“From the Archives” — Saint Mary Cemetery Plaque

When passing Saint Mary Cemetery on South Washington Street, you will see a large rock with a bronze tablet near the entrance gate. This plaque commemorates Col. John Fitzgerald and his pivotal role in the establishment of the parish of Saint Mary. The plaque also notes Fitzgerald’s close association with George Washington, who made a generous contribution toward the purchase of the land for Saint Mary’s original chapel, located on land that is now our cemetery. (Not coincidentally, the cemetery and the commemorative plaque are located on the road that leads south to George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon!) Accord- ing to the plaque, “This stone taken from the canal of the Potomac Company, of which Washington and Fitzgerald were directors, commemorates the erection of the first Catholic Church in Virginia, A.D. 1795.”

The plaque was unveiled at a large ceremony in 1932, part of Saint Mary’s celebration of the bicentennial of Washington’s birth. The John Fitzgerald Chapter of the Holy Name Society in New Jersey sponsored the event and presented the plaque. Attending were 126 members of the society. Their pastor, Msgr. John J. Murphy, gave the presentation speech, and Judge John J. Matthews, a close friend of Father Thomas A. Rankin, Saint Mary’s pastor, gave the principal address. A large platform was erected for the ceremo- ny. Descendants of Saint Mary’s original parishioners and of a number of Revolutionary War veterans were seated there. One parishioner, Joseph M. Monroe, the longtime church organist, represented both. His ancestors had been in the United States since 1634 and had lived in Alexandria since his grandfather, Cpl. Lawrence Hurdle, moved to Alexandria in 1792.