08/26/2026
We finally got around to scrubbing this huge stone today.
Jonathan Woodbridge participated in the Battle of New Market (May 15, 1864) under Gen. John C. Breckinridge against Union forces under Franz Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley.
Contemporary accounts (including from Cadet John S. Wise) note his conspicuous gallantry: he advanced well ahead of the colors as directing guide, as if on the parade ground, until ordered back to his post.
From about 1885 he worked in government service / with the Crane firm in Philadelphia as a naval architect and mechanical engineer, involved in merchant and Navy vessels. He spent roughly 40 years in shipbuilding and design.
In 1888 he designed and built a manor house at 14th and Potter Streets in Chester as a wedding gift for her (originally called "The Louise"). It is an English country-manor-style brick house. The property later passed to the city, then to Widener University (purchased 1976), where it has served as a student residence/dormitory.
He married into the Deshongs whose plot is diagonal from this.
Pro bono work to support Chester Rural Cemetery.
We’ll let this dry and spray over the weekend to remove the residual growth.
