Major General Anthony Wayne

The grave and monument of parishioner and vestry member, Major General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, stands just north of the church. Appointed General of the Army by General Washington, his courageous attack to recapture Stony Point made him a hero. He served as a vestry member at St. David’s. General Wayne died in 1796 while on an inspection tour of army outposts in Fort Presque Isle near Erie, PA. At his request he was buried beneath the fort’s flagpole; his remains were later reinterred at St. David’s Church. Legend tells us that some of his bones were lost on the way back to Waynesborough. It is said that each year on January 1, his birthday, Wayne rises from the grave, mounts his horse and dashes up and down the highways of Paoli looking for his lost bones.

The monument was designed by architect William Strickland and was erected by the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati in 1810.

Churchyard
Ancient Yard
Lot 006W
Grave 1

The inscription on the obelisk says that General Wayne lived a life of “Honorable usefulness.”

Major General Anthony Wayne