Memorial Marker
Sᴀɪɴᴛ Mᴀʀʏ's Cᴀᴛʜᴏʟɪᴄ Cᴇᴍᴇᴛᴇʀʏ
Saint Mary's Catholic Church was established in 1795 and is the oldest Catholic parish in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Saint Mary's Cemetery is likewise the oldest public Catholic Cemetery in Virginia and the oldest active cemetery in Alexandria. The cemetery dates to 1795, and parish records indicate that William Thorton Alexander deeded the land to Saint Mary's in 1803. Construction of Saint Mary's Church, originally a chapel located within the existing cemetery, was funded through a subscription undertaken by Colonel John Fitzgerald. Colonel Fitzgerald emigrated from Ireland and achieved prominence at a time when Catholicism was neither prevalent nor widely regarded in the Commonwealth, managing a mercantile business in Alexandria and becoming a major in the 3rd Virginia Regiment in 1776 during the American Revolution. He joined General George Washington's as Aide de Camp in November 1776, was on the battlefield in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 3, 1777, when American forces defeated the British Army, encamped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in December 1777, and was wounded in the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey, on June 28, 1778. He thereafter retired from the military and returned to Alexandria, becoming Mayor in 1783. Colonel Fitzgerald's friendship with General Washington continued after the Revolution and, upon Colonel Fitzgerald's taking up the subscription for Saint Mary's, General Washington made the first donation. The precise location of Colonel Fitzgerald's grave is unknown and it may be here in Saint Mary's Cemetery or across the Potomac River in Maryland on land he owned there.
In this cemetery rest the earthly remains of Patriots of the Revolutionary War who fought for the cause of liberty.
Francis Ignatius Hagen, 3d Virginia Regiment; enlisted 1777; born about 1754; died December 15, 1830
Lawrence Hurdle, Private, Maryland Line; served 1776-1782; born about 1750; died December 1, 1848
Pierre La Croix, served in French and Indian War and American Revolutionary; born about 1742; died September 22, 1830
Francis Murphy, Pennsylvania Militia; enlisted 1777; born about 1763; died June 30, 1837
John Riordan, 3d New Jersey Regiment; enlisted 1778; born about 1763; died October 10, 1803
Saint Mary's Catholic Church and the Students of Saint Mary's Catholic School
and
The George Washington Chapter, Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution
dedicate this marker as a memorial to these Patriots.
2015
Photo courtesy of Jamie Callender