The Judge's Land: Judge William Wilkins



The Judge's Land: Judge William Wilkins The Honorable William Wilkins (1779 - 1865) was a prominent Pittsburgh jurist, United States senator, and Secretary of War under President Tylor. In 1839, he constructed a stately mansion called "Homewood." From this, the cemetery later took its name. Once situated on 650 acres, the home stood slightly north of the cemetery on what is today Reynolds Street at South Murtland Avenue. The house was constructed in the middle a virgin forest when Pittsburgh was a town of 21,500. Its long entrance drive began on Penn Avenue, then known as The Great Road to the West (Wilkins Avenue was at one time a private road leading from Judge Wilkins' home to Oakland). For sixty years, the estate had the reputation of being the most fashionable and aristocratic countryseat in Western Pennsylvania. A place of entertainment for all notables traveling west, its visitors included Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and Generals Jackson and Taylor. In the spring of 1878, several years after the Judge's death, a portion of the estate was offered for sale for use as a burial ground to a newly-formed cemetery corporation chaired by William Rea. On March 26, 1878, the board accepted the offer of a 178-acre tract of land for $175,000 at 6% annual interest over a 20-year period. The Homewood Cemetery was dedicated on August 17, 1878. At his death in 1865, Judge Wilkins was interred at Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville. His remains were returned to Homewood in January 1881, and entombed in a private family mausoleum. (From "The Homewood" 1:1 p.4)
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The Judge's Land: Judge William Wilkins

The Honorable William Wilkins (1779 - 1865) was a prominent Pittsburgh jurist, United States senator, and Secretary of War under President Tylor. In 1839, he constructed a stately mansion called "Homewood." From this, the cemetery later took its name.

Once situated on 650 acres, the home stood slightly north of the cemetery on what is today Reynolds Street at South Murtland Avenue. The house was constructed in the middle a virgin forest when Pittsburgh was a town of 21,500. Its long entrance drive began on Penn Avenue, then known as The Great Road to the West (Wilkins Avenue was at one time a private road leading from Judge Wilkins' home to Oakland). For sixty years, the estate had the reputation of being the most fashionable and aristocratic countryseat in Western Pennsylvania. A place of entertainment for all notables traveling west, its visitors included Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and Generals Jackson and Taylor.

In the spring of 1878, several years after the Judge's death, a portion of the estate was offered for sale for use as a burial ground to a newly-formed cemetery corporation chaired by William Rea. On March 26, 1878, the board accepted the offer of a 178-acre tract of land for $175,000 at 6% annual interest over a 20-year period. The Homewood Cemetery was dedicated on August 17, 1878.

At his death in 1865, Judge Wilkins was interred at Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville. His remains were returned to Homewood in January 1881, and entombed in a private family mausoleum.

(From "The Homewood" 1:1 p.4)