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the glendy burying ground
Shortly after our first minister, Dr. John Glendy, became Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in 1803, the congregation focused on an important consideration in the life of any Church. Where would the members of the congregation be laid to rest when they died? The Church was located in what was then downtown Baltimore and many of the residents did not own family burial areas. The land finally chosen and purchased on December 24, 1807, comprised about two acres and was located at the corner of Broadway and Gay Street, a location considered "an immense distance from the city." The cost at auction is recorded to have been $1,051, which in year 2000 dollars, equates, at a conservative 3% growth, to $331,000. The cemetery was considered the finest in the City and was said to be "on par" with the already well-established Westminster burying Ground.
Among the members of Second Presbyterian Church at the time were many business and professional men, wharf owners, and sea captains who did much to shape the evolutionary success of Baltimore. Those members buried in the new cemetery included George Dobbin, founder and publisher of the Baltimore American Newspaper; George Stiles, the fourth Mayor of Baltimore; many who fought in defense of Baltimore in the War of 1812, such as Oliver H. Neilson (esteemed commander of the War of 1812); John Kennedy (commanded 27th Regiment of Maryland Militia at North Point); and George W. Miller (served under Major Armistead during bombardment of Fort McHenry). Also buried in the cemetery were English nobleman Sir Richard Lyttleton Reynell and Alexander Brown, founder of the banking and investment firm which bears his name.
In 1832, after Dr. Glendy was buried in the cemetery, people began to refer to the property as the "Glendy Burying Ground." However, by 1873, the Glendy Burying Ground had become a problem for the Church. Other public cemeteries had been developed, there was no income to maintain the property, and vandalism became an issue. Early in 1875, the Board of Trustees vacated their trust in the Glendy Burying Ground to "the Presbyterian Association of Baltimore" with the understanding that 1) bodies from grave sites that would be disturbed by the City's street expansion project would be transferred to alternate sites, and 2) any excess monies would be used to erect a church building on the property. Thus, the original two-acre cemetery was substantially reduced. If one ventures to the location today, it is amazing to find a small pasture-like area with a very old stone fence on one side and the grand structure of what was Faith Presbyterian Church on the other. You will also see about three or four gravesites, the oldest going back to 1815 and the newest 1930.
It is inspiring to realize that Second Presbyterian Church members were defenders of North Point and Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and that many of these members were buried in the Glendy Burying Ground. To quote from the One Hundred Year History of Second Presbyterian Church written by Rev. Thomas Holmes Walker:
"Here, then, were buried the men who had risked their all in the future of our city. They had invested their capital and upon necessity were willing to sacrifice their lives. And whether they walked our streets as merchants, or looked into the mouths of frowning guns or from behind our city's defenses or trod the decks of those fast vessels which made "Baltimore Clipper" famous the world over or in municipal or state affairs, exercised authority, these men were princes among men and their names were household words in their day."