{{short description|Rural cemetery in West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA}} {{Infobox cemetery |name = Oaklands Cemetery |image = Oaklands Cemetery Gates in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Photo taken in June 2019.jpg |caption = Oaklands Cemetery Gates |established = 1854 |country = United States |location = 1042 Pottstown Pike, West Chester, Pennsylvania |type =Historic |owner = <!--entity that owns the cemetery--> |size = {{convert|26|acre}} |graves= |findagraveid = 45667 |style=Rural cemetery|website=[https://oaklandscemetery.com/ oaklandscemetery.com]|coordinates={{coord|39.9799|-75.6213|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}}}} '''Oaklands Cemetery''' is a rural cemetery founded in 1854 in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania. It is located at 1042 Pottstown Pike<ref>{{cite web |title=The Oaklands Cemetery |url=https://www.oaklandscemetery.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810075515/http://oaklandscemetery.org/ |archive-date=2020-08-10 |accessdate=1 June 2019 |website=oaklandscemetery.org}}</ref> and is approximately {{convert|26|acre|km2}} in size.
== Description and history == The Oaklands Cemetery was founded in response to the West Chester borough council's closure of graveyards within the borders of West Chester and the discontinuation of future burials allowed within it. The ordinance passed on July 21, 1851, and had an effective date of August 20. It was enacted most likely in reaction to cholera epidemics in town.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=James |url=https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/hist_wchest/2/ |title=History of West Chester, Pennsylvania |publisher=West Chester University |year=2015 |location=West Chester |language=en-US |chapter=Government and Law: 05 Life and Death Matters}}</ref> The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed, and Governor William F. Johnston approved, an act to incorporate the cemetery on April 14, 1851.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/iau.31858018800395 |title=Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania passed at the Session of 1851 |publisher=Theo. Fenn & Co., Printers to the State |year=1851 |location=Harrisburg |pages=603–604 |hdl=2027/iau.31858018800395 |language=en-US}}</ref>
The corporators included some of West Chester's most prominent politicians and businessmen, including Robert Cornwell, William Darlington, William Everhart, Joseph J. Lewis, and Washington Townsend. The corporation raised money through contributions by prominent citizens and purchased 23 acres of land from Joseph L. Taylor located one and a half miles north of West Chester for the cemetery.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brophy |first=Alfred L. |date=2013-08-12 |title='These Great and Beautiful Republics of the Dead': Public Constitutionalism and the Antebellum Cemetery |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2304305 |journal=UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2304305 |language=en |location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=2304305 }}</ref><ref name=":0" />
The Oaklands Cemetery was dedicated on December 10, 1853. Samuel Rush, a noted lawyer, delivered the principal address, and George W. Pearce wrote the dedication ode.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomson |first=W. W. |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t13n2f72s |title=Chester County and Its People |publisher=The Union History Company |year=1898 |location=Chicago |pages=888 |hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t13n2f72s |language=en-US}}</ref> Bodies from the closed borough cemeteries were reburied at Oaklands the following year, along with the start of new burials. Burials grew so slowly that in July 1854, Darlington proposed that the remains of Isaac D. Barnard, a U.S. Senator and War of 1812 hero, be moved to Oaklands to bolster interest in burials there. Barnard's remains were exhumed, transported to Oaklands in a grand procession, and interred beneath a newly erected marble obelisk while Darlington gave a speech lauding Barnard's deeds and the "beautiful rural repository of the dead" where he now lay. Interest in the cemetery rose as a result, and by their 1855 annual meeting, the incorporators could boast of fifty-two burials, including thirty-six transfers from other graveyards.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dixon |first=Mark E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/699010179 |title=The Hidden History of Chester County: Lost Tales from the Delaware and Brandywine Valleys |publisher=History Press |year=2011 |isbn=9781609490737 |location=Charleston, SC |pages=46–47 |language=en |access-date=2022-12-09}}</ref>
As burials increased, the incorporators laid roads, created a small lake, and built a receiving vault, sexton's cottage, and stone gateway for the new cemetery. By 1888, the cemetery featured an ornamental fountain as well as a chapel atop a slight rise called Chapel Hill. Towering trees and winding paths made this garden cemetery "one of the most attractive places in the vicinity," according to the state board of trade.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Pennsylvania Board of Trade |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433081818977 |title=West Chester, Pennsylvania. The Most Important Suburb of Philadelphia |publisher=F. S. Hickman's Printing House |location=West Chester |pages=41–42 |hdl=2027/nyp.33433081818977 |language=en-US}}</ref>
A memorial at the cemetery commemorates the seven crewmembers and passengers who died when their B-25 bomber crashed in a forested area of the cemetery on May 7, 1944.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piccolomini |first=Marion M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCeACwAAQBAJ |title=World War II and Chester County, Pennsylvania |date=2016 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4671-1846-0 |pages=116–117 |language=en}}</ref>
== Adjacent cemeteries == In 1862, additional land was purchased as an annex for the burial of African American decedents. The Chestnut Grove Cemetery Company was incorporated to manage this property on October 27, 1862.<ref name=":1" /> It is now the Chestnut Grove Cemetery Annex and as of 1910 consisted of ten acres of land owned and managed by African American residents.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/emu.010000158356 |title=Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory, 1910: Industrial and Material Growth of the Negroes of Pennsylvania |publisher=James H. W. Howard & Son |year=1910 |location=Harrisburg |pages=60 |hdl=2027/emu.010000158356 |language=en-US}}</ref> DeBaptiste Funeral Home managed the property as of 2013. Painter Horace Pippin, politician Harry W. Bass, and forester Ralph E. Brock are among the interments there.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Kristin E. |date=2013-08-30 |title=Horace Pippin's last resting site hidden in plain view |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20130830_Horace_Pippin_s_last_resting_site_hidden_in_plain_view.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226161105/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20130830_Horace_Pippin_s_last_resting_site_hidden_in_plain_view.html |archive-date=2021-02-26 |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=The Philadelphia Inquirer |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Rachel Jones |date=Fall 2007 |title=Reviving - and Revising - the Reputation of Ralph Elwood Brock |url=https://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/reviving-revising-reputation-ralph-elwood-brock/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
A portion of Oaklands Cemetery was allotted for Roman Catholic burials. This section became St. Agnes Cemetery, adjoining the Oaklands Cemetery on the north.<ref name=":1" />
An Orthodox Friends cemetery was established across the street from Oaklands in 1874.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_2UsVAAAAYAAJ |title=West Chester, Past and Present |publisher=Daily Local News |year=1899 |location=West Chester, PA |pages=15–16 |language=en-US}}</ref> Arctic explorer Isaac Israel Hayes and Chester County historian Gilbert Cope are among the interments there.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Isaac Israel Hayes |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/dr-isaac-israel-hayes |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=American Battlefield Trust |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Notable burials== <!-- NOTICE * * * NOTICE * * * NOTICE * * * * * * * * * * * *NOTICE * * * NOTICE * * * NOTICE• Only people who already have a Wikipedia article may appear here. This establishes notability. • The article must mention their burial in the cemetery. • The fact of their burial should have a reliable source cited. • Alphabetical by last name please. • All others will be deleted. END OF NOTICE * * * * * * * * * * * * END OF NOTICE * * * * * * * * * * * *END OF NOTICE --> [[File:Isaac Dutton Barnard grave in Oaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|Isaac Dutton Barnard Memorial]] [[File:John Hickman grave in Oaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|John Hickman gravestone]] *Samuel Barber (1910–1981), composer best known for his Adagio for Strings and the opera ''Vanessa'' *Isaac Dutton Barnard (1791–1834), United States Senator *Thomas S. Bell (1800–1861), Pennsylvania State Senator and justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania *Thomas S. Bell Jr. (1838–1862), Union Army lieutenant colonel killed in action at the Battle of Antietam<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Futhey |first1=John Smith |url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924005813518 |title=History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches |last2=Cope |first2=Gilbert |publisher=L. H. Everts |year=1881 |location=Philadelphia |pages=480 |language=en-US}}</ref> *Joseph Emley Borden (1854–1929), Major League Baseball pitcher *Samuel Butler (1825–1891), Pennsylvania State Representative and Pennsylvania Treasurer (1880–1882) *Smedley Darlington Butler (1881–1940), United States Marine Corps General, double recipient of the Medal of Honor, and exposer of the Business Plot to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt *Thomas Stalker Butler (1855–1928), United States Representative from 1897 to 1928 *William Butler (1822–1909), judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania *Robert Cornwell (1835–1927), Union Army captain and law partner of William Darlington *Isabel Darlington 1865–1950), lawyer and first woman to practice law in Chester County *Smedley Darlington (1827–1899), United States Representative from 1887 to 1891 *William Darlington (1782–1863), botanist and United States Representative from 1815–1817 and 1819–1823 *Columbus Evans (1824–1854), newspaper editor, soldier, and mayor of Wilmington, Delaware<ref>{{Cite book |last=Futhey |first=John Smith |url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924005813518 |title=History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches |last2=Cope |first2=Gilbert |publisher=L. H. Everts |year=1881 |location=Philadelphia |pages=541 |language=en-US}}</ref> *Henry S. Evans (1813–1872), state senator and representative<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-funeral-of-sta/134769797/ |title=Funeral of State Senator Evans |date=1872-02-14 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}}</ref> *Benjamin Matlack Everhart (1818–1904), mycologist<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-servants-fami/135904715/ |title=Servants, Family and Friends Get Botanist's Wealth |date=1904-09-25 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-27}}{{Open access}}</ref> *James Bowen Everhart (1785–1868), United States Representative from 1883 to 1887 *William Everhart (1785–1868), United States Representative from 1853 to 1855 *Thomas Lawrence Eyre (1862–1926), President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1921–1922 *J. Smith Futhey (1820–1888), historian and presiding judge of the Pennsylvania courts of common pleas<ref>{{Cite news |date=1888-12-01 |title=Funeral of the Late Judge Futhey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-new-era-funeral-of-the-late-ju/144072983/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |work=Lancaster New Era |pages=5}}</ref> *Henry Ruhl Guss (1825–1907), U.S. Civil War brevet Major General<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eicher |first1=John H. and David J. |title=Civil War High Commands |date=2001 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford, California |isbn=0-8047-3641-3 |page=271 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fs0Ajlnjl6AC&pg=PA271 |access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref> *Alexander Hemphill (1921–1986), Philadelphia City Comptroller and candidate for mayor and US Congress *Joseph Hergesheimer (1880–1954), author of novels such as ''Three Black Pennys'' and ''Java Head'' *John Hickman (1810–1875), United States Representative from 1855 to 1865 *Mott Hooton (1838–1920), U.S. brigadier general; veteran of the Civil War and Spanish–American War<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-local-news-in-the-church-of-the-ho/143708452/ |title=In the Church of the Holy Trinity... |date=1920-06-05 |newspaper=Daily Local News |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2024-03-19}}{{Open access}}</ref> *Herman Hutt (1872–1952), Pennsylvania state representative and chief burgess of West Chester<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Biography: Herman G. Hutt |url=https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=3352 |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Archives of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives}}</ref> *Francis James (1799–1886), United States Representative from 1839 to 1843 *William Levis James (1833–1903), Union Army quartermaster and brevet brigadier general *Plummer E. Jefferis (1851–1925), American politician from Pennsylvania<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=5720 |title=Plummer E. Jefferis |website=Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives |access-date=2023-12-10}}</ref> *Dewitt Clinton Lewis (1822–1899), American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient *Joseph J. Lewis (1801–1883), author of the first biography of Abraham Lincoln and IRS commissioner *Wilmer W. MacElree (1859–1960), lawyer, Chester County district attorney, and author<ref>{{Cite web |title=Walking Tour |url=http://094eb41.netsolhost.com/walking-tour |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403134833/https://oaklandscemetery.com/walking-tour/ |archive-date=2024-04-03 |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=Oaklands Cemetery |language=en}}</ref> *Henry McIntire (1835–1863), Union Army lieutenant colonel fatally wounded at the Battle of Glendale *Robert E. Monaghan (1822–1895), member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chesco.org/DocumentCenter/View/48804/Death-Registers-1893-1907-A-Z |title=Death Registers 1893–1907 |date=2009-02-21 |website=Chester County, Pennsylvania |page=312 |access-date=2023-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104055645/https://www.chesco.org/DocumentCenter/View/48804/Death-Registers-1893-1907-A-Z |archive-date=2023-11-04 |url-status=live}}</ref> *Uriah Hunt Painter (1837–1900), journalist, lobbyist, investor, and entrepreneur *George Morris Philips (1851–1920), principal of West Chester University from 1881 to 1920 *George W. Roberts (1833–1862), Union Army colonel killed in action at the Battle of Stones River *Joseph Trimble Rothrock (1839–1922), conservationist and Pennsylvania state forestry commissioner *Barclay Rubincam (1920–1978), regionalist painter affiliated with the Brandywine School *William T. Shafer (1825–1882), member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=7984 |title=William T. Shafer |website=Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives |access-date=2023-12-28}}</ref> *George Fairlamb Smith (1840–1877), Union Army colonel, state representative, and district attorney *Persifor Frazer Smith (1808–1882), state delegate<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=7793 |title=Persifor Frazer Smith |website=Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives |access-date=2023-11-02}}{{Open access}}</ref> *David Townsend (1787–1858), botanist, banker, and civic leader in whose honor ''Townsendia'' was named *Washington Townsend (1813–1894), United States Representative from 1869 until 1877 *William Bell Waddell (1828–1897), state delegate and senator<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-journal-funeral-of-judge-wad/134358620/ |title=Funeral of Judge Waddell |date=1897-06-08 |newspaper=Evening Journal |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-02}}{{Open access}}</ref> *William Hollingsworth Whyte (1917–1999), sociologist and journalist who wrote the bestseller ''The Organization Man'' *Wilmer Worthington (1804–1873), physician and Speaker of the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1869 *Garo Yepremian (1944–2015), professional American football placekicker who played with the Miami Dolphins
==References== {{reflist|2}}
{{Commons category|Oaklands Cemetery}}
==External links== * [https://oaklandscemetery.com/ Official website] * [https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/45667 Oaklands Cemetery] at Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oaklands Cemetery}} * Category:Cemeteries established in the 1850s Category:Cemeteries in Chester County, Pennsylvania Category:West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania Category:1854 establishments in Pennsylvania Category:Rural cemeteries Category:West Chester, Pennsylvania