Newark Union Church and Cemetery
Newark Union Burial Ground is a cemetery in Brandywine Hundred, Delaware and the resting place of many notable local residents.
History
The first half-acre of land was donated in 1687 by Valentine Hollingsworth, one of the area's settlers.[1] Members of Hollingsworth's family hosted the Quaker Meeting in their home adjacent to the burial ground until the death of Valentine's daughter Catherine and her husband George Robinson.[2] When the Newark Meeting closed in 1754, the cemetery took the name "Newark Free Burial Ground", and became the resting place for at least two soldiers from the American Revolutionary War.[3] Part of the wall surrounding the cemetery dates to 1787, when Charles Robinson, Valentine's great-grandson, carved his initials into one of the stones.
After the war, the property fell into neglect for more than half a century.[4] In 1845, neighbors raised money to enlarge the cemetery by an acre and erect a non-denominational church, called Newark Union Church.[5] In 1888, the church was adopted into the Methodist Episcopal Conference, and took the name Newark Union M. E. Church; the building was subsequently remodeled in 1906.[6]
Notable burials
Of the nearly 950 graves, many headstones bear the names of some of the oldest families of the Brandywine Hundred.[4][7] Included are members of the following notable local families:
- relatives of John, Henry, and Edward Beeson
- descendents of William Forwood
- descendents of John Grubb
- descendents of Richard G. Hanby
- relatives of John F. Sharpley
- descendents of William Talley
- descendents of Jacob R. Weldin
Current burials
The cemetery and now-vacant church are maintained by a voluntary, self-perpetuating board of trustees which allows burial for Brandywine Hundred residents.[3]
References
- ^ "Newark Union". Delaware Public Archives.
- ^ Standing, Herbert (1982). "Quakers in Delaware in the Time of William Penn" (PDF).
- ^ a b Mertz, Anne Morris (October 1980). "The Story of Newark Union". The Delaware Genealogical Society Journal. 1: 3.
- ^ a b Scharf, Thomas J. "45, Brandywine Hundred". History of Delaware, 1609-1888. p. 898-914.
- ^ Rendle, Ellen (2010). New Castle County. Arcadia Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 0738585572.
- ^ Zebley, Frank R. (1947). The churches of Delaware: a history, in brief, of the nearly 900 churches and former churches in Delaware as located by the author. p. 114.
- ^ "Newark Union Cemetery at findagrave.com".