Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery

The cemetery was envisioned in 1843 by Sam Wollaston, who sought to establish one of Delaware's first non-sectarian cemeteries on 10 acres of his farm, which was outside the city of Wilmington at the time.^[1] His venture was quickly a success, and the following year, Wollaston formed a company to expand and landscape the site with Willard Hall serving as president. Engineer George Read Riddle was hired to design the cemetery.^[2] In 1850, James Canby planted an imported cedar of Lebanon at the entrance of the cemetery.^[3]

One corner of the cemetery, named Soldier's Graveplot, contains the remains of 121 U.S. Civil War soldiers who died from their wounds or war-related illnesses at the old Delaware Hospital.

The cemetery's chapel, designed by architect Elijah Dallett Jr.,^[4] was built in 1913 of Foxcroft stone with window sills of Indiana limestone.^[5]

In 1917, the cemetery received remains originally interred at the 18th-century First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington's Rodney Square. The church was moved to Park Drive to make room for a new library.^[6]

In 2014, the cemetery launched the Eternal Rest 5K Walk/Run to raise money to maintain the cemetery.^[7]

• William Hepburn Armstrong (1824–1919), U.S. Congressman
• Richard Bassett (1745–1815), U.S. Senator and Governor of Delaware, signer of the United States Constitution
• James Asheton Bayard Sr. (1767–1815), U.S. Senator and Congressman
• Richard H. Bayard (1796–1868), U.S. Senator
• Gunning Bedford Jr. (1747–1812), Signer of the U.S. Constitution
• Emily Bissell (1861–1948), Social reformer, introduced Christmas Seals to the United States
• Levi Clark Bootes (1809–1896), Civil War Brevet Brigadier General
• James Canby (1781–1858), early American railroad executive
• John P. Gillis (1803–1873), Commodore in the U.S. Navy
• Willard Hall (1780–1875), U.S. Congressman
• Bill Hawke (1870–1902), Major League Baseball pitcher
• William H. Heald (1864–1939), U.S. Congressman
• Jacob Jones (1768–1850), U.S. Naval Officer
• Flip Lafferty (1854–1910), professional baseball player
• Henry Latimer (1752–1819), U.S. Senator and Congressman
• Preston Lea (1841–1916), 52nd Governor of Delaware
• Eleazer McComb (1740–1798), Continental Congressman
• John McKinly (1721–1796), President of Delaware
• Charles R. Miller (1857–1927), 54th Governor of Delaware
• John J. Milligan (1795–1875), U.S. Congressman
• Alice Dunbar Nelson (1875–1935), poet, journalist and political activist
• Hezekiah Niles (1777–1839), editor and poet of the Weekly Register
• James P. Postles (1840–1908), American Medal of Honor recipient
• George R. Riddle (1817–1867), U.S. Senator and Congressman
• Robert P. Robinson (1869–1939), 57th Governor of Delaware
• John Ross (1790–1866), Cherokee nation chief
• Thomas Alfred Smyth (1832–1865), brigadier general in the Union Army
• James Tilton (1745–1822), Continental Congressman
• John Wales (1783–1863), U.S. Senator
• Henry Winfield Watson (1856–1933), U.S. Congressman