CLINTON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY CEMETERY GUIDE            

MUNICIPALITY:  City of Lock Haven
CEMETERY NAME:  Beth Yehuda Cemetery SCHADT NUMBER:  102

AKA: 

Number of Burials (approximate): 400

Dates of Activity: 1874 - present

Documentation/Publication:  The Cemeteries of Allison Township, Castanea Township, Flemington Borough and the City of Lock Haven (2008)

 

Directions/GPS: 

From the intersection of Water and Jay Streets (the courthouse in Lock Haven), travel west on Water Street for 1 mile.  Turn left at the traffic light onto Fairview Street and travel less than 0.1 mile.  Turn right onto Glenn Road, which leads back through the university.  Follow Glenn Road for 0.6 mile, almost to the intersection with Irwin Street, and the cemetery gate is on your right.  Alternatively, from Route 150 between Lock Haven and Flemington you can turn left (if coming from Flemington) or right (if coming from Mill Hall) onto Irwin Street and travel 0.6 mile to the intersection with Glenn Road, turn right on Glenn Road and the cemetery is on your left.  The cemetery gates are kept locked to deter vandalism, but you can park along the road and enter the cemetery over or under the gate.

N41 08.301 W77 28.276

Landowner / Caretaker:

Beth Yehuda Cemetery Association

Lock Haven, PA 17745

 

Condition/Needs: 

Excellent

 

History:

 

Lock Haven was home to residents of the Jewish faith as early as the 1850s.  Originally, burials were made in the Old Lock Haven and Highland Cemeteries, where some Jewish graves can be found today.  The following account of a dedicated Jewish burial ground comes from an anonymous handwritten account at the Ross Library in Lock Haven:

 

"The leaders of both the German and the Eastern European Jews saw the necessity for a Jewish burial ground.  Even to this day deceased individuals from the many parts of Pennsylvania are being buried in the local Jewish Cemetery."  (The Jewish Community of Lock Haven established the Beth Yehuda Synagogue [Reform Judaism], which is still active.  The term "Beth Yehuda" is Hebrew for "House of Judah.")

"Our first definite knowledge is dated July 1, 1874, when J. Hervey Barton and Philip M. Price, Jr., Executors of the Estate of Philip M. Price (one of the early pioneers of Lock Haven) conveyed a plot of land in the Fifth Ward (now Allison Township) of the City of Lock Haven to the Hebrew Cemetery Association of Lock Haven.  On the 20th of December 1899 the "Preston Retreat" of the City of Philadelphia conveyed an adjoining lot to Morris J. Claster, Harry Claster, Nathan Sil and Max Furia for the sum of $40 to be used for cemetery purposes only.  On the 15th day of May 1911, George W. Diceand Katherine I. Diceconveyed another adjoining plot of ground for $112.50 to Harris Claster,orris J. Claster and Ellis Claster.  Down through the years various committees largely composed of the trustees mentioned took charge of the cemetery affairs.

"On Feb. 14, 1939, a complete reorganization took place when the surviving trustees of the various groups conveyed their interests to the Trustees of a voluntary incorporated association known as the Beth Yehuda Cemetery Association.  The trustees of this association have during the succeeding years done an outstanding job in beautifying the cemetery grounds and regulating the conducting of funerals."

Beth Yehuda Cemetery remains active to this day, and due to boundary changes, is located almost entirely in the city limits of Lock Haven.