Of those buried on the plot, twenty-six African-American Civil War veterans are included. Each of those veterans has a marker indicating their service in the United States Military. Unfortunately, most of these markers, due to age, are indiscernible. The cemetery also holds the likes of Henry Watson and Joseph Winters, who were both Chambersburg businessmen involved with the Underground Railroad. Henry Watson was a Chambersburg barber who served in the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry during the Civil War. He was a trusted agent of the Underground Railroad and was even a direct ally of Frederick Douglass. Days before the Harpers Ferry Raid, Watson helped organize a secret meeting between Frederick Douglass and another Watson acquaintance, John Brown. Brown attempted to recruit Frederick Douglass for the raid during this meeting. Watson is also alleged to have harbored Osborne Perry Anderson, the only African-American to survive the raid, while he was on the run as a fugitive.
Joseph Winters was also active with the Underground Railroad and is said to have had a part in the meeting between Douglass and Brown. While there is no exact historical record of Winters' direct involvement, he is credited for receiving a patent for the fire escape ladder.
While Mt. Vernon Cemetery is home to many faded markers and monuments, it still holds a vital capsule of Civil War remembrance and is a direct link to the sacrifices made by African-Americans throughout Franklin County for the cause of freedom.
Other Information
* Just recently, in October 2009, Mount Vernon Cemetery was designated as a site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, administered by the National Park Service/U.S. Department of the Interior. You can read an article from the "pressroom" here.
* A list of those buried at the cemetery can be found here.