One of six men who carried George Washington’s coffin to its resting place on December 18, 1799, Col. George Gilpin’s own grave was lost for over two centuries. While 1935 library maps showed a “Gilpin plot” within the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, the knowledge had been forgotten entirely. Through more than a decade of cemetery stewardship and original research, David Heiby identified the probable burial area, leading a team in 2024 to scientifically confirm the location using ground-penetrating radar. The rediscovery of Washington’s pallbearer made headlines and represents one of the most significant cemetery finds in Alexandria’s recent history.

When George Washington passed through Alexandria on his way to his first inauguration, it was Mayor Dennis Ramsay who delivered the farewell address — and who became the first person in history to address Washington as “Mr. President.” That phrase, which would define the American executive for centuries, was first spoken in Alexandria. Ramsay’s connection to Washington ran deep: he was also one of Washington’s honorary pallbearers at his funeral on December 18, 1799. He now rests in the Presbyterian Cemetery at the Wilkes Street Complex — Section 42, Plot 72.

No figure was closer to George Washington through both war and death than Dr. James Craik. He served alongside Washington beginning with Braddock’s disastrous 1755 expedition, tended the wounded at Valley Forge, and was present at Washington’s bedside when he died on December 14, 1799. His SAR marker at Old Presbyterian Meeting House, installed November 13, 2003, marks the resting place of one of the most intimate witnesses to Washington’s life and final hours.

Cavan Boa holds a unique double distinction: he was George Washington’s personal tailor throughout the Revolutionary War years, and he became the very first person buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery when he died in 1789. This makes him both the inaugural burial in Alexandria’s oldest Catholic cemetery and a man who spent years measuring, fitting, and crafting the garments worn by the Commander-in-Chief himself.

In May 1782, Colonel Lewis Nicola sent Washington one of the most remarkable letters in American history — proposing that the General use the army’s loyalty to establish himself as King of America. Washington responded with one of his sharpest rebukes, calling the idea “painful” and “injurious.” Nicola, who had founded the Invalid Corps in 1777 and served the Revolution faithfully, recanted immediately. He now rests at Old Presbyterian Meeting House, a few hundred yards from the church where Washington himself worshipped.

On the night of December 16, 1773, Thomas Porter was 17 years old when he climbed aboard a British merchant ship in Boston Harbor and helped dump 342 chests of East India Company tea into the water. That act of defiance helped ignite the American Revolution. Porter later became a respected Alexandria merchant, Mason, and founding member of the Bank of Alexandria. He is buried at Old Presbyterian Meeting House — one of only a handful of confirmed Tea Party participants laid to rest in Virginia.

Major Samuel Cooper was just 16 years old when he climbed aboard a British merchant ship in Boston Harbor on the night of December 16, 1773, and helped dump 342 chests of East India Company tea into the water. He went on to serve throughout the Revolutionary War, compiling one of the most distinguished service records of any Alexandria patriot. His grave at Christ Church Cemetery in the Wilkes Street Complex bears a joint SAR/DAR marker installed in November 1985, recognizing his service to the patriot cause from the harbor of Boston to the battles of the Revolution.

Major Henry Piercy’s service record reads like a map of the Revolutionary War’s major engagements: he fought alongside Washington in nearly every significant battle of the conflict. After the war, Piercy settled in Alexandria and led the Independent Blues, serving as part of the military escort at Washington’s funeral in December 1799. His exact gravesite within the Wilkes Street Complex has not been located.

A Quaker merchant and one of Alexandria’s most respected civic leaders, William Hartshorne served alongside George Washington as treasurer of the Potomac Company — the ambitious early American infrastructure project Washington founded to connect the Ohio Valley to Atlantic ports. Hartshorne also served as trustee of the Alexandria Academy and attended Washington’s funeral in 1799. His grave at the Alexandria Quaker Burial Ground marks the resting place of a man who helped shape both the city’s commerce and its connection to the first President.