NJ, USA

Princeton Cemetery

Cemetery

Princeton Cemetery, established in 1757, is the resting place of many of the individuals who shaped Princeton's role in the American Revolution. Located on Witherspoon Street behind the Nassau Presbyterian Church, the cemetery contains the graves of Aaron Burr Sr. and Jr., Jonathan Edwards, John Witherspoon, Richard and Annis Boudinot Stockton, and numerous Continental soldiers.

The cemetery is maintained by the Nassau Presbyterian Church and is freely accessible to visitors.

What Happened Here

The cemetery's revolutionary-era graves include those of two signers of the Declaration of Independence (Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon), two presidents of the College of New Jersey (Witherspoon and Jonathan Edwards), and soldiers from the Battle of Princeton. The graveyard reflects the deep interconnection between the college, the Presbyterian church, and the political leadership of colonial Princeton.

Aaron Burr Sr., the second president of the College of New Jersey, and Jonathan Edwards, the third president and renowned theologian, are both buried here, though they died before the Revolution. Their graves connect the cemetery's history to the broader intellectual tradition of colonial Princeton.