Item Info
Media Type: Glass Plate Negatives
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:
Image taken by Philadelphia Evening Bulletin photographer Charles T. Higgins. Notes on the negative's envelope read: "Original headstone of Alexander Mack, 1924"
Alexander Mack, Sr., was the founder of the anabaptist Protestant sect, the Schwarzenau Brethren, in Germany in 1709. Seeking religious freedom in America, members of the group moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1719; Mack and his family joined them ten years later, and he founded the Church of the Brethren in 1729. He was a humble man and requested a minimal headstone for his gravesite. This 1924 image shows his modest 1735 marker, in what was then called Axe's Burying Ground in Germantown (today, the Upper Burial Ground). It reads: "Hier Ruhen die gebeine A. M., geboren 1679, gestorben 1735, Alt 56 Yahr" ["Here lie the bones of A. M., born 1679, died 1735, 56 years old"]. His remains were later removed in 1894, to the family plot behind the church he founded. For an image of the later gravesite, see the next item, #pdch00088.
Creation Year: 1924
Geocode Latitude: Geocode Longitude:-75.180884
Geocode Latitude:40.043246
Creator Name: Higgins, Charles - Photographer