The Sinking Valley Cemetery was started on private land in the 1790's. Local Catholic settlers buried their dead here due to the great distance to Loretto and Newry, the locations of the two nearest Catholic churches. Catholic Vital Records of Central Pennsylvania Volume I [1793 - 1839] Rev. Albert H. Ledoux, 1993, Page 262 05495 McMullen, Peter d. 11 - 17 - 1797 05496 McMullen, Ellen d. 08 - 13 - 1800 05497 Wilson, Mary d. 01 - 16 1804 in her 30th yr. [leaving 4 children, youngest child 8 d. old] Note: this probably means death in childbirth. 05498 McMullen, Peter d. 07 - 16 - 1809 in his 57th yr. [erected by son John] 05499 McMullen, Ellen d. 05 - 1811 in her 25th yr, 05500 Carrol, Mary Ann d. 03 - 09 - 1821 33 yr. 05501 McMullen, Catherine d. 06 - 23 - 1828 in her 68th yr. [erected by son John] 05502 McMullen, Peter d. 02 - 16 - 1829 33 yr. 05503 Conrad, Mary d. 08 - 16 - 1830/50? 61/64? - 2 - 28 05504 Conrad, Mary d. 10 - 02 - 1831 21/24? yr. 05505 McClain, Patrick d. 01 - 30 - 1837 24 - 7 - 13 Marilyn Kline Washington -----Original Message----- From: Randy Litzinger <randylitzinger@gmail.com> To: marilyn <marilynkwash@aol.com> Sent: Wed, May 22, 2013 2:57 pm Subject: Re: Ever heard of this place in Sinking Valley, PA no, I don't. There are 11 burials total, or 11 Litzingers buried in that cemetery? One plot on that 1850s sinking valley farms map that Jane sent the link for was a McMullen. Also the 100 acre Litzinger heirs plot on heir could have become the Meyers farm at some point, since I think his youngest daughter married a Meyers. Randy On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 2:42 PM, marilyn <marilynkwash@aol.com> wrote: Randy, I went over the Ledoux book, Vol !, p 262 and it is Burials in McMullen Cemetery, Sinking Valley [Tyrone Township, Blair County] PA [1793 -- 1839] I knew I had seen something like that, but couldn't find it the other night. It was in the back of the volume, not with St. Michael's Church. There are eleven burials. If you don't have it, I will copy it for you. Marilyn Kline Washington -----Original Message----- From: Randy Litzinger <randylitzinger@gmail.com> To: marilyn <marilynkwash@aol.com> Sent: Tue, May 21, 2013 8:48 pm Subject: Re: Ever heard of this place in Sinking Valley, PA The church that Leonard attended, I can't remember the name off hand, had a fire and the records burnt, was the story that I heard. Leonard was in that area Tyrone/Sinking Valley from mid or late 1801 till his death in 1818. I'm mainly trying to see if the Meyer's Farm cemetery still exists or not, or is called something else now, and that's why no one has found his grave all these years. Randy On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 8:28 PM, marilyn <marilynkwash@aol.com> wrote: Do you have Fr. Ledoux's books? There might be something there. A lot of the early days are missing as Fr. Gallitzin would make notes on pieces of paper and then forget to enter them into the records at St. Michaels. But a lot of the early material [starts 1799] is in St. Michael's records. There was a church at Huntingdon, but I don't know any details about when it was founded or its name. Marilyn Kline Washington -----Original Message----- From: Randy Litzinger <randylitzinger@gmail.com> To: marilyn <marilynkwash@aol.com> Cc: Lisa Baker <lisa_18406@msn.com>; Gary Kriss <gwkriss@yahoo.com>; Jane Tripp <jctripp@charter.net> Sent: Tue, May 21, 2013 7:41 pm Subject: Re: Ever heard of this place in Sinking Valley, PA Thank you all. Yes, when Leonard Litzinger was buried in 1818, it would have been Huntingdon County, not Blair. I can't find any info on a Meyer's Farm cemetery, so I have a feeling it is either called something else now, or possibly doesn't exist/was destroyed at some point, since it was mentioned in late 1940s, early 1950s in the document I saw it in. I will try to see if anyone associated with the Huntingdon or Blair societies have heard of it. Randy On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 7:24 PM, marilyn <marilynkwash@aol.com> wrote: Sinking Valley is near Tyrone, not sure just where, but it was an early Catholic Settlement and Prince Gallitzin would travel there to say Mass and baptize and marry Catholics as well as to Frankstown. and Huntington [Standing Rock.] I think it had a cemetery but not a church. I guess it would be like Old Rt 22 North, now I 99. It would have been in Huntington county at first and became Blair County about 1840--50 when they built the PRR. I think there was a Fort there, too, not Frankstown, but another one. In the Indian days, there would be forts where the settlers could go to be safe from the Indians. Marilyn Kline Washington -----Original Message----- From: Lisa Baker <lisa_18406@msn.com> To: 'Randy Litzinger' <randylitzinger@gmail.com>; 'Gary Kriss' <gwkriss@yahoo.com>; 'Jane Tripp' <jctripp@charter.net> Cc: Marilyn Washington <Marilynkwash@aol.com> Sent: Tue, May 21, 2013 6:10 pm Subject: RE: Ever heard of this place in Sinking Valley, PA I’ve heard the name before, so I did a search for Sinking Valley and there’s one in Blair County. The second wife of my gggf Franklin/Francis Lauffer married Barbara Myers; they’re buried someplace in Blair county, possibly Old St. Patrick, Newry, think it’s now a suburb of Altoona. Franklin was living with his 3rd wife Elizabeth Stingle in Greenfield Township, Blair in 1850, Huston Township, Blair 1860. There are several Meyers-Myers-Moyer families in these counties. Try doing a search on the Blair county genealogy website. Also, they have a great genealogy library with tons of obits and family genealogies. From: Randy Litzinger [mailto:randylitzinger@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 11:40 PM To: Gary Kriss; Lisa Baker; Jane Tripp Subject: Ever heard of this place in Sinking Valley, PA I just looked through a document from the late 1940s or early 1950s that another Litzinger/Litsinger researcher sent me, it mentioned this about my GGGG Grandfather Leonard Litzinger (1741-1818): "He is buried in a graveyard on Meyer’s Farm in Sinking Valley" Have any of you ever heard of this farm or graveyard, or is it possibly called something else now, if it still exists? thanks, Randy