1758 Society Hill Churchyard with Indigenous Diplomat Graves
313 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free during posted churchyard hours; the church is an active Episcopal congregation.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Brick paths and grass burial section
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1761 · Indigenous Diplomatic Burial · Society Hill Historic District · 1793 Smallpox Epidemic
St. Peter's Episcopal Church was built between 1758 and 1761 to serve the rapidly growing Anglican population of Society Hill, which had outgrown the original Christ Church congregation in Old City. The brick church, designed by master builder Robert Smith, is one of the best-preserved colonial Anglican churches in the United States. George Washington and his family attended services here during his presidency.
The surrounding churchyard contains burials from the 1760s onward. Notable interments include the artist Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), naval officer Commodore Stephen Decatur Sr. (1751-1808, father of the more-famous Decatur), and several signers of the Continental Association.
In January 1793 a delegation of Iroquois Confederacy chiefs traveled to Philadelphia, then the U.S. capital, for diplomatic negotiations with President George Washington's administration. Multiple delegates fell ill with smallpox during their stay. Seven died (some sources say eight) and were interred in St. Peter's churchyard. The graves were originally unmarked.
A commemorative marker installed in the 20th century identifies the section where the chiefs are believed to rest. The exact identification of individual delegates and their tribal nations is incomplete in surviving records; the Episcopal Diocese has worked with Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) representatives on contemporary acknowledgment of the burial.
The church remains an active Episcopal congregation. The cemetery is listed as a contributing property within the Society Hill Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
Local folklore associated with St. Peter's Cemetery centers on the section of the churchyard where the Iroquois delegates of 1793 were interred. Visitors over the years have described a figure or figures observed standing near the unmarked plot, sometimes near 9 PM, sometimes during dawn quiet. Accounts describe the figure as a man in clothing not specifically identifiable as 18th-century but distinct from contemporary visitor attire.
The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) cultural traditions surrounding death and the proper return of deceased members to their nations make the Philadelphia burial a complex historical and cultural subject. The Onondaga Nation and other constituent Haudenosaunee nations have engaged with the Episcopal Diocese over the years on commemoration and on questions of culturally-appropriate observance. Hauntbound presents the burial with archival neutrality and defers culturally specific narrative to Haudenosaunee cultural authorities.
The churchyard's broader paranormal lore is modest — atmospheric quality at twilight, occasional reports of figures glimpsed near the Peale family stone, and the distinctive silence of a courtyard space tucked behind brick walls in the middle of a working historic district. The site is best understood as a place of layered colonial, federal, indigenous, and Civil War-era history rather than as a paranormal-tourism destination.
Walk the 1758 Society Hill churchyard surrounding St. Peter's Episcopal Church, designed by Robert Smith. Notable burials include portrait painter Charles Willson Peale, Commodore Stephen Decatur Sr., and an unmarked plot commemorating seven Iroquois chiefs who died in Philadelphia during the smallpox epidemic of January 1793 while on a diplomatic visit to President Washington.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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