Col William Burgess Sr, 1622-1686

I had an afternoon free this week, so I decided to travel an hour to visit the All Hallows Cemetery in Harwood MD (formerly Birdsville). I was looking for the grave of an 8th great-grandfather, Col. William Burgess Sr. I thought he was my only direct ancestor buried there, but was surprised to discover, buried adjacent to him, his son, William Burgess Jr, a 7th great-grandfather. So I got more than I bargained for. And, for the first time ever, their graves were the first ones I looked at. That was a pleasant change from the usual search-for-an-hour-and-be-lucky-to-find-it experience. His grave appeared to be undergoing restoration, but a commemorative plaque was intact.

The cemetery, which is on the grounds of the All Hallows Episcopal Church, is perhaps the best-kept cemetery that I have ever seen. All of the headstones are free of dirt and lichens and the base of each is surrounded by mulch. Someone – presumably members of the church or someone they hired – spends a lot of time keeping this cemetery pristine.

William Burgess Sr was quite a guy. From findagrave.com:

The Honorable William Burgess is one of the notable South River colonists. He came into Maryland from Virginia in 1649. By 1659 he was a member of the House of Burgesses, and shortly thereafter he appeared in the capacity of High Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. In 1660 William Burgess founded London Town on land he gave for settlement. For a time, London Towne rivaled Annapolis as a commercial center, a port of entry, and the residence of the leading merchants of the colony. When Lord Baltimore sailed for England in 1684, he appointed William Burgess to serve as Deputy Governor and Lieutenant-General of the Province during his Lordship’s absence.

His third wife (and William Jr’s mother), Ursula, is also reportedly buried in this cemetery, but her headstone is gone.