Charles Evans Cemetery


Charles Evans Cemetery is an historic, non-sectarian, garden-style cemetery located in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Charles Evans, a son of Quaker parents and native of Philadelphia who became a prominent attorney and philanthropist in Reading during the late 18th and early 19th century. After donating the cemetery's first 25 acres and $2,000 to support the early development and operations phase of this public burial ground, he then ensured the cemetery's long-term stability by bequeathing a roughly $67,000 endowment from his estate, following his death in 1847 to support beautification of the grounds and other perpetual care activities. Sited atop a hill, the cemetery was initially located outside of the city when Evans first donated the land, but was absorbed into Reading's boundaries as the city developed to meet the needs of its expanding population.
By the 1870s, cemetery administrators had expanded the grounds significantly, according to the Huntingdon Journal, which reported on the cemetery in its September 10, 1873 edition as follows:
The Charles Evans Cemetery, the beautiful "City of the Dead" of Reading contains one hundred acres of ground. The total number of interments within its precincts last year was 483; for the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, and July of this year the number was 267.

Architecture

Visitors arriving via the main gate on Centre Avenue enter through a large, sandstone, Gothic Revival arch, which was erected in 1852, and pass by the grave of the cemetery's founder, Charles Evans, above-ground crypts, obelisks and other monuments to Civil War-era soldiers and other historical figures from Berks County.
In 1895, the cemetery's chapel served as the site for the funeral services of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Strong. A Yale University law school graduate who became known for his anti-slavery views during the American Civil War, Strong had served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1847 to 1851 and as a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court prior to his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870, a tenure which included his service on the Electoral Commission tasked with resolving America's disputed presidential election of 1876. According to the August 22 Washington, D.C.'s Morning Times:
The body of ex-Justice William Strong arrived in Reading last night and was taken to the chapel in Charles Evans Cemetery. This morning a plaster mask was taken of the face of the deceased by U. S. J. Dunbar, of Washington.
The funeral services, which, of brief character, were held in the chapel this afternoon in the presence of the family.... The ceremonies were exceedingly short, consisting of the reading of Scriptures, prayer by Rev. Dr. Teunis Hamlin, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., and the Rev. George Heckman, of Olivet Presbyterian Church, this city. No remarks were made. The choir of Olivet Presbyterian Church sang "Lead, kindly light," and "Abide with Me," favorite hymns of the deceased.

In 1927, cemetery administrators opened a Tudor-style office building, followed by a columbarium in 1939. Built with separate chapel and crematorium sections and a bell tower, the columbarium facility is situated on the cemetery's east side near Perry Street. Designed in the Romanesque Italianate style, the artistry and craftsmanship of its windows and bronze door continue to be a subject of attention by photographers even today. On July 31, 1939, the Reading Times reported on this facility's opening as follows:
Charles Evans Cemetery's new crematorium, chapel and columbarium, opened yesterday for public inspection, attracted more than 500 persons. Inspection periods will continue daily from 1 to 5 p. m. The building, erected at the suggestion of the board of trustees, is now ready for use. The functions of the new crematory will be available to all people, regardless of race or - creed, and not restricted to residents of the Reading area. Now complete with landscaping, the building fits into the general pattern of the rest of the cemetery. The main entrance faces the Fifth street highway, and a circular driveway which passes the main doors links with the network lacing the cemetery. The building is designed in Romanesque Italian style and constructed of pink brick with Indiana limestone trimmings. Reinforced concrete was used for all structural parts. Divided into three general sections, which include the chapel, the higher central portion; the south wing, or crematory, and the north wing, or columbarium, the overall dimensions of the structure are 120 feet by 60 feet. The columbarium is divided into four small rooms and one large room, which - will be divided later as the need for expansion arises. Bronze crypts, for family and individual use, line the walls.

The Chapel Garden Museum and Hillside Mausoleum were added, respectively, in 1972 and 1981, and the crematorium's cremation chambers were updated in 1993. Over time, cemetery administrators also purchased additional land. As of 2018, those purchases had expanded the grounds to 119 acres, made accessible by seven miles of paved roads, and beautified by flowering shrubbery and more than 2,200 trees, many of which are old-growth and massive in size.

Notable interments and monuments

Initially buried at the Reformed Church of Reading's cemetery when he died in 1823, the remains of Joseph Hiester, the fifth governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, now rest at the Charles Evans Cemetery, making his grave one of the earliest of the more than 62,000 individuals who have been laid to rest here since the mid-19th century.
During the late 1880s, the remains of more than 200 American Civil War veterans were also interred at Charles Evans after having been exhumed and relocated from potter's fields across Berks County. The site was then elevated in prominence with the placement of the city's Grand Army of the Republic monument. Erected after two years of planning and modeled after bugler Charles Gilliams of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, the G.A.R. sculpture was unveiled before a large crowd on September 10, 1887, and became the gathering point, thereafter, for the city's annual Memorial Day ceremonies.
Other notable figures interred, inurned or otherwise memorialized at Charles Evans include: