To walk amidst the graves of Friends and others buried in New Garden Cemetery is to stroll through history, from pre-Revolutionary days right up to the present.
Among those buried there are nameless British and American soldiers who fell at the Battle of New Garden and later at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Friends from New Garden tended to the wounded from both sides, caring for them in their frame Meeting House.
Vestal Coffin, known as the First Conductor of the Underground Railroad, is buried here. So are baseball legends Rick and Wes Ferrell, who grew up on a nearby dairy farm. Rick was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; his record for the most games caught stood for more than 40 years. Wes was one of the greatest pitchers of the 1920s and ’30s.