Playing Find a Grave in the Knotweed

In August I wrote about finding the burial site of Catherine Ware at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia. I visited again in mid-September for a clean up event and happened to be working in a section adjacent to Catherine Ware’s plot.

Another brave volunteer and I took a break from the clean up to climb through the knotweed that has completely taken over her plot.

See, I knew there were other people buried in this plot. You can tell from this photo that there are a number of smaller stones surrounding the larger monument:

I was amazed to find so much new information on these stones, even though I couldn’t reach all of them. Catherine Ware isn’t buried with her husband, but a few of her siblings and their children are here at Mount Moriah.

To give you an idea of what climbing through knotweed is like:

Mount Moriah Cemetery & Catherine Ware

This past weekend I attended a restoration event at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia. Before work began for the day, one of the board members took me to visit Catherine Ware’s monument on the Yeadon (Delaware County) side of the cemetery.

Catherine Ware’s Monument

The plot is so overgrown that only the top half of this huge monument is visible right now. All that overgrowth is at least 5 or 6 feet high.

For comparison, consider the photo I originally posted of Ann W. Rulon standing in front of this monument. Better yet, here’s a photo of the Ware plot with the whole thing cleared. According to the Friends of Mount Moriah, this overgrowth only occurred in a few short months as the plot was cleared in the spring.

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery are doing incredible work trying to preserve the history of this cemetery in Philadelphia. The all volunteer group are trying to win the battle against invasive plants and overgrowth.

You can learn more about the history of the cemetery and what led to the formation of the Friends of Mount Moriah on their website.

If you live in the Philadelphia area, come on out for a restoration event and help us reclaim this beautiful space! Whether near or far, I encourage everyone to consider a donation to the group. Even $5.00 puts some gas in the mowers!