AKA:
Number of Burials (approximate): 5500
Dates of Activity: 1869 - present
Documentation/Publication:
CCGS, The Cemeteries of Lamar and Porter Townships (2003)
Directions/GPS:
From the I-80 Exit at Lamar, Exit 25, travel East on Route 64 (turn left if getting off east bound, right if getting of west bound lanes). Travel 3.9 miles to Mackeyville Road. Turn right and travel 0.2 miles. The entrance to the cemetery is on your left.
N41 04.687 W77 28.663
Landowner / Caretaker:
Cedar Hill Cemetery
Mill Hall, PA 17751
Condition/Needs:
Excellent
History:
The industrial era of the mid- to late-19th century was realized by a number of persons in the area of Salona, in Lamar Township. Realizing that their private and community cemeteries were not legally protected from what they perceived as the encroachment of industry, it was resolved to establish a new community cemetery. A petition for corporate charter was introduced and a meeting of managers was held on 9 February 1870. The first managers were Hugh Conley, G. J. Eldred, John P. Heard, James L. Stephenson, and J. C. Sigmund. Mr. Conley died soon after this meeting, and was the first adult buried in the new cemetery. Jennie Gertrude, a child of H. C. Allisonwas the first person buried there in January, 1869, when the cemetery was still a woods.
Over time the grounds were landscaped into a beautiful cemetery. Remains from various private and older community cemeteries were transferred into lots in the new cemetery, so that many of the graves predate the founding of the cemetery by 30 or 40 years. The oldest graves appear to date from the 1820s. It is thought that most, if not all, of the German Reformed Cemetery at Salona was transferred into Cedar Hill Cemetery. The site of the old cemetery is now a cultivated field. It is known that graves were brought from the Salona Methodist Cemetery and the Snyder family cemetery. Many of these transfers appear to have occurred in 1881. When the Old Lock Haven and Great Island Cemeteries were destroyed in 1918, some of the graves and stones were moved to Cedar Hill Cemetery.
While several graves were moved into Cedar Hill Cemetery over the years, several have been taken out as well. The most famous 'tenants' of this burial ground have been William Wallace Chisolm, his daughter Cornelia and his son, Johnnie M. Mr. Chisolm was active in Mississippi Republican politics, and was murdered with his children in the Spring of 1877 as the result of a heated political dispute. The remains were brought to Cedar Hill Cemetery and buried in 1879. Some years later they were removed to parts unknown.
The cemetery (initially 4.1 acres purchased from W. W. Brown) has been continually added to and expanded over the years. The initial burial ground was located where the present Sections 1, 8 and 9 exist. Note that these section numbers are assigned by the CCGS for ease of transcription, and do not reflect official cemetery delineations.
In 1898, the Fursts sold 1.04 acres to expand the cemetery (adding sections 10-12). In 1912 the Fursts sold 1 acre and 24 perches (parts of Section 17, and 18 through 25) to the cemetery – known as the "Orchard Addition." Two more additions, totaling 1.47 acres, were added by 1922 (sections 2 and 3). The fifth addition was made by the Fursts in 1925, totaling 5.15 acres (comprising sections 4-6, 13-15, and the balance of 17-25). Dr. Furst of New York City and a Mrs. Webersold 7.40 acres in 1966. (These are sections 16, 29, and 30-35). Sections 7, 16, and 29 are known as the "Green Acres" – permitting only flat lawn plaques. The seventh addition was made in the late 1970s from the Eisenhowers and Blilers, 6.86 acres. The All-Faiths Mausoleum, constructed in 1978, is located on this land. The total size of the cemetery is 27.36 acres.
Historical accounts indicate that the earliest records of Cedar Hill Cemetery were destroyed in a fire in 1895; a published record of all interments made between 1869 and 1887 has survived, however, and was utilized to compare and supplement our record. Information from this record is placed in [brackets.] Attempts to secure later records for comparison were unsuccessful, other than an old plot map, which was used to identify lot numbers for placement, where possible.
To the left of Section 8 is a grassy swath bordering the woods. This is said to be a Potter's field for indigent burials. There is no record of who is buried in that section of the cemetery.