Chadds Ford Woman Provides Glimpse into History of Potter’s Field at Embreeville State Hospital

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Image via the Chester County Press.

Chadds Ford resident Helen Sipala and her five siblings grew up in a home on the site of the Embreeville State Hospital, spending time with patients and watching as they were buried in a nearby potter’s field, writes Steven Hoffman for Chester County Press.

A potter’s field, or common grave, is an American expression for a place where unknown or indigent people are buried.

The small cemetery that dates back to 1798 was created by a nearby poorhouse on a property owned by the Embreeville State Hospital. The poorhouse eventually expanded to include an asylum before becoming the Embreeville State Mental Hospital.

The siblings have compiled some of the stories and pictures from their childhood into a book, The Murray Family 1936-1955.

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In one of the stories, the siblings recall seeing horse-drawn wagons transporting caskets to the field.

“Our mother would have us stand still and face the road in silence as a matter of respect as the casket was drawn past the front of our house,” said Sipala.

The potter’s field stands to this day and is still maintained. Some even believe that Indian Hannah Freeman, perhaps the last of the Lenni-Lenape indians in Chester County, is buried there.

Read more about the potter’s field in the Chester County Press here.

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