Laurel Hill Cemetery, overlooking the Schuylkill River, founded by John Jay Smith (June 27, 1798-Sept. 25, 1881) with partners Nathan Dunn, Benjamin W. Richards and Frederick Brown in 1836, it was the second "Garden" or "Rural" cemetery in the United States (after Cambridge, Massachusetts' Mount Auburn Cemetery). John Jay Smith also founded West Laurel Hill Cemetery, over City Line in Montgomery Township, where he is buried. Selected as designer for Laurel Hill was architect John Notman (1810--1865), born in Scotland and educated at the Royal Scottish Academy. Notman conceived of the Cemetery as an estate garden, based in part on English ideas of planned landscapes as transitions between art and nature. Many early visitors and funeral-goers traveled to Laurel Hill via steamboat on the Schuylkill River. The graves of several Revolutionary War heroes were moved to Laurel Hill from other cemeteries in Philadelphia. A famous one was that of Hugh Mercer born on January 17, 1726, Roseharty, Scotland. At the beginning of the1745, Mercer became an assistant surgeon in the Jacobite Army under Charles Edward Stuart. In the aftermath of Culloden, Mercer was forced to flee, emigrating to America in 1747. After 8 years of practicing medicine, Mercer was drawn back into the military and was commissioned as a captain in a Pennsylvania, and had risen to the rank of colonel by the end of the French & Indian War. In 1757, Mercer became a member of the St. Andrews Society of Philadelphia. Promoted to brigadier general by the Continental Congress, General Mercer was mortally wounded during the Battle of Princeton, and though attended to by the famed patriot Dr. Benjamin Rush, he died on January 12, 1777.
Laurel Hill Cemetery is noted for many Civil War figures who were buried here during and after the war, including over 40 generals, and other officers, such as Horace Binney Faust, Civil War Union Army Officer. Born Oct. 15, 1843, he died in the service of his country on December 18, 1863 at Bealton Station, Virginia. His parents, David Faust (b.October 27, 1814 in Lehigh County-d. May 9, 1907) and Jane Dungan Faust (b.Aug. 30, 1817 in Bucks County- d.May 7, 1892) are buried here next to him, but their grave markers are no longer standing. Philadelphia Mayor Reyburn was one of the Honorary Pall-Bearers at the funeral of David Faust a widely known business man and financier, President Emeritus of Union National Bank of 39 years.
Many thousands of monuments, mausoleums, statues, lavish sculptures, unusual carvings, and every type of gravestone are in Laurel Hill, The ostentatious and interspersed with the practical and plain, such as that of Dr. David Colin Urquhart, born at Pennicuick, Scotland, May 4, 1812. That thrifty Scotsman, who died January 6, 1884, chose a sturdy, unoramented gravestone for all those buried in the plot, (similar to that of Owen Jones) including his wife, Anna Carroll Urquhart, (great-granddaughter of Captain David Weatherby of Revolutionary War fame), and two sons, a daughter-in-law, infant grandson, and daughter.
Some of the famous people whose graves are shown:
• Owen Jones, b. December 29, 1819 - d. December 25, 1878. US Congressman, Civil War Union Army Officer.
•Sarah Josepha Hale, Oct. 24, 1788 - April 30, 1879 Journalist, Poet, Founder of the Thanksgiving Holiday. She wrote and edited "Godey's Lady's Book" from 1837 to 1877.
•Thomas McKean, b. March 19, 1734 - d. June 24, 1817 Signer of Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. Served as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Elected 2nd Governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1799 to 1808.
•Elisha Kent Kane, b. Feb. 3, 1820 -- d. Feb. 16, 1857 Explorer and part of the Grinnell Expedition of 1850 to the Arctic Circle to find the remains of the 1845-1846 Sir John Franklin expedition.
•George Gordon Meade, b. December 31, 1815 Cadiz, Spain - d. November 6, 1872.Civil War Union Major General. Known universally for being the victor of the Battle of Gettysburg and his famous, faithful horse "Old Baldy."
•Joshua Thomas Owen, Born in Caermarthen, Wales March 29, 1821-- d. Nov. 7, 1887. Civil War Union Brigadier General.
•Thomas Buchanan Read was born in Chester County March 12, 1822 died May 11, 1872. Poet, Artist, Sculptor.
•Joseph Reed, b. August 27, 1741 d. March 5, 1785 Revolutionary War Army Officer, Continental Congressman; military secretary to George Washington.
• Clark Henry Wells, b. September 22, 1822 - d. January 28, 1888 Civil War Union Naval Officer
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Laurel Hill Cemeteryby jasonevans32,999 views
Thank you so much for adding this video. You have captured my gg grand fathers grave marker, David Colin Urquhart. I have been looking for his birth place for about 30 years and there it is on his grave stone. Out of all the grave stones you could of recorded you picked this one. Are you related to this family in any way? Again, thank you. Diana
dianakitten1 11 months ago
@dianakitten1 Diana, I am very glad you found this video. David Colin Urquhart was my great great grandfather as well, arriving in Philadelphia from Scotland with his parents as a young man. We have his portrait, Sadly, his son, also David Colin Urquhart, a doctor, died in his 30s is also buried there along with his wife and infant son. ggGrandmother Anna Carroll Urquhart has very interesting family history. Delighted to have found a cousin! Sarah
aireschel1787 11 months ago
And you are very welcome, Paul! Perambulating through Laurel Hill is not only a peaceful respite, but also great starting point for historical research. Some buried here began their lives in the bracing air of the Scottish Highlands, which you recently experienced. Sarah
aireschel1787 1 year ago