Among the cemetery’s earliest known graves is that of William Hooper, one of three N.C. signers of the Declaration of Independence. The lawyer lived in Hillsborough during the late 18th century. His remains have since been moved to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro.

Other important figures buried in the cemetery include early settlers, such as:

• Scotland-born merchant James Hogg.
• William Graham, who served as a U.S. senator, secretary of the Navy, N.C. governor, and Confederate senator.
• John Berry, a Hillsborough-based brick mason who built some of the region’s finest buildings of the antebellum, including the Orange County Courthouse.
• At least eight of the women who attended the Burwell School for young women between 1837 and 1857, including Sara Jane Kollock, co-founder of the Nash-Kollock School.