Black's Graveyard:  A History
By Mary Margaret Stewart
1968

Black's Graveyard Today click here for a list of known graves

Black's Graveyard, one of the oldest cemeteries in Adams County, marks the site of the first meeting house of the Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church, now the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  When this congregation, already meeting in 1740 and probably organized in that year, erected its first meeting house of logs in 1747, the plot of ground designated for burials was already being used as a graveyard.  Although the earliest marked grave is 1746, it is likely that it was used as a burial ground even before 1740.  By 1738 many Presbyterians from Northern Ireland and Scotland had settled in the Marsh Creek area, and indeed, the early burial site may have influenced the selection of a building site for the church.

After the Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian congregation moved its place of meeting from its site beside the graveyard to the town of Gettysburg in 1813 and even after it had established a burial ground by its new building on Washington and Railroad Streets, the congregation retained the burial ground in the country, and members of the congregation continued to be buried in the original graveyard.  Many markers bear dates in the 1840’s ad 1850’s.  Few graves date since 1856, but as late as 1870 the graveyard was still used as a burial ground.

Graves of John Black and his wife

Not until 1846 is this burial ground referred to as Black’s Graveyard, no doubt, because members of the Black family are buried here.  This designation may indicate that the pioneer family of Blacks used the ground early as a burial plot, for although a number of Blacks are buried here, theirs are not the earliest marked graves nor are they the most numerous.  And Mary, Hugh, and Jane Black were not even buried until the 1850’s.  Robert Black, the father of five sons who served in the American Revolution Army, was buried here in 1760, having died at the age of forty-four years.  He had come with his father, John Black, from the North of Ireland to Marsh Creek about 1732-1736. John Black, then, would have been one of the earliest settlers of the area and members of his family may be buried here in unmarked graves or in graves marked only by field stones.

A complete list of all those interred in the graveyard cannot be compiled.  No church documents record the deaths and burials of its members.  Many of the graves were never marked.  Members of the pioneer family, Foster, for instance, were buried here, but no monument remains in their memory.  Colonel Hance Hamilton, a pre-Revolutionary soldier referred to as the “old Indian fighter”, and his wife Ann were both buried here, but his body was later moved and no stone marks Ann’s grave.  Many graves were marked only by field stones which carry no inscriptions.  Through the years, many graves stones have disappeared or have been destroyed or defaced.  After the establishment of Evergreen Cemetery in 1856, many bodies originally interred in the Upper Marsh Creek graveyard were exhumed and reinterred in Evergreen Cemetery or other cemeteries.  Between 1856 and 1870 the remains of many of the early families of the church and community were removed:  Buchanan, Cobean, Edie, Ewing, Gettys, Hamilton, Hays, Horner, Jenkins, McConaughy, McPherson, Russell, Smith.

Among those still buried in the graveyard are several veterans of the American Revolutionary War:

• Isaac Armstrong (1752-1830), who died 31 October 1830 at the age of seventy-eight, served as a Sergeant in Captain William Linsey’s Company in the York County Militia.
• Quentin Armstrong II, who died in February 1795, served as a Sergeant in Captain David Wilson’s Company of the “Flying Camp”.  He is buried in an unmarked grave.
• William Bigham (1748-1816), who died 2 February 1816 in his sixty-eighth year, served as a Sergeant in Captain Thomas Churdie’s Company of the Fourth Battalion, Anthony Wayne, Colonel.  He was wounded in the campaign around Ticonderoga during 1776-1777.
• Adam Black (1760-1816), who died 16 July 1816 at the age of sixty-six, was a Captain in the Second Company of the York County Militia.  Adam was one of Robert Black’s five sons who served during the Revolutionary War.
• Samuel Cobean (1770-1832), who died 9 August 1832 at sixty-two years of age, served as a private in the First Company, Second Battalion, York County militia. SVC 1785
• James McAllister (1739-1782), of “Carroll’s Delight”, died 8 August 1782 in his forty-fifth year.  He served as a First Lieutenant of the Third of Lower Company of the Militia of Cumberland County.
• Rev. Robert McMordie (1724-1796), who died 22 May 1796 at seventy-two years of age, was appointed Chaplain in the First Brigade Pennsylvania Line on 12 July 1780; from 1 July 1779 he had been Chaplain to the Second Brigade; and before that he had served with the “old eleventh”.  Rev. McMordie was the pastor of the Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church from about 1753 to April 1761.
• Francis McNutt (1769-1853), who died 4 January 1853 at the age of eighty-four, served as a Private in Captain Samuel Ferguson’s Company in the York County Militia.  SVC 1784
• David Moore (1736-1803), who died on 19 June 1803 in the sixty-seventh year of his age, served as a Private in Captain Andrew Graft’s Company in the Lancaster County Militia.
• Joseph Wilson (1762-1847), who died 30 April 1847 at eighty five years, served as a Private in the Fifth Battalion, First Brigade of the York County Militia. Wilson’s grave stone has been down for a number of years.

Three others are reported to have fought in the American Revolutionary War:

• John Hosack (1733-1789), died 11 February 1789 in his fifty-sixth year.
• James Sweney died in 1817 when he was about sixty-two years old.
• Joshua Russell (1750-1807) died 5 January 1807 when he was fifty-seven years old.  The proprietor of “Russell Tavern”, Mr. Russell was the uncle of the father of President James Buchanan.

At least two of the men buried in Black’s Graveyard were veterans of the War of 1812:

• Hugh Black (1790-1851), the son of Adam Black, died 1 April 1851.
• William Orr died 7 March 1859 at the age of sixty-nine.

From 1801 to the present day, the records of the Board of Trustees of the Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church indicate that the church recognized its ownership of this burial ground and also its responsibility to preserve and protect it.  This responsibility was felt more keenly at certain times than at others, and during those years when it was not keenly felt, the graveyard lacked careful maintenance and suffered from neglect.

The first record of the congregation’s recognition of its responsibility for the maintenance of the graveyard is dated 1801.  In that year the trustees collected money to fence the graveyard.  Two lists of contributors remain.  One is entitled “Account of Monies Received from defraying the expenses of Fencing the Graveyard”.

The other contribution list is entitled “Monies paid for fencing graveyard”.

Whether or not a fence was placed around the graveyard as a result of the fund drive begun in 1801 is uncertain.  It is certain, however, that one was erected in 1813.

At a congregational meeting on 26 April 1813 the Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian congregation resolved to moved its place of meeting after 1 June 1813 to Gettysburg.  At a following meeting of the congregation on 26 May 1813, the congregation resolved

“That a sufficient was of stone with lime and shale be built under the direction of the Trustees around the graveyard.  The said wall to be well roofed and that the expence shall be paid out of the funds belonging to said congregation.”

These funds were, no doubt, those collected earlier and recorded above.  At this same meeting the congregation resolved

“That the Trustees shall be authorized to sell the meeting house with the land attached thereto reserving what will be necessary for the use of the burying ground aforesaid”

Rev. J. K. Demerest states in his historic discourse on the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg that the stone church building completed in 1780 was demolished after the congregation moved to Gettysburg and “its material used mostly in putting a wall around Black’s Graveyard.”  No records in the trustee’s books, however, support this statement.

For almost thirty years there is no record of concern for the graveyard in the country.  In 1842, however, a period of concern begins and is sustained for almost thirteen years.  At a meeting on 9 April 1842 the trustees resolved

“That Jacob Arndt be appointed to take care of the Grave Yard at Upper Marsh Creek and to prevent intrusions by Cattle, etc. and that Messrs. Armstrong, Denwiddie, and McClean be appointed a Committee to view the situation of the wall around said yard and Report to the Board.”

Four years later on 11 April 1846 the trustees appointed another committee, consisting of Messrs. Armstrong, McAllister, and Bracon to visit the graveyard and “Examine the wall around it and report what is proper to be done to Keep the yard safely enclosed.”  The members of this committee were authorized to take a surveyor with them and “sum the lines around said Grave Yard in order that a deed may be made for the same to the Trustees.”

On 26 August 1846 the trustees met specifically to make some arrangement “to secure a good enclosure of the Black’s Graveyard, in the Country.”  The committee which had been appointed at the 11 April meeting submitted a report:

“that there are about 180 perches of the stones in the wall- that the wall is not substantial- a part of it had fallen and no part of it is sufficient to justify a new roof – The Committee Estimate that 50 panels of Post and Rail fence will enclose the yard.”

After accepting this report, the trustees resolved “that the Stones in the wall around said Graveyard be advertised to be sold at public outcry on the premises on Saturday the 5th day of September next at 3 o’clock P.M.”  Mr. McPherson and Mr. Armstrong were appointed a committee to attend the sale and fix the terms.

On 2 November 1846 McPherson and Armstrong, who had been appointed “to sell the stones in the wall around Black’s Graveyard,” reported to the trustees that “no sale was made.”  The trustees then authorized the secretary of the Board “to sell the stones at private sale if possible at 30 cts pr. Perch if Measured Standing in the wall -- & 33 if taken down first.”

Apparently the secretary was no more successful than the committee had been, for the trustees met on 19 April 1849 to hear “a proposition from Benjamin Herr to purchase a portion, (& perhaps all) of the stones in the wall now around Black’s Graveyard.”  The trustees resolved that a committee of two (Messrs. Denwiddie and Stevenson) be appointed “to go to the graveyard & meet Mr. Herr, & that Said Com. Be authorized to sell to Said Herr the Stones now in the South Wall, as they stand at 30 cents per perch, standing – to be measured standing – and any stones in or along that wall that are lying at $1.00 for a four horse load.”  This committee was “clothed with power to sell the entire wall at 30 cents pr. Perch standing – the purchaser to remove the wall in a specified time & not to do any damage to the enclosure.”

On 2 June 1855 the trustees again discussed the wall and enclosure of the graveyard.  On this date the Board abandoned its schemes for raising money by selling the stones in the graveyard wall and resolved that “the stones forming the present wall at the Upper Marsh Creek Grave Yard be given to Harvey D. Sweney & William Hamilton upon condition that they take down and remove the same ad in place thereof Make and put up a good and substantial fence with locust posts and Chestnut rails, said enclosure to have a proper gate way.”  At this meeting it was also resolved Sweney and Mr. Hamilton be given authority to oversee the “Upper Marsh Creek grave-yard” and to protect it from injury.  These men were also directed to “remove from the grounds attached all stuff, material or buildings improperly placed or being thereon.”

A few years later on 11 May 1861 Messrs. I. G. Crawford and A Cobean “were appointed a Committee to have all necessary repairs made to Old Grave Yard fence.”

On 26 February 1876, a committee of three – D. McConaughy, Edward McPherson and John Scott – was appointed by the trustees “to inquire and report upon the condition of the old Grave Yard in the County.”  Perhaps it was a member of this committee who took Rev. Demerest to visit Black’s Graveyard in 1876, a visit he describes in his history of the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg:

“By the kindness of one of your number, I was enabled to visit the spot some weeks ago.  I found it evidently suffering from neglect.  The remains of not a few of the dead have been removed, and little care has been taken in some instances to fill again the graves.  The wounds so made have a ghastly look, and through then the consecrated ground seems to be still making some claim for what was once committed to it by mourning friends, now themselves most of them passed away.  One soon perceives, examining the epitaphs, that those which still answer their purpose are not always the most recent.  Some slabs with legible inscriptions are there, that are almost a century and a half old; while others, reared perhaps within comparatively a few decades, are broken to pieces or fallen on their faces.”

At a congregational meeting on 1 May 1882, the president of the congregation on a motion appointed a committee of two, R. C. McCreary and D. McConaughy Esq., “to confer with the Board of Trustees concerning repairs to the fence enclosing the Marsh Creek grave yard.”  Immediately following this congregational meeting, the trustees met and appointed a committee consisting of McPherson, McClellen, and Swope “to attend to repairs to the marsh creek grave yard fence.”

The graveyard is not mentioned again until 6 April 1931.  At a congregational meeting on that date the congregation onsidered a letter from the Daughters of the American Revolution, who requested that Black’s burial ground be deeded over to them by the church, for they wished to “recondition the ground and have it maintained in a manner befitting its sacred character.”  It was decided to have the session and board of trustees jointly investigate the matter and report to the congregation at a later meeting.  This letter apparently brought the condition of the graveyard to the attention of the church, for during the 1930’s the church authorized the local office of the W.P.A. to construct a wire fence with wooden posts and a gate around Black’s Graveyard.  Such a fence was necessary, for cattle on the land adjoining the burial ground had access to the graveyard and had damaged tombstones.

The Trustees again gave attention to Black’s Graveyard in 1964 when the board received a letter from Mr. Arthur Weiner of the Adams County Historical Society.  He reminded the church of its responsibility for the maintenance of the old burial ground and requested the church to recondition it, for it had become overgrown with briars and trees, and many of the grave markers had fallen down.  Through the interest and preliminary research of Harriet and Neal Beach and Mary Margaret Stewart and through the more extensive legal research of Franklin R. Bigham, it was clearly established for the trustees that the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg still retains ownership of the graveyard and has a responsibility to maintain it.  At a congregational meeting on 10 January 1966 the subject of maintenance of the old graveyard was discussed and the following resolution was passed:

“That the church be authorized to spend up the $3000.00 in restoring the Cemetery and thereafter to provide perpetual care and to accept the offer of Mr. Franklin Bigham of a yearly contribution of $300.00 for five years toward the maintenance of the property.”

Following the direction of the congregation, the trustees contracted to have the trees and brush removed, the ground leveled, and the headstones reset.  They also provided parking space between the road and the burial ground and also had concrete steps placed up the bank from the parking area to the cemetery.  Because the major concern of the trustees through the years has been the fencing of the old graveyard, it is appropriate that the trustees in 1968 also had a new fence erected at the front of Black’s Graveyard.

On 26 May 1968 the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, rededicates Black’s Graveyard.  In so doing, the congregation renews its awareness of its heritage and recognizes its obligation to the past.