad year for ticks, especially in the larger cemeteries where white-tailed deer live (white-tailed deer, by the way, are the main meeting and mating spot for ticks - they are the party bus for these insects). If you’re a movie buff, you might recognize Old Pine’s graveyard as the setting used in the 2004 movie, National Treasure, in which Nicolas Cage runs through the graveyard. I actually remember seeing all the movie trucks parked around there at the time, but movie shoots are usually top secret so during a shoot, you would never know who was there or what movie they were filming.

Privateer Gustavus Conyngham buried in St. Peter’s Churchyard

Gustavus Conyngham is buried in St. Peter’s Churchyard, a merchant sea captain and privateer who worked for the U.S. government attacking British ships during the Revolutionary War – a privateer being a hired gun. “He captured 24 ships in the eastern Atlantic between May 1777 and May 1778, bringing the expenses associated with British shipping to what was then an all-time high. He has been called ‘the most successful of all Continental Navy captains” (ref.) Several privateers are also buried in Old Pine. Were they pirates? Some were. The U,S. government has been forced to engage the services of such bad boys when the U.S. Navy was not able to protect American shores from foreign threats. You’ve no doubt heard of Jean Lafitte? In exchange for a legal pardon, Lafitte and his pirate – er, privateer – fleet aided General Andrew Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans to defend the city against British invasion during the War of 1812.

All is fair in love and war, right? Old Pine also holds an example of one of our early misdeeds - eight dead Indian Chiefs buried in unmarked graves.

Indian chief sign in the Old Pine Church graveyard

The Indian Chiefs and the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic

Old Pine Street Church, 4th and Pine Streets

In 1793, the eight Native American chiefs you see listed in the image here traveled to Philadelphia to meet with President George Washington and other officials to discuss boundary disputes in the Northwest Territory. They came from various nations, including the Wabash, Veattonns, and Potowatami (which probably meant that they all spoke different languages, so how could boundary discussions occur?). They were among many foreign dignitaries who visited during the city’s severe yellow fever epidemic (ref.). Apparently, they all died, quickly. Not sure why they were buried in unmarked graves, since their identities were known, or when their deaths were divulged to their respective nations. But it is rather convenient for the U.S. government to eliminate the leaders of those who might resist America’s westward expansion. A happy coincidence - eliminate the chiefs, and the tribes have no leaders. I do wonder about the follow up by the U.S. government after they died, but like our good friends in the current administration, I won’t dwell on any inconvenient disparaging history (like the fact that when Old Pine opened in 1768 slavery was legal in Philadelphia and some of its congregants owned slaves). Can I get an ‘Amen?'”

Cemeteries are perfect for a summer walk!

The actual church buildings of Old Pine and St. Peter’s are the very structures that were built prior to 1776, they are not facsimiles! 1768 for the Old Pine building and 1750 for St. Peter’s. The latter actually still has the original high-backed box pews, including Mayor Samuel Powel’s boxed seat used frequently by George and Martha Washington! St. Peter's was also the site of a memorial service for Alexander Hamilton in 1803 after he was killed in his duel with Aaron Burr. Yes, you can actually stand in the "room where it happened," as they sing in the play, Hamilton (unlike the City Tavern at Second and Walnut where Hamilton, Washington, et. al., supposedly hoisted a few - its not the original building). Check each church’s websites for days and times when you can see the interior of these historic buildings

So come back in the winter!

If you are visiting during the summer, you’ll miss the snow, which creates a magical landscape in these graveyards. In the fall, giant osage oranges fall from the trees and smash on the headstones! These pounders must really hurt if you get struck on the noggin by one, but the squirrels do love them. They go nutso in a wild squirrel-nut orgy eating the pants off these citrus-scented fruits. The grounds are open year-round in both these graveyards and I would suggest you come back to see the Christmas lights and other decorations. One of the oldest cemeteries in the city, Palmer Burial Ground (est. 1732) in the Fishtown neighborhood (a few miles from Old City) has a lovely live pine tree in front of the bier house which is decorated each year for Christmas. Neighborhood tree-lighting ceremonies have been held in the past.

Palmer Burial Ground, Fishtown neighborhood, Philadelphia

Read my prior two blogs in the "America 250" series:

Philadelphia Cemeteries that Mark Our Nation's 250th Birthday - Part 1

and 

Philadelphia Cemeteries that Mark Our Nation's 250th Birthday - Part 2 

References and Further Reading:

https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/subjects/religion-faith/

https://www.stpetersphila.org/

https://christchurchphila.org/visit/

https://oldpine.org/history/historic-colonial-churchyard/ 

 https://www.stpetersphila.org/about-st-peters/history/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-national-parks-slavery-exhibits-b2998525.html 

https://ornamento.blog/2025/09/04/a-journey-through-time-at-st-peters-church-philadelphia

https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/860254-indian-chiefs-in-st-peter-s-yard

Cemetery Socializing

Allyson, Ed, and Owen outside Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Phila.

Back in the late fall of 2017, my friend Owen let me know that he’d be visiting the U.S. in February, and invited me to do some graveyard photography. Owen lives in France, not far from Pere Lachaise, so I always found it ironic that he could find any cemetery outside of Paris very interesting. But he does. And he has photographed and explored them the world over, with stunning results. The previous year he and I hiked through the infamous, massive, formerly-abandoned Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Owen and I met as Facebook friends some years ago, and appreciate each other’s photography. Toward the end of 2017, I made the acquaintance of another cemetery photographer, Allyson Pettigrew, this time through Instagram. She is, in my opinion, a rising star in the cemetery photography genre. I introduced Allyson to Owen via Instagram, and we started following each other’s work.

Allyson photographing zinc memorial

I suggested to Owen that we ask Allyson to join us when the time came for his visit to the states. He agreed. Such an easy thing to, back in the pre-Coronavirus days. Just plan to get together and then do it. Not so easy today. With the world locked down here in April 2020, social-distancing is the norm and we’re all sheltering in place (unless you need food). No one knows how or when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. We wax nostalgic for the good old days when we could carry a social media virtual “friendship” forward into the realm of ACTUAL friendship – then follow those actual friends as they consider climbing over a fence into an abandoned graveyard. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Mount Peace Cemetery angel

When February 2018 rolled around, Owen hit town. The three of us agreed to meet at Mount Peace Cemetery in Philadelphia, check out Mount Vernon (through its bars, as it has been subject to its own form of lockdown for many years, i.e., off limits to the public), and then head over to Laurel Hill Cemetery, just across Ridge Avenue. All three cemeteries are just about next to each other. Quite convenient for us cemetery travelers.

Mount Peace Cemetery monument

After introductions and handshaking (gee, how many years will it be until people do THAT anymore?), we spent some time exploring Mount Peace and gazing longingly through the bars of a rhyme – as the Dire Straits song goes – actually, through the bars into the unkempt Mount Vernon Cemetery. (That's my selfie of us at the top of this article, looking through the bars into Mount Vernon.) Owen had a monster lens, so he was able to some great shots. We chatted about our work, strolled Mount Peace’s grounds, and photographed some monuments. We appreciated each others’ company based on a mutual respect for each others’ work.

Mount Vernon Cemetery from the locked entrance gate

When I first noticed Allyson’s work on Instagram, I would linger on the images as they seemed so familiar. I realized she was from Philly, as I am, and so it was not surprising that she photographed many of the same monuments in the same cemeteries as I had over the years. The disturbing fact, however, was that her images were BETTER than mine, lol! Do check out her Instagram feed @allyson_underland.

Mount Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia

It really is useful to me, as a photographer, to see the same scene from another photographer’s perspective. Years ago, I used to photograph with a friend who was considerably shorter than me. She would complain that I was able to get a high vantage point (being 6’2”) for my compositions while she was not able. Truth is, I enjoyed her images immensely because they were made from angles I naturally did not utilize.

Owen with his ultrazoom lens!

On the other hand, I greatly admire Owen’s work, primarily because he travels to such far-flung exotic places that I will never see. His Instagram images of the graveyards in the Atacama Desert in Chile, for instance, are nothing short of spine-chilling. Do check out his Instagram feed @owenphil333.

Ed and Allyson, with friends at Laurel Hill Cemetery

Owen, Allyson, and I headed over to Laurel Hill Cemetery afterward – did I mention that it was c-c-c-COLD that day?! I don’t recall the temperature but I’m pretty sure it was below freezing. This image of the Schuylkill River (at left) from Laurel Hill Cemetery (above Kelly Drive) epitomizes the weather that day. We walked around, photographed monuments, and generally compared notes on the art of photography.

Owen at Laurel Hill (above and below)

Owen spirited off the next day for further adventures in New Orleans, and I was glad he stopped by to spend some time with Allyson and I. His parting words were, “What kind of people would be out photographing cemeteries in the dead of winter? – the best kind!”

Photography is about sharing - sharing a bit of yourself, some of your work, and hopefully learning something in the process. In Coronavirus times, the best we can do is share online. Many galleries are putting up ad hoc galleries to share art via the internet, since we physically can’t hang things on walls for groups of people to see. Yes, I know, the internet has been moving us in this direction for some time – maybe I’m just late for the bus. Still, with all this isolation, don’t you miss just a little human interaction? Maybe COVID-19 is giving us an idea what virtual reality would REALLY be like if we all just sat in front of our computers. Man cannot live by the internet alone.