Historic site in Philadelphia
United States historic place
Christ Church Burial Ground inPhiladelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place ofBenjamin Franklin and his wife,Deborah . Four other signers of theDeclaration of Independence are buried here,Benjamin Rush ,Francis Hopkinson ,Joseph Hewes , andGeorge Ross . Two additional signers of the Declaration of Independence,James Wilson andRobert Morris , are buried atChrist Church just a few blocks away.
The cemetery belongs toChrist Church , theEpiscopal church, which was founded in 1695 and served as a place of worship for many of the most notable participants in theAmerican Revolution , includingGeorge Washington . The burial ground is located at 5th andArch streets, across from the Visitors Center andNational Constitution Center inCenter City Philadelphia . The Burial Ground was opened in 1719, and is still an active cemetery. The Burial Ground is open to the public for a small fee, weather permitting; about 100,000 tourists visit each year.
Benjamin Franklin gravesite [ edit ] When the burial ground is closed,Benjamin Franklin 's gravesite is visible from the sidewalk at the corner of 5th andArch Streets through a set of iron rails. The bronze rails in the brick wall were added for public viewing in 1858 by parties working at the behest of theFranklin Institute , which assumed the responsibility of defending Franklin's historic ties toPhiladelphia after prominent citizens fromBoston criticized the city's maintenance of the grave and erected a Franklin statue there.[ 2] pennies on Franklin's grave is a long-standing Philadelphia tradition.
Other famous people buried at Christ Church Burial Ground include:
John Andrews , (1746-1813), fourth Provost of theUniversity of Pennsylvania Michael Woolston Ash (1789–1858), U.S. Congressman[ 3] Samuel John Atlee (1739–1786), delegate to theContinental Congress [ 3] Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769–1798), grandson ofBenjamin Franklin , printer and publisher of theAurora newspaper[ 3] Sarah Franklin Bache (1743–1808), daughter ofBenjamin Franklin [ 3] William Bainbridge (1774–1833),Navy hero ofWar of 1812 and captain of theUSSConstitution "[ 3] Francis Biddle (1886–1968), formerU.S. attorney general James Biddle (1783–1848), Commodore inUnited States Navy Thomas Bond (1713–1784), co-founder (withBenjamin Franklin ) ofPennsylvania Hospital , the nation's first hospital[ 3] Paul Busti (1749-1824),Agent General of the Holland Land CompanyMajor GeneralGeorge Cadwalader (1806–1879),American Civil War general[ 3] John Cadwalader (1805–1879), congressman and judge[ 4] Matthew Clarkson (1733–1800),mayor of Philadelphia Joseph Clay (1769–1811), U.S. CongressmanTench Coxe (1755–1824),Continental Congress delegateWilliam Henry Drayton (1742-1799),Continental Congress delegated and signer of theArticles of Confederation John Dunlap (1747–1812), printer of theDeclaration of Independence [ 3] Lewis Evans (c.1700–1756), cartographer and surveyorTench Francis, Jr. (1730-1800)David Franks (1740–1793), aide-de-camp to GeneralBenedict Arnold during theAmerican Revolutionary War [ 3] Samuel Hardy (1758–1785), delegate to theContinental Congress Michael Hillegas (1729–1804), firstTreasurer of the United States [ 3] Thomas Hopkinson (1709–1751), father ofFrancis Hopkinson , president of the Philosophical Society, and one of the founders ofThe Library Company of Philadelphia [ 3] John Inskeep (1757–1834), mayor of PhiladelphiaMajorWilliam Jackson (1759–1828), Revolutionary War officer and secretary of theConstitutional Convention [ 3] Thomas Lawrence , five-time mayor of PhiladelphiaMajor GeneralCharles Lee (1732-1782), controversial Revolutionary War officer and second-highest ranking general afterGeorge Washington from 1776 to 1778. Charles Mason (1728–1786), astronomer and surveyor who laid out theMason–Dixon line in 1763[ 3] George A. McCall (1802–1868),United States Army brigadier general and prisoner of war during theAmerican Civil War William M. Meredith (1799–1873),United States Secretary of the Treasury [ 3] Philip Syng Physick (1768–1837), known as the "father of modern surgery"[ 3] John Hare Powel (1786-1856), Pennsylvania State Senator and agriculturalistSamuel Powel and his wifeElizabeth Willing Powel Henry C. Pratt (1761–1838) prominent Philadelphia businessman and builder ofLemon Hill Matthew Pratt (1734–1805) American colonial era portrait painterCol. Isaac Read (1739-1777) Virginia revolutionary and commander of the 1st Virginia Regiment, who died of disease during the Revolutionary War Benjamin Rush (1746–1813), signer of theDeclaration of Independence and founder ofDickinson College , known as "the father of American psychiatry"[ 3] Annis Boudinot Stockton (1736–1801), poetPhilip Syng (1703–1789), silversmith who created theSyng inkstand and early co-founder withBenjamin Franklin of several organizations[ 3] Henry Tazewell (1753–1799), U.S. SenatorCommodoreThomas Truxtun , commander of theUSSConstellation William Tuckey (1708–1781), composerJohn Goddard Watmough (1793-1861), U.S. CongressmanCharles Willing , (1710–1754), three-term mayor of PhiladelphiaAnne Willing Francis (1733-1812) wife of Tench Francis and daughter ofCharles Willing
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