The Hood Cemetery

We would love to thank Trades for a Difference for their amazing work renovating the Royal House, just a couple of blocks down the street from The Hood Cemetery, at the corner of Garfield St and Germantown Avenue. This house dates back to the 18th Century and was the home of a few of the people from the Royal family who lived in the neighborhood centuries ago and who are buried in our cemetery. Over the years its been vacant and dilapidated. A building that was once on the... verge of demolition and which stood as a symbol of neglect for the neighborhood, now has a new life as a home for the non-profit group which focuses on rebuilding our community by helping local young men and women get into skilled construction trades so they can build wealth for their families and give back to Germantown. Our Germantown community is old as our 327 year old cemetery, but by no means dead and lost. We wish them the very best in their mission. To find out more about Trades for a Difference, and maybe get involved, check out their website http://www.tradesforadifference.org/

If you are also a Philadelphia history lover, and a podcast listener, this may be the one for you. And the first episode is about the Germantown anti-slavery protest of 1688 that was published at a home just two blocks from our cemetery.

To all of the men and women who have served our country, whether in peace time or in war, at home or overseas, we are grateful for your service to our country and the sacrifices that you and your family have made for us. Happy Veterans Day.

Happy 80th Birthday to Mr. Eugene G Stackhouse! Gene used to be The Hood Cemetery's president of the board. He spent many years caring for our cemetery as well as discovering and preserving the history of some of the people buried here. He also wrote a great book Germantown in the Civil War which you can find at online book stores in paperback and in e-book. Author’s note: Gene’s work as a local historian of Historic Germantown, Philadelphia and the Hood Cemetery was high...ly inspiring to me when I decided to use this Facebook page to tell the stories of some of the amazing everyday people buried here. A lot of his original research made possible the stories I've been able to share here. Meeting him for the first time was as exciting for me as meeting a local rock star. I remember having him show me where the grave of Charles Bringhurst was. Gene had written about Charles in his book. Sgt. Bringhurst was there at the outbreak of the Civil War witnessing the first shots of that crucial, defining and bloody war -- coming right at him and his fellow soldiers serving in Fort Sumter. Gene published Charles Bringhurst's account of the battle in his book. And those of you who enjoyed the recent story about Corporal Henry Troutman (see previous post) can thank Gene for noting in his records that one of our veterans was killed in the Nativist riots of 1844. That little note served as the inspiration for a great post. So everyone who follows this page and enjoys these stories, please join me in wishing Gene a Happy 80th!

Exactly one hundred seventy five years ago on the morning of Monday July 8, 1844 Corporal Henry Troutman was pronounced dead. The 26 year old Historic Germantown resident did not die fighting in a war. He was not in some far off land or even distant territory of the United States. He died a dozen miles from his home near present day 2nd and Queen St. in South Philadelphia -- then a separate village named Southwark. Corporal Troutman was newly married to Elizabeth Miller. The ...Continue reading

For those of you who know how to listen to podcasts, you may want to try out this episode of Ben Franklin's World featuring an interview with David Young, former director of Cliveden and Johnson House in Germantown and current director of the Delaware Historical Society. David did a lot to help preserve Germantown history and (more importantly) bring history to the people with the many public history projects he organized over the years. It's great to hear what he's up to now. Remember, Support Your Local History!

There was already a crane set up inside the building, and they were about to start demolition. I gave the orders not to proceed... He was a great champion of Philadelphia. We don’t have an advocate like Dick Tyler today. - Mayor Wilson Goode remembering Richard Tyler, Philadelphia preservationist and historian Read more from architecture critic Inga Saffron about the late Mr. Tyler here.

ATTENTION LOCALS (Again): Howell Park, one of the most hidden parks in Germantown, Philadelphia (5200 block of Greene St) is having a beautification day this Saturday. The land that the park is on used to be in the owned by family of Theobald and John Ent, two brothers who served in the American Revolution who are buried in The Hood Cemetery (see the link to their story in the comments below). Their house still stands today on Germantown Avenue. It probably would make the Ent Family happy to know that a couple of hundred years after their passing that people would come out and clean up their old yard, now a secluded, tree covered park open to the public. Follow the link below for details if you can make it out. Saturday May 18, nine to noon.

ATTENTION NW PHILLY LOCALS!!!: There will be meet ups at several locations throughout the Wissahickon Park, so those of you interested in helping to keep one of our city's treasures clean, find your favorite spot on the list and come on out. There will be a picnic afterwards for the volunteers at Historic Rittenhouse Town. Check link for details and come on out to the Wissahickon SATURDAY JUNE 1ST.

Come on out TODAY! The gates are open now until 4pm and the weather is perfect!

Come on out to visit The Hood Cemetery for Second Saturday tomorrow. Gates are open from noon to 4pm. If you want to volunteer and help with our clean up, please come. And if you just want to wander and tour the cemetery, you can do that too. ALL ARE WELCOME so bring a friend.

The Hood Cemetery, The Woodlands and Laurel Hill Cemetery were recently featured on 6ABC's FYI Philly. If you want to come out and visit the cemetery this Saturday, we are open from noon to 4pm and will be having a cemetery clean up event for anyone who would like to volunteer and help us spruce up our 325 year old historic gem for the spring and summer season. Thanks to the Action News crew for stopping by and to our own board member and neighbor, Alyson Scott, for showing them around the cemetery.

VOLUNTEERS needed for this SAT noon to 4pm. See our event for details. Come on out! And now a letter from The Hood Cemetery archives from our cemetery's neighbor from 42 years ago, Mr. Stevens who some of you from the neighborhood may still remember wrote to Mr. Coxe who was on the cemetery board back then. Some problems never change like the leaves and tree branches. And we still don't have a shredder. But today our workforce is strictly volunteer. So we hope to see as many of you who can make it there Saturday. Come on out and support your local history!