Old Graveyard

Old Graveyard. Walking Tour Stop 10. , The Old Graveyard was Carlisle's first burial ground. The earliest surviving marker is dated 1757, six years after Carlisle's founding in 1751. Title from the Penn family for the original “three acres, three quarters, and fifteen perches” for the Old Graveyard was not legally transferred until 1767. As one of the original seven public graveyards in colonial Pennsylvania, the Old Graveyard reflects the European pattern of public ownership rather than private ownership by families, churches, and associations. Today, the Old Graveyard continues to be owned and maintained by the Borough of Carlisle, and burials are accepted only on a limited basis., Carlisle's location, as well as its institutions, attracted individuals and families who became colonial, state, and national leaders. Among those buried here are members of the U.S. Continental Congress, Presidents and Trustees of Dickinson College, Justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court including two Chief Justices, Pennsylvania Legislators, founders of the Female Benevolent Society, and the U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture under President Grant. Also of note are artists and writers, ecclesiastical leaders, early advocates for public education, philanthropists, architects and builders, industrialists and historians, as well as the men, women, and children who collectively reflect the culture of South-Central Pennsylvania., Some 800 war veterans lie within these walls. They include officers as well as enlisted men and women from all branches of service. The monument recognizing fifty-three Revolutionary War soldiers was erected in the 1930s, and several monuments pay tribute to Revolutionary War heroine “Molly Pitcher,” who is buried here. Fifteen members of the Society of the Cincinnati, the first U.S. veteran's organization, are also buried here., The native limestone walls that surround the graveyard was begun in 1806 to keep out cattle and to prevent “outrages.” The “New Section” of the graveyard was laid out in 1891, and in its SE corner is a monument marking the 1891 re-interment of those once buried in the Lutheran Graveyard on South Hanover Street., The shapes of the grave stone markers, as well as their decorative motifs, symbols and epitaphs reflect the area's conservatism and the heritage of its early Scots-Irish and German settlers. Collectively, the markers document three centuries of technique and materials: from hand carving to cast metal to laser cut, and from rough field stone to polished granite. An iron grave marker, two white bronzes, a small family mausoleum, and Victorian iron fence attributed to Robert Wood of Philadelphia, are features to note., You are invited to respectfully stroll through the Old Graveyard. To help preserve the markers, and to honor those interred here, please do not sit, stand, walk upon, or lean on the markers., [Captions:] , Dr. Charles Nisbet (1736-1804). A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Nisbet was persuaded to leave his position as minister of the Presbyterian congregation in Montrose, Scotland to become the first president of Dickinson College in 1784., Hugh Henry Brackenridge (1748-1816). A Jurist, Trustee of Dickinson College, Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and author, Brackenridge's 1792 novel "Modern Chivalry" is one of the earliest examples of American fiction., Dr. Robert Davidson (1750-1812). Educator, President of Dickinson College from 1804-1809, Dr. Davidson delivered a sermon at First Presbyterian Church that was attended by President George Washington in October, 1794., George Metzgar, Esq. (1782-1879). Lawyer, Legislator and Trustee of Dickinson College, Metzgar bequeathed his home, his library and $25,000 for the establishment of a Female College in Carlisle that bore his name., Molly Pitcher's statue has long been the backdrop for group photos such as this photo of the Keystone Area Boy Scout Council taken in August, 1953 before the troop left for a Jamboree in California., Henry Line Stuart (1916-2005). A graduate of Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law, lifetime member and Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, Stuart served with the Air Corps' China-Burma-India Theater during world war two. Stuart's philanthropy, through the G.B. Stuart Charitable Foundation that he created in the 1990s, funded expansions and improvements to many of Carlisle's institutions as well as projects to return and preserve the history of Carlisle and Cumberland County.