St. Paul's Episcopal Cemetery: Lives Behind the Stones
St. Paul's Episcopal Cemetery: Lives Behind the Stones
Notable Burials in Alexandria's Historic Cemetery — from the Female Stranger and Wilmer McLean to the Soldiers and Citizens of Old Alexandria
Founded in 1809 amid a schism at Christ Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Cemetery holds two of the most remarkable graves in America. One belongs to the Female Stranger — the veiled young woman who died at Gadsby's Tavern in 1816, whose husband vanished after the funeral, whose payment proved counterfeit, and whose monument names her only as "a Female Stranger." It is the most visited grave in Alexandria. The other belongs to Wilmer McLean, the man who watched the Civil War begin in his front yard at Bull Run, moved his family to Appomattox to escape it, and then watched Lee surrender to Grant in his parlor.
They rest among equally vivid company: General Montgomery Corse, who survived Antietam, Fort Warren, and the 1870 Virginia Capitol collapse; Delaware Kemper, whose artillery triggered the "Great Skedaddle" at Bull Run; a lieutenant who helped carry George Washington's casket; the Army surgeon who documented the aftermath of Little Big Horn; and the Simms sisters — better known as the Everleighs, proprietors of Chicago's most notorious brothel, buried here under their quiet family name.
Drawn from cemetery records, gravestone inscriptions, and family papers, each profile includes:
- Full biographical essays with period photographs and documents
- Gravestone inscriptions transcribed exactly as carved
- Plot locations for visitors who want to stand at the stones themselves
Whether you're tracing Alexandria ancestors, walking the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, or drawn to the mysteries history leaves in stone, this is the cemetery's definitive companion.
Digital PDF edition • 29 pages • Published by Gravestone Stories, 2026