AKA:  German Settlement Cemetery, Jacob's Garden

Number of Burials (approximate):  1000

Dates of Activity:  1858 - present

Documentation/Publication: 

The Cemeteries of Woodward Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania (CCGS) (2005)

Directions/GPS: 

From Lock Haven (intersection of North Jay and Water Streets), cross the bridge at the courthouse, headed North toward Lockport.  Turn right at the end of the bridge, on Route 664.  From the courthouse intersection, you will have traveled 3.7 miles to a crossroads.  Turn left onto Croak Hollow Road.  Travel 0.25 mile, and the cemetery will be on your left on a hillside.

GPS = N41 10.500 W77 26.302

Landowner / Caretaker:

Swissdale Cemetery Association

c/o Calvin Young

RD 1

Lock Haven, PA 17745

Condition/Needs: 

Excellent

History:

A large migration of Swiss families from Canton Bern, Switzerland, into what is now Clinton County occurred in the years immediately following 1825.   Nicholas Suiter came here as a scout to view the land, and was so impressed that he sent word back to the old country to encourage settlement.  These families formed the nucleus of a settlement north of Lock Haven on Route 664, settling around a certain crossroads.  Their cluster of farms soon became known as the "German settlement," as these people spoke the Swiss dialect of the German language.  Eventually, it became known as Swissdale.

One of the earliest settlers of Swissdale, Jacob Shoemaker, set aside land from his garden in 1841 as a place of burial for community members.  For many years, "Jacob's Garden" served the final needs of the growing community.  In 1858, the graveyard became known as German Settlement Cemetery, often just shortened to "Settlement" in old records.  In 1903, it became known as the Swissdale Cemetery.  Land has been added to the cemetery over the years, from the Shoemaker farm, with a small portion on the east coming from the Getz farm.

In addition to the CCGS reading of the cemetery, information was supplied from a plot map, a listing of veterans buried there, a 1992 reading of the cemetery, and contributions from individuals having relatives buried there.  We are indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Young for data pertaining to cemetery association records.  Any data not found on the grave markers is given in parenthesis.