Many local families choose Union Hill & St. Patrick's cemeteries as a final resting place for their loved ones, but do you know the history surrounding them?

Union Hill Cemetery, located at 424 North Union Street in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, boasts a rich history intertwined with the region’s Civil War era and the establishment of the Union Hill Cemetery Company in 1867.

The land where you will now find Union Hill Cemetery was historically significant even before it was established. In 1777, prior to the Battle of Brandywine, 5,000 Hessian troops encamped on the hills north of Kennett Square, including areas now within the cemetery’s grounds. Later, during the Civil War, Captain Frederick Taylor and his Union troops, known as the “Bucktails,” drilled on this land before heading off to fight.

Formed on November 28, 1867, The Union Hill Cemetery Company held its first meeting on December 9, 1867, at The Kennett Square Hotel (Where La Verona restaurant stands today). The meeting consisted of founding members; Dr. T.W. Taylor, Franklin Reese, Joseph A. Garland, Washington Alexander, Jesse Miller, Samuel Sinclair, Jesse Wetherall, and Rev. John S. Gilmore. The company was officially incorporated on April 28, 1868.

A 17-acre plot of land was purchased from Franklin and Lydia P. Reese, with the northern boundary adjoining Bayard Taylor’s land in East Marlborough Township. The first interments occurred in 1871, several of which were re-interments from other cemeteries. Today, the cemetery board consists of 20 members.

If you take a short walk across Unionville Road, you will find another local cemetery rich with history – St. Patrick’s Cemetery. Founded in 1904 as part of St. Patrick Church, it was built in the mid-1800s as the Irish immigrant population in Chester County expanded. Prior to the cemetery’s creation, local Catholics were interred at other churchyards, such as Coffee Run and St. Patrick’s Mission Churchyard on Ashland Clinton School Road in Delaware.

The purchase of the land that now comprises St. Patrick’s Cemetery was done so by Fr. John O’Donel. Fr. O’Donel was also responsible for the selection of the parish’s location on Meredith Street. Today, St. Patrick’s is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Southern Chester County and has about 1,400 registered families.

For more information on Union Hill and St. Patrick's, visit https://stpatrickkennettsquare.org OR https://unionhillcemetery.com

Sources: 

https://stpatrickkennettsquare.org/parish-history/

https://stpatrickkennettsquare.org/remember-when/

https://unionhillcemetery.com/history/#:~:text=At%20the%20start%20of%20the,was%20formed%20November%2028%2C%201867.

https://kennettcollaborative.org/stories/union-hill-cemeterys-new-columbarium-offers-a-simple-sustainable-burial-option/