“The Westminster Abbey of the United States”

By Laurie Pellichero | Photography by Jeffrey E. Tryon.

Referred to as “the Westminster Abbey of the United States” by John F. Hageman in his 1878 history of Princeton, Princeton Cemetery sits on almost 19 acres near the center of town and is the final resting place of a plethora of famous figures along with many members of the Princeton community. The cemetery, owned by Nassau Presbyterian Church, was established in 1757 and is still an active burial ground.

When first entering the non-denominational cemetery, one immediately notices the many different styles of headstones and monuments, the oldest of which is for Aaron Burr Sr., the second president of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. Burr died in 1757. Right in front of that is the grave for his son, U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr Jr. (1756-1836), even better known for his duel with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. According to Linda Gilmore, business administrator at Nassau Presbyterian Church and Princeton Cemetery, who also leads tours of the cemetery, it has become a very popular site since the debut of the Broadway show Hamilton. There is even a person who has sent flowers a few times to be placed at the grave with the message “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and saints, it takes and it takes and it takes. Love, Alex.”

According to the church’s website, the oldest part of the graveyard is at the corner of Wiggins and Nassau streets, where visitors can see some of the earliest European family names in the area including Bayard, Berrien, Leonard, Mershon, Skillman, and Stockton. The original one-acre parcel of land was acquired by the then-College of New Jersey in 1757 from Judge Thomas Leonard, a member of Provincial Council, a year after the College moved from Newark to Princeton. The second-oldest grave in the cemetery is for Margaret Leonard (1736-1760), who was related by marriage to the judge.

First Presbyterian Church, the predecessor of Nassau Presbyterian Church, was founded in 1762 and completed in 1764 with a grant of land as well as financial assistance from the College. The property included a burial ground that was later returned to the College in exchange for the school’s cemetery. It grew in 1801 when Dr. Thomas Wiggins bequeathed his farm, which was adjacent to the cemetery, to the church. Later gifts of more than four acres from Paul Tulane and eight acres from Moses Taylor Pine led to its current size.

The website notes that the graves of all but four of the deceased presidents of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) are in the Presidents’ Plot in the Old Graveyard section. Also buried there are all but one of the deceased presidents of the Princeton Theological Seminary. This section includes many graves that look like crypts, but are actually false tops, according to Gilmore.

U.S. President Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), his wife Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947), and their young daughter Ruth Cleveland (1891-1904), who is said to be the namesake of the Baby Ruth candy bar (not baseball player Babe Ruth, but subject to speculation), are also buried in the cemetery. Cleveland was the only president to be married in the White House and serve two non-consecutive terms. At his request, his tombstone makes no mention that he was a president, noted Gilmore. His birthday (March 18) is celebrated annually at Princeton Cemetery with a wreath-laying ceremony by a military honor guard from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

On Witherspoon Street, across from the Mt. Pisgah AME Church, is the current entrance to what was once designated as the Colored Cemetery. Established in 1807, it is where many generations of African American families and noted residents — including musician Donald Lambert (1904-1962); beautician Christine Moore Howell (1899-1972), the first African American graduate of Princeton High School; school principal Howard B. Waxwood Jr. (1904-1977); and artist Rex Goreleigh (1902-1986) — are buried.

Also buried in the section is Jimmy Johnson, who was born in 1816 and came to Princeton in 1839 as a runaway enslaved person from Maryland, and started his own business as a merchant selling candy and peanuts to the students at the University. He died in 1902 and was buried in an unmarked grave. Princeton University students later raised money to purchase the tombstone that now marks his grave.

When asked how long ago the cemetery was desegregated, Gilmore replied, “We don’t really know when or if there was a formal desegregation. It may have happened gradually. We do know that it was probably a bit slow because there was a natural desire for folks to want to be near family and friends. So, we still get requests today from descendants who want to be as close as possible to their families.”

Buried outside the section are Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church Minister William Drew Robeson (1845-1918) and his wife Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson (1853-1904), the parents of Princeton born singer and activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976), who is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, N.Y. When Maria died after a tragic kitchen fire, William got special permission to have her buried in a location that could be seen from his house on Witherspoon Street — now the Paul Robeson House of Princeton.

Princeton Cemetery as a whole, said Gilmore, “tells the story of the community.”

The church notes that the cemetery is the final resting place of scores of scholars and theologians, soldiers beginning with the Revolutionary War, novelists, philanthropists, politicians, a Nobel Prize winner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence (John Witherspoon, 1723-1794), as well as many others who called the Princeton area home.

Other prominent figures buried in the cemetery include financier and philanthropist Moses Taylor Pyne (1855-1921); Princeton merchant Henry P. Clayton (1853-1940); Helen Dukas (1896-1982), longtime personal assistant to Albert Einstein; astronomer Lyman Spitzer Jr. (1914-1997); mathematician John von Neumann (1903-1957); New Jersey Gov. Brendan Byrne (1925-2018); mayors Barbara Boggs Sigmund (1939-1990) and Phyllis Marchand (1940-2021); community activist and first Black mayor of Princeton Township James Floyd (1922-2018); bookshop owner Sylvia Beach (1887-1962); statistician and journalist George H. Gallup (1901-1984); mathematician Kurt Godel (1906-1978); architect Michael Graves (1934-2015); Bernard Kilgore (1908-1967), president of Dow Jones & Company; and Edgar Palmer (1880-1943), developer of Palmer Square; just to name a few.

Paul Tulane

A large monument was erected for Princeton area native and philanthropist Paul Tulane (1801-1887), which is said to be facing away from Princeton University after it refused his request to be renamed in his honor after his offer of a generous donation in 1882. The funds then went to the Medical College of Louisiana, which became Tulane University. It has also been said, noted Gilmore, that he is facing toward the land that he donated to the cemetery.

On the quirky side, the flat headstone for William H. Hahn Jr. (1905-1980), who is buried in his large family plot, says, “I told you I was sick.”

The newer Pardee Memorial Garden allows the burial of ashes in biodegradable urns. Inscriptions of names and dates of birth and death are carved on granite columns, which the website notes are “designed to inspire a peaceful, contemplative, and sacred open-air space” amidst the historic and traditional gravestones and monuments in the cemetery.

According to Gilmore, there are more than 25,000 graves in the cemetery, which still holds two or three burials per week, and sometimes more.

Nassau Presbyterian Church recently completed a 10-year project to digitize the records of Princeton Cemetery, which included mapping, photographing all the stones, and the creation of an interactive, web-based record.

“We felt we had an obligation to preserve this long history and make it available to the community,” said Gilmore as quoted in a June 5 Town Topics article.

Access to the database can be found at nassauchurch.org.

The main gate for Princeton Cemetery is located at 29 Greenview Avenue. It is open daily from dawn to dusk. Brochures are available in a box by the entrance, and visitors can also scan a code for the interactive map.

Pardee Memorial Garden

Fall Tours

Nassau Presbyterian Church welcomes school and other groups by advance reservation. Call 609.924.1369 or email cemetery@nassauchurch.org to arrange a group visit. Gilmore is also planning a tour for late September or early October. Visit nassauchurch.org for updates.

Princeton Tour Company offers Cemetery Visit tours on Fridays and Saturdays, October 11 through 26, at 7 p.m. Private tours are also available. Visit Princetontourcompany.com for more information.

Owner Mimi Omiecinski said that the cemetery is a very special place, and the tour focuses on stories about unsung people who are buried right by some of the better-known figures. “We are wildly respectful, and celebrate the journey of a lifetime,” she said. “At the end of the day, everyone is remarkable.”

Eve Mandel, director of programs and visitors services for the Historical Society of Princeton, said, “We always offer a free historical tour of the cemetery around Halloween. It’s a great time of year — the fall leaves make the grounds extra beautiful. Every time I lead a tour, I discover a new and interesting story.” Visit princetonhistory.org for details.