An Interesting Graveyard

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This is But One Among Many in Perry County

Many old time residents have been asking for information regarding some of the early graveyards scattered thither and yon throughout Perry County. In order to comply with their request we have collected as much reliable data for their information as possible.

And what a story each one of these graveyards has to tell, -- full of romance, tragedy and pathos. Here week after week, day after day, folks, yes just common folks, come to recall to memory some child, mother, father or other relative who has passed down that long, long trail. Sometimes they come from a great distance after many years in search of a humble marker that has disappeared. Sometimes to plant a flower or place a bouquet on the grave of some departed relative or friend.

Since Marcus Boehler and his wife, Maria Elizabeth (Keiser) settled here about the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, this never ending procession has been going on in this little village and a thousand like villages throughout the land.

It was on a tract of land west of present Markelsville that these folks from Brecknock township, Berks County build for themselves a humble home. In a few years one of their children died and, because of there being no public burying place in the neighborhood, they buried the child on their own land. The weatherworn gravestone bears the following German inscription: “Hier ruhen die gebeine von Sara ealor, tochter von M. Bealor-starb 6ten August, 1810. Alter 8 Jahr, 8 Monat, und 26 tage.”

Following that, other families were permitted to bury their dead at the place and it became a public graveyard. Nearly all of the earliest graves are marked by plain stones, a few bearing initials and dates. One is marked, “D. P. – 1812” – presumably a member of the Pickard family. We might state also that on June 30, 1933, Mrs. Pickard, of Juniata township, died, aged 102 years and 6 months. Another similar interesting grave is that Margaret Mary (Burd), widow of John Barrock, Sr., who died September 3, 1880, aged 106 years.

By the year 1840, the graveyard must have become of considerable size. On August 7, 1840, Marks Bealor and wife Elizabeth deceased to Philip Myers, Samuel Leupfer, and Wm. Bosserman, trustees of a religious society then forming in Juniata township, composed of Lutherans and Presbyterians united, a parcel of land for one dollar. The plot adjoined the town plot, called Little Vienna, and contained 81 ½ perches, including the graveyard. *(See Deed Book, letter I, pages 272).

Most of the families in the vicinity continued to use the graveyard and eventually more space was needed. Benjamin F. Bealor and wife Elizabeth, on May 29, 1860, sold another parcel of land adjoining the first on the west side and containing 86 perches, to John Sosseman, Jacob Lenig, and Valentine Borral [BORRELL], trustees of St. John’s Church in Juniata township, for the sum of ($40.00) forty dollars. (See Deed Book 112, page 108). The entire plot was sold in plots of different dimensions, as desired.

In about the year 1889, the abandoned union church edifice was razed and the plot on which it had stood was also sold in lots.

On June 11, 1904, a meeting of the trustees of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations was held and a Cemetery Association was organized. At intervals the Association re-elected officers and a janitor was employed each year. Mary persons contributed and a fund was raised and a fence built. The Secretary’s report reveals no meeting after the year 1922 until May 9, 1931, when the following officers were elected: President, John C. Campbell; Vice-President, Thomas M. Lenig; Secretary, Wm. H. Lenig; Corresponding Sec., Harry W. Lenig; Treasurer, Miller E. Flickinger; Committee on finance, Frank P. Groff, Charles M. Fleisher, S. Loy Shumaker, Alvin N. Fosselman, and Lloyd D. Stambaugh. At the same time it was decided to incorporate the Association. Application for a charter for a corporation to be known as “Markelsville Cemetery Association, was made to Court of Perry County on December 19, 1931, and the charter was granted (Recorded Jan. 21, 1931, in Deed Book 113, page 108).

The finance committee solicited an appreciable sum of money toward the renovating and care of the cemetery, and a number of interested persons spent considerable time in leveling the graves and paths. A new fence will soon be necessary and further contributions will be needed. The Secretary’s book shows that number of lots remain unpaid to date. The Association is ready to consider endowments of graves and lots.

More than five hundred graves have been marked in the modern way, over one hundred and seventy graves are unmarked, and a number bear initials or dates. Mr. David Crist began to record the burials in 1855 and continued it until 1895. Many of those buried in unmarked graves are recorded therein.

Two men who served in the War of 1812, many veterans of the Civil War, and one of the World War rest in Markelsville Cemetery, as well as three and four generations of the early families in the valley.