Re-dedication ceremony takes place for historic cemetery in Chester

CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A re-dedication ceremony took place this Memorial Day weekend at a historic cemetery in Chester.

Guests toured the Old Swedes Burial Ground on Sunday, the final resting place for more than 700 people including at least 8 revolutionary war veterans, and Declaration of Independence signer John Morton.

Morton's swing vote broke Pennsylvania's deadlock, in the vote for national independence.

Some of his descendants attended the ceremony, including Michael Kirk Stauffer.

"John Morton was the nephew of my great-grandmother," explained Stauffer, a history buff, who has researched his family tree.

"Not only did he play an extremely important part in the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, he certainly broke the tide in the state of Pennsylvania's support," added Stauffer.

Marguerite Fritch of the Pennsylvania State Society Daughters of the American Revolution has come to the cemetery for nearly 40 years on Memorial Day to lay a wreath on Morton's grave.

When Fritch was elected state regent, she turned her attention to this cause. Money was raised through private donors for a three-year, $200,000 restoration.

"There was only a handful of headstones left, and they were all right there, just lost to time. Bringing them, getting them back to their upright positions, and giving them a place of respect was part of the work," Fritch explained.

A cemetery restoration company was enlisted to help in the effort.

"We started with ground-penetrating radar to identify where there were graves and where there were headstones, maybe only 6-8 inches below ground," Fritch said.

The entrance columns were reconstructed, and the landscape was rehabilitated. 169 restored grave markers were unveiled, with close to a dozen newly discovered graves.

Organizers say this project preserves an important piece of American history in Chester. Chester was the site of William Penn's first landing and Pennsylvania's original capital, where the state's earliest colonial assemblies were held.