Very sad indeed. So much history lost. ----- Original Message ----- From: <JKHouser84@aol.com> To: <PACENTRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:20 PM Subject: [PACENTRE] The Destruction of the Reichard Cemetery, Millheim Borough > Grace, > > Yes, it was very, very wrong indeed. I'll go into a little more detail to > relate the story as best I can. > > As near as I can tell, Joseph Reichard and his father, Joseph Reichard Sr., > were the original owners of the land. They were likely members of the United > Brethren in Christ Church. Today that denomination is merged into the United > Methodist Church (our church was a U.B. church prior to mergers in 1946 and > 1968 that re-named us a United Methodist Church). > > The Reichards very generously donated some land on the edge of their property > for the use of folks in the community, and United Brethren in particular, who > might wish to be buried there. Certainly most of the Reichards were buried > there, including Joseph Sr., who died in 1813. It is said that the Rev. Adam > Noonan, who was one of the most influential preachers in the United Brethren > Church, was buried there also. > > Now, the United Brethren influence in and around Millheim died out in the > 1860s or so. I doubt that the cemetery was used much after the 1870s. It > just kind of sat there, along the road on top the hill, bordered on all three > sides by farmland. There were something like 30 graves in the plot. > > I have talked to an old man in the area, and he filled in the rest of the > story. Around 1945 or so, a Mr. Yearick bought what had been the old > Reichard farm. Apparently when he bought it, if there had been any > reservation in the deeds prior stating the cemetery was not part of the farm, > it wasn't copied into his deed. It may be that the Reichards never > officially gave the cemetery land away, so it always remained a part of that > farm. > > At any rate, Mr. Yearick desired to expand his farm, and to do so, he had to > get rid of the old United Brethren burial plot along the road. He pulled out > all the tombstones and stacked them up in a pile along the road, on the edge > of the plot. The old man I talked to said that Mr. Yearick could not wrest > one stone out of the ground; it was too deeply imbedded. That was a simple > sandstone with the initials "A. M. S." scratched into it. It remains there > today. > > Like the man who desired to build his barns bigger in the Bible, Mr. Yearick > took sick and died in 1951 or 1952, when he was still a fairly young man. By > then, however, the damage had been done. > > People who could use the stones as stepping-stones in a walkway, or worse > yet, broken up for the base of cement porches or sidewalks, gradually hauled > them away, one by one. The old man recalls that he stepped out of his home > one day and looked down the alley to see two teenage girls hauling away the > last headstone. He couldn't catch up to them by the time they disappeared > from sight. The base of that stone, complete with the stone cutter's name, > is the other remaining monument in the cemetery. That last stone was removed > some time around 1959. > > And thus one of the oldest cemeteries in the region was destroyed, and some > history was lost forever. Sad, isn't it? > > Justin > > Justin Kirk Houser > Genealogist/Researcher of Central PA and Beyond > Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio/Hrynio (and others) > President, BAHS Class of 2003 > Student Representative, BASD Board of Education > Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com > Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) > Member, Valley View United Methodist Church > "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" > > > ==== PACENTRE Mailing List ==== > Don't forget to check for alternate spellings of your surnames; people 100 years ago weren't always good spellers! >