
St.
Paul's has an extensive churchyard, considered one
of the most beautiful on the Eastern Shore. We welcome
visitors, and our Parish Secretary will help you locate
specific memorials, if you should desire to do so.
Old
St. Paul's churchyard covers some 19 acres overlooking
a millpond produced by the damming of Broad Noc Creek.
Michael Miller, whose grave lies near the door of the
Church, sold the Vestry the original tract of about
8 acres of land out of his "Arcadia" holding
on February 6, 1696 for 2,000 pounds of tobacco. Within
a year of the sale, Miller returned the purchase price
to the Parish. Another two acres were added through
a purchase from Charles Ringgold in 1707. The remainder
of the property has been acquired in more recent times,
much of it from the Remington Arms Company. The churchyard
is one of St. Paul's most attractive features. It is
extensively planted and harbors over 40 different species
of tree. It also contains both English Boxwoods (Buxus
sempervirens) and American Boxwoods (Buxus suffruticosa),
considered among the largest and finest in Kent County.
The churchyard was once dominated by a grove of spectacular
White Oaks. Unfortunately, all but one of these trees
have succumbed to time and storms. The remaining example
-- a Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus Michauxwii) -- was
designated a Kent County Bicentennial Tree in July,
1976, by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission. This
Maryland species champion stands near the main entrance
to the churchyard from the parking lot and is 120 feet
high, has a circumference of 23 feet 7 inches, a crown
spread of over 90 feet, and is over 400 years old.
The
majority of the marked graves in the churchyard date
from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but there
are a satisfying number from earlier times. The oldest
section of the churchyard is the section around the
church, itself, and many of the oldest graves are located
quite close to the building. One of the more colorful
is that of Daniel Coley who died in 1727. His headstone
reads:
"Behold
and see where now I lye,
As you are now, so once was I;
As I am now, so must you be;
Therefore prepare to follow me."
Local
tradition asserts that the casualties from the battle
at nearby Caulk's Field during the War of 1812 were
buried at St. Paul's. Unhappily, an archaeological survey
of the grounds conducted by the University of Delaware's
Center for Archaeological Research in 1992 failed to
turn up any supporting physical evidence. There are,
however, many other veterans' graves, including those
of men from Kent County who fought in the War Between
the States. Interested visitors will find two Confederate
and three Union soldiers buried in the churchyard, including
1st Lieutenant Samuel Beck, Assistant Surgeon on the
staff of General John H. Winder, the Provost-Marshal
of Confederate Prisons. One modern grave that has occasionally
excited interest is that of Tallulah Bankhead, located
near the northeast corner of the "New Cemetery".
A frequent visitor during her lifetime to the nearby
home of her sister, Eugenia, she was buried at St. Paul's
in 1968. Enquiries about the churchyard or the cemetery
may be directed to the Parish Secretary during the week
at 410-778-1540. Cemetery lot sales are handled by Mr.
Pete Dillingham, who can be reached at 410-639-2695,
or through the Parish Office.
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