CHRIST CHURCH, Philadelphia

Dr. Physick’s connections to Christ Church begin with his great grandfather silversmith Philip Syng Sr. Arriving in Philadelphia from Ireland with his wife and three young sons in 1714. The following year Philip Syng Sr., made a copy of the English made flagon that was part of a three-piece set that had been a gift of Queen Anne to Christ Church in 1708.

Christ Church was founded in 1695. It was the first parish of the Church of England (Anglican) in Pennsylvania. It is also the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.

Philip Syng Sr. also made a silver bowl for the massive fourteenth-century Baptismal Font that had been sent to Christ Church from England in 1697. Ancient at the time, this octagonal, walnut font is said to have been the one used for the baptism of Pennsylvania founder, William Penn, in 1644 at All Hallows Church, Barking-by-the-Tower, London. Dr. Physick, his children, his grandmother Elizabeth Warner Syng, and his mother Abigail Syng would all be baptized in the Penn Font using the Syng bowl.

Silversmith Philip Syng Jr., Dr. Physick's grandfather, was married to Elizabeth Warner in Christ Church on February 29, 1730. Philip Jr. later served as vestryman of the Church and burial ground that he with his wife Elizabeth, and most of their eighteen children would rest at Fifth and Arch Streets. Dr. Physick is buried next to his ancestors' in the Christ Church Burial Ground, just a few feet from his friend and partner Dr. Benjamin Rush.

In 2003 while planning the Tercentenary of Philip Syng Jr., J. Del Conner discovered the Syng headstone and lost inscription for Syng's wife Elizabeth and twelve of their children. Now raised, artist Del Conner soon after illustrated this headstone and approximately fifteen hundred others for a map of the Christ Church Burial Ground. Unfortunately the graphic designer who applied the text for the map mistakenly failed to list Dr. Physick's grave site. This omission will be corrected in the next printing of the map. To view the map go to: http://www.christchurchphila.org/SiteData/docs/ccbg-map/2bb71d24513b57e1e0cddea2468bd666/ccbg-map.pdf

Shortly after the discovery of the Syng family headstone in 2003, Christ Church Burial Ground opened to the public again after having been closed since the end of 1976. Interviewed by a reporter from the Baltimore Sun at the grand reopening, Del Conner told of his visiting the burial ground as a grade school student on a school trip. After visiting nearby Independence Hall and Carpenter's Hall, the class visited the Burial Ground where they were to have their lunch. Told to sit on the grave slabs, Del sat on one with a few of his classmates. Unpacking his lunch, Del stated to his friends that his great-great-great-grandfather, Dr. Physick, was buried somewhere in this cemetery. Turning to his right, he was startled to see that of all the stones he could have chosen to sit on, he was sitting on the stone slab of Dr. Philip Syng Physick. To read the Baltimore Sun article: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-04-26/news/0304260091_1_benjamin-franklin-christ-church-burial-ground/2