Graves are available in St. James Cemetery. Single Lot: $1,000.; Double Lot: $1,950.; Cremation Lot $400. Please call
215-788-2228 for complete information.
St. James Cemetery
The churchyard is almost as old as Bristol. Visitors to the churchyard will see family plots and stones with such well-known local names as Cheston, Dorrance, Douglass, Gilkeson, Green, Landreth, Larzelere, McIlvaine, Morris, Peirce, Spring, Stackhouse, Tomlinson, Wood, Wright, and Yardley, among others. Some of the oldest graves are found between the church and Cedar Street. The cemetery contains at least six Revolutionary War veterans and 35 Civil War veterans, the latter including several who were killed in action.
After the Revolution, graves “…in the unfenced burial ground were trodden under foot of man and beast with impunity,” wrote Doron Green in A History of Bristol Borough (1911). “As late as 1806, a former member of the parish gave charge that he should not be buried in that neglected ground, but miles away in Bensalem where his grave would be less open to violation.”
Note: Bold denotes a person buried in the St. James churchyard. Numbers correspond to the graves marked with numbers.
To the right of the church
1 - The Landreths - The large stone edifice to the right of the church doors marks the resting place of nine members of the family. David Landreth (1752-1836) made his fortune as a pioneer in the seed industry in Pennsylvania, founding the Landreth Seed Company in 1784. It continues to this day as the D. Landreth Seed Company. He and his son, David II (1802-1880), introduced to America the zinnia, the white potato and the tomato. Martha Burnet Landreth (1812-1867), the wife of yet another David (1801-1863), was descended from Bishop Gilbert Burnet of Scotland, a theologian and historian who was the Bishop of Edinburgh and later the Bishop of Salisbury, England.
2 - Antoine Furcy Picquet (1777-1815) was a Knight of the Order of St. Louis, Captain of the French Navy, Counsel of France to the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Captain Picquet carried a bullet in his body from a pistol duel in France. Beside him rests Susan Clover Lyon of Dorchester, MA, (d. 1815) whose stone was erected by Picquet “in commemoration of the lamented and faithful friend.” They died five months apart; she was just 35 and he but 38.
3 - The DeNormandies were a princely family of Champagne, France. Andre De Normandie (1651-1724), confidential agent and lieutenant of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, came to America in 1706 to escape the Roman Catholic persecution of French Calvinists, or Hugeunots. The De Normandies were a powerful family in the parish and further afield. Andre’s son John Abram DeNormandie (1688 - 1757) was a Pennsylvania assemblyman from Bucks County. James De Normandie (1793-1866) was the first physician in Bucks County.
4 - George Gillespie’s (1671-1721) is the oldest gravestone still partly legible. George was the grandfather of the Rt. Rev. George de Normandie Gillespie (1819-1909), first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan.
5 - Sarah Bullock’s (1700-1734) is the second-oldest legible gravestone. It originally read: “Mother of Tho’s Sugar of Philadelphia, carpenter, Who departed this life August Ye 16th 1734, aged 34 years and 6 months, “Who’er thou art with her here, stay, read and think of me, as thou art now so once I was, as I am now so thou shall be.”
6 - Charles Bessonett (1734-1807) built and was the first owner of the Delaware House, now the King George II Inn on Radcliffe Street. He established a stagecoach line between Philadelphia and New York City. The trip took two days and cost $4.00.
7 - Capt. Henry Clay Beatty (1835-1862) was a successful Bristol lawyer who joined the Pennsylvania Reserves at the outbreak of the war. At the Battle of White Oak Swamp (June, 1862, Henrico County, Virginia) he was severely wounded but remained fighting. He was wounded again at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) but remained at the front, leading the men of Company I, 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves, which was composed of Bristol Borough men. His wound was serious enough that his arm was amputated the next day. He died September 1, 1862, on the journey to hospital facilities in Washington, DC.
8 – The Rev. Dr. John Drumm (1827-1879) was born in Dublin and educated as a doctor there and in New York City. While living in Nova Scotia, he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. In 1858, he became rector of St. James's Church, Dundaff, PA, near Scranton. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he became Chaplain of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and did both religious and surgical service under General George McClellan. Resigning his chaplaincy in 1863, he accepted a call to succeed the Rev. Dr. Spear as rector of St. James. After 10 years, he resigned to become rector of St. Mark's, New Britain, Connecticut. Yet he chose to be buried here!
Between the church and parish house, back half of cemetery
9 - Captain John Green (d. 1796) was captain of the merchant ship Empress of China, the first ship to carry the new American flag around the world. The ship left New York February 22, 1784, and returned May 11, 1785 – in fewer than 15 months.
10 - Joseph Clunn (1735-1810) was a Revolutionary War hero who later became the first postmaster in Bucks County. The post office was in his residence on Mill Street. Later he commanded a local troop during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, which began in Pennsylvania among those opposed to a new federal tax on alcohol production.
11 - Mary (Polly) Stevenson Hewson (1739-1795) was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin's London landlady. Polly and Franklin enjoyed a lifelong friendship. In 1770, she married William Hewson, a brilliant young physician, who four years later died from an infection incurred while dissecting. Franklin immediately tried to persuade her to move to the U.S. with her three young children and, in 1786, she brought the family to Philadelphia. Polly was at Franklin's bedside when he died in 1790, five years before she died at her son's home near Bristol. About 170 letters between Polly and Franklin survive to this day.
12 - George (1784-1869) and Catharine Breck (1789-1864) were the parents of two notable figures in the Episcopal Church. One is the Rev. James Lloyd Breck, the so-called "Apostle of the Wilderness" (Feast Day, April 2nd), who left St. James for seminary and later evangelized from Pennsylvania to California. The people of St. James supported his mission work financially. He founded two Episcopal seminaries, Nashotah House, in Wisconsin, and Seabury Divinity School. His brother, the Rev. Dr. Charles Break, was longtime rector of St. John's, Wilmington. His father, George, was senior warden for many years and headed the fundraising to build the church that now exists.
Between the church and parish house, front half of the cemetery
13 - Thomas Cooper (1776-1849) came to Bristol in 1819. He was America’s first prominent Shakespearean actor and the first idol of American theater. The Coopers lived at 722 Radcliffe (no longer existing). The bustle of a growing family led Thomas to buy the adjacent home and house his children and their governess in it! The Coopers’ daughter Priscilla married Robert Tyler, whose father, John, became the 10th President of the United States. After John’s wife’s death, Priscilla became the White House hostess and First Lady.
14 - Bella Badger (1768-1833) was one of the most widely known men of his day. Born at Windham, Connecticut, he engaged in business in Baltimore, Maryland, and came to Bucks County in 1807. He became interested in the turf while living in Baltimore, where he purchased the horse “Hickory," and with him won a race on the Germantown course against “Postboy,” who was owned by General Ethan Allen. Badger was subsequently associated with William R. Johnson of Virginia in owning some of the best racing stock of that day. It was by their efforts that the superiority of southern horses was first demonstrated.
15 - William Rodman (1757-1824) served in the Revolutionary War as a private and subsequently as brigade quartermaster. He commanded a company during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. He was a justice of the peace from 1791 to 1800, and a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1804 to 1808. Rodman was elected as a Republican from the Bristol-Bensalem area to the Twelfth Congress.
16 - Joseph McIlvaine (1719-1787) was the Colonel and commanding officer of the Fifth Battalion of Pennsylvania Militia in the Revolutionary War. He was the father of Joseph McIlvaine, United States Senator from New Jersey (1769-1826) and grandfather of the Rt. Rev. Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.
17 - Thomas Barnsley (d. 1771), a Yorkshireman and major of His Majesty’s 6th Royal American Regiment of Foot, came to America with Lord Loudon in 1756. He fought under Lord Loudon in the French-Indian War and later built Croydon Lodge near NeshaminyCreek on Upper Newportville Road. He and his wife Bersheba, an Irish lady, were buried under the aisle of St. James. During the excavation of land under the church in 2002, workmen found partial remains of three skulls and other bones, grouped together with two metal coffin handles, indicating that the builders in 1857 found and reburied the remains. While there is no proof, it is strongly suspected that some of those remains are of the Barnsleys.
In front of the church
The Dorrance family was very prominent in Bristol and at St. James for a century and a half. The family patriarch, John Dorrance (1830-1869) was the contractor responsible for digging the Delaware Canal. He also owned Bristol Mills. Dorrance built a magnificent Italianate house at 300 Radcliffe Street that was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. His grandson, John Dorrance III (1873-1930) founded the Campbell Soup Company. The Dorrances donated the magnificent stained glass window behind the altar in the Church. The large marker near the brick walk is one of several Dorrance plots in the cemetery.
A Few Mysteries to Ponder
Where is Anthony Burton? As a member of St. James Church, he gave the land, contributed generously to the building and equipping of the first church, and commissioned the building of a “free” pew for persons who could not afford pew rent. His family was prominent in the settlement and development of Bucks County for many generations. He was buried in the churchyard in 1739, but records of burials were not kept until 1833 and our map of the churchyard contains many “unknown” plots. Where is our forefather?
What Happened to Sarah Wright? St. James’ famous (or infamous) “Witch’s Chair” sits atop the grave of Merritt Wright (1850-1911). Legend has it that his widow, Sarah (1851-19??) had it placed there so that she could rest when she came to visit his grave. Her name and death date are not engraved on the tombstone. Yet a 1930 newspaper obituary announced that Frank K. Benfer (1856-1930), “son of the late John L. and Mary A. Benfer, died at the residence of his sister, Mrs. Sarah F. Wright, Bristol, Friday, August 1.” If Sarah never remarried and was still living in Bristol at age 79, why wasn’t she buried with Merritt? And where is she?
“Midnight Mary” Gertrude Louise Spring (1909-1935) died of a skull fracture in an automobile accident. Her spirit is alleged to be that of “Midnight Mary,” a local ghost who attracts a lot of attention to the churchyard around Halloween. Miss Spring was 26 (a little old to be coming from her prom, as legend has it). She was laid to rest with other members of her family and given the full burial rite of the Church, so the idea of her spirit wandering restlessly around the area in a dripping gown is “spiritually” suspect.
Do We Really Have Benjamin Franklin’s Grandson? Louis Bache (1779-1819) was a colonel and commander of the Second Light Infantry Regiment of Pennsylvania during the War of 1812. He was the son of Sally Franklin Bache and Richard Bache. His mother was the only daughter of Benjamin Franklin (she had two brothers). According to www.Findagrave.com, Louis is buried at St. James. Again, no written record of his burial here exists.
After the Revolution, graves “…in the unfenced burial ground were trodden under foot of man and beast with impunity,” wrote Doron Green in A History of Bristol Borough (1911). “As late as 1806, a former member of the parish gave charge that he should not be buried in that neglected ground, but miles away in Bensalem where his grave would be less open to violation.”
Note: Bold denotes a person buried in the St. James churchyard. Numbers correspond to the graves marked with numbers.
To the right of the church
1 - The Landreths - The large stone edifice to the right of the church doors marks the resting place of nine members of the family. David Landreth (1752-1836) made his fortune as a pioneer in the seed industry in Pennsylvania, founding the Landreth Seed Company in 1784. It continues to this day as the D. Landreth Seed Company. He and his son, David II (1802-1880), introduced to America the zinnia, the white potato and the tomato. Martha Burnet Landreth (1812-1867), the wife of yet another David (1801-1863), was descended from Bishop Gilbert Burnet of Scotland, a theologian and historian who was the Bishop of Edinburgh and later the Bishop of Salisbury, England.
2 - Antoine Furcy Picquet (1777-1815) was a Knight of the Order of St. Louis, Captain of the French Navy, Counsel of France to the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Captain Picquet carried a bullet in his body from a pistol duel in France. Beside him rests Susan Clover Lyon of Dorchester, MA, (d. 1815) whose stone was erected by Picquet “in commemoration of the lamented and faithful friend.” They died five months apart; she was just 35 and he but 38.
3 - The DeNormandies were a princely family of Champagne, France. Andre De Normandie (1651-1724), confidential agent and lieutenant of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, came to America in 1706 to escape the Roman Catholic persecution of French Calvinists, or Hugeunots. The De Normandies were a powerful family in the parish and further afield. Andre’s son John Abram DeNormandie (1688 - 1757) was a Pennsylvania assemblyman from Bucks County. James De Normandie (1793-1866) was the first physician in Bucks County.
4 - George Gillespie’s (1671-1721) is the oldest gravestone still partly legible. George was the grandfather of the Rt. Rev. George de Normandie Gillespie (1819-1909), first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan.
5 - Sarah Bullock’s (1700-1734) is the second-oldest legible gravestone. It originally read: “Mother of Tho’s Sugar of Philadelphia, carpenter, Who departed this life August Ye 16th 1734, aged 34 years and 6 months, “Who’er thou art with her here, stay, read and think of me, as thou art now so once I was, as I am now so thou shall be.”
6 - Charles Bessonett (1734-1807) built and was the first owner of the Delaware House, now the King George II Inn on Radcliffe Street. He established a stagecoach line between Philadelphia and New York City. The trip took two days and cost $4.00.
7 - Capt. Henry Clay Beatty (1835-1862) was a successful Bristol lawyer who joined the Pennsylvania Reserves at the outbreak of the war. At the Battle of White Oak Swamp (June, 1862, Henrico County, Virginia) he was severely wounded but remained fighting. He was wounded again at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) but remained at the front, leading the men of Company I, 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves, which was composed of Bristol Borough men. His wound was serious enough that his arm was amputated the next day. He died September 1, 1862, on the journey to hospital facilities in Washington, DC.
8 – The Rev. Dr. John Drumm (1827-1879) was born in Dublin and educated as a doctor there and in New York City. While living in Nova Scotia, he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. In 1858, he became rector of St. James's Church, Dundaff, PA, near Scranton. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he became Chaplain of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and did both religious and surgical service under General George McClellan. Resigning his chaplaincy in 1863, he accepted a call to succeed the Rev. Dr. Spear as rector of St. James. After 10 years, he resigned to become rector of St. Mark's, New Britain, Connecticut. Yet he chose to be buried here!
Between the church and parish house, back half of cemetery
9 - Captain John Green (d. 1796) was captain of the merchant ship Empress of China, the first ship to carry the new American flag around the world. The ship left New York February 22, 1784, and returned May 11, 1785 – in fewer than 15 months.
10 - Joseph Clunn (1735-1810) was a Revolutionary War hero who later became the first postmaster in Bucks County. The post office was in his residence on Mill Street. Later he commanded a local troop during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, which began in Pennsylvania among those opposed to a new federal tax on alcohol production.
11 - Mary (Polly) Stevenson Hewson (1739-1795) was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin's London landlady. Polly and Franklin enjoyed a lifelong friendship. In 1770, she married William Hewson, a brilliant young physician, who four years later died from an infection incurred while dissecting. Franklin immediately tried to persuade her to move to the U.S. with her three young children and, in 1786, she brought the family to Philadelphia. Polly was at Franklin's bedside when he died in 1790, five years before she died at her son's home near Bristol. About 170 letters between Polly and Franklin survive to this day.
12 - George (1784-1869) and Catharine Breck (1789-1864) were the parents of two notable figures in the Episcopal Church. One is the Rev. James Lloyd Breck, the so-called "Apostle of the Wilderness" (Feast Day, April 2nd), who left St. James for seminary and later evangelized from Pennsylvania to California. The people of St. James supported his mission work financially. He founded two Episcopal seminaries, Nashotah House, in Wisconsin, and Seabury Divinity School. His brother, the Rev. Dr. Charles Break, was longtime rector of St. John's, Wilmington. His father, George, was senior warden for many years and headed the fundraising to build the church that now exists.
Between the church and parish house, front half of the cemetery
13 - Thomas Cooper (1776-1849) came to Bristol in 1819. He was America’s first prominent Shakespearean actor and the first idol of American theater. The Coopers lived at 722 Radcliffe (no longer existing). The bustle of a growing family led Thomas to buy the adjacent home and house his children and their governess in it! The Coopers’ daughter Priscilla married Robert Tyler, whose father, John, became the 10th President of the United States. After John’s wife’s death, Priscilla became the White House hostess and First Lady.
14 - Bella Badger (1768-1833) was one of the most widely known men of his day. Born at Windham, Connecticut, he engaged in business in Baltimore, Maryland, and came to Bucks County in 1807. He became interested in the turf while living in Baltimore, where he purchased the horse “Hickory," and with him won a race on the Germantown course against “Postboy,” who was owned by General Ethan Allen. Badger was subsequently associated with William R. Johnson of Virginia in owning some of the best racing stock of that day. It was by their efforts that the superiority of southern horses was first demonstrated.
15 - William Rodman (1757-1824) served in the Revolutionary War as a private and subsequently as brigade quartermaster. He commanded a company during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. He was a justice of the peace from 1791 to 1800, and a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1804 to 1808. Rodman was elected as a Republican from the Bristol-Bensalem area to the Twelfth Congress.
16 - Joseph McIlvaine (1719-1787) was the Colonel and commanding officer of the Fifth Battalion of Pennsylvania Militia in the Revolutionary War. He was the father of Joseph McIlvaine, United States Senator from New Jersey (1769-1826) and grandfather of the Rt. Rev. Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.
17 - Thomas Barnsley (d. 1771), a Yorkshireman and major of His Majesty’s 6th Royal American Regiment of Foot, came to America with Lord Loudon in 1756. He fought under Lord Loudon in the French-Indian War and later built Croydon Lodge near NeshaminyCreek on Upper Newportville Road. He and his wife Bersheba, an Irish lady, were buried under the aisle of St. James. During the excavation of land under the church in 2002, workmen found partial remains of three skulls and other bones, grouped together with two metal coffin handles, indicating that the builders in 1857 found and reburied the remains. While there is no proof, it is strongly suspected that some of those remains are of the Barnsleys.
In front of the church
The Dorrance family was very prominent in Bristol and at St. James for a century and a half. The family patriarch, John Dorrance (1830-1869) was the contractor responsible for digging the Delaware Canal. He also owned Bristol Mills. Dorrance built a magnificent Italianate house at 300 Radcliffe Street that was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. His grandson, John Dorrance III (1873-1930) founded the Campbell Soup Company. The Dorrances donated the magnificent stained glass window behind the altar in the Church. The large marker near the brick walk is one of several Dorrance plots in the cemetery.
A Few Mysteries to Ponder
Where is Anthony Burton? As a member of St. James Church, he gave the land, contributed generously to the building and equipping of the first church, and commissioned the building of a “free” pew for persons who could not afford pew rent. His family was prominent in the settlement and development of Bucks County for many generations. He was buried in the churchyard in 1739, but records of burials were not kept until 1833 and our map of the churchyard contains many “unknown” plots. Where is our forefather?
What Happened to Sarah Wright? St. James’ famous (or infamous) “Witch’s Chair” sits atop the grave of Merritt Wright (1850-1911). Legend has it that his widow, Sarah (1851-19??) had it placed there so that she could rest when she came to visit his grave. Her name and death date are not engraved on the tombstone. Yet a 1930 newspaper obituary announced that Frank K. Benfer (1856-1930), “son of the late John L. and Mary A. Benfer, died at the residence of his sister, Mrs. Sarah F. Wright, Bristol, Friday, August 1.” If Sarah never remarried and was still living in Bristol at age 79, why wasn’t she buried with Merritt? And where is she?
“Midnight Mary” Gertrude Louise Spring (1909-1935) died of a skull fracture in an automobile accident. Her spirit is alleged to be that of “Midnight Mary,” a local ghost who attracts a lot of attention to the churchyard around Halloween. Miss Spring was 26 (a little old to be coming from her prom, as legend has it). She was laid to rest with other members of her family and given the full burial rite of the Church, so the idea of her spirit wandering restlessly around the area in a dripping gown is “spiritually” suspect.
Do We Really Have Benjamin Franklin’s Grandson? Louis Bache (1779-1819) was a colonel and commander of the Second Light Infantry Regiment of Pennsylvania during the War of 1812. He was the son of Sally Franklin Bache and Richard Bache. His mother was the only daughter of Benjamin Franklin (she had two brothers). According to www.Findagrave.com, Louis is buried at St. James. Again, no written record of his burial here exists.