Day 2- Christ Church and Christ Church Burial Ground

Have you ever heard of Christ Church?  How about the Episcopalian Church? Well, Christ Church is the mother church of all Episcopalian churches the United States over. (Episcopalian churches began after the split with the church of England)

When you walk into the church you might realize that you are walking on the people’s tombs.  This was a common English practice which carried over into colonial America.  On the outside of the church are also tombs.  When tombs are on the outside, you are supposed to not walk on them.  BUT, when it comes to graves inside of the church, it is considered good luck to walk upon the dead.  These men who were buried here, wanted to become a literal part of the church when they died.

When was Christ Church’s last service?

Christ Church is still an active church.  They hold services every day as well as being a historic landmark.

Who attended Christ Church?

Some of the people who attended Christ Church might sound very familiar to you: George Washington, Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, and Betsy Ross.

Where did they sit?

When you went to Christ Church you actually paid for your seat.  You had your own private pew and the most important towns people (aka the rich) had the pews closest to the pulpit.  Those who were not as rich would sit closer to the back of the church.

How long has Christ Church been around?

                 Christ Church was found in 1695, but the current church was built in  1744.  To put that in perspective, Christ Church has only had TEN                ministers since our country was born in 1776. That means that today I am only teaching the TWELTH generation of Americans!!! (Makes you think!)

I was also able to go and see Christ Church Burial Ground.  It’s very unique because there are lots of gravestones all around, but you can actually read very few.  Why? Well because most of the stones are made of limestone and they have been worn away through time and erosion.  One of the men running the burial ground realized this years ago and actually went around and drew a map of all of the graves that he could still identify. Unfortunately, many of the stones were already in a condition where they couldn't be read, so we do know that certain people were buried there...just not where.

Why are some of the stones two different colors?

One set of stones that I saw was two different colors.  The top was unreadable and the bottom perfect! Why? Well the tombstone had sunk overtime and they pulled them back up.  These tombstones actually belonged to Philip Syng (pronounced sing) and his wife.  Syng was a famous silversmith and it was an inkwell that was used in both the signings of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Here is a picture I took.  Based on the picture…who is buried here and WHY are there pennies on the tombstone?? (Answer at end of blog)

 Why are some people buried there, when they aren’t from Philadelphia?

Back then, transportation was difficult and transporting dead bodies was just not something you did.  If you died in a city, you were buried there.

Who is all buried at Christ Burial?

There are many people who we know and don’t know buried at the church, but most famously there are four signers of the Declaration of Independence:  Dr. Benjamin Rush, Francis Hopkinson, Joseph Hewes, Benjamin Franklin, and George Ross.

**ANSWER: The tombstone is of Benjamin Franklin.  People leave pennies because of Franklin’s famous saying, “A penny saved, is a penny earned.”