Spotlight on: montoursville
- THE HISTORY OF MONTOURSVILLE CEMETERY- by Lou Bernard
We have a tendency to think of cemeteries as permanent, immovable, eternal. But that’ s not always the case. There are plenty of incidents where a cemetery has been moved, due to flooding, construction, or abandonment.
Photo courtesy of Connie Lagasse Russell.
This happened in Montoursville. The present cemetery is on Broad Street, but that wasn’ t always the case. Settler John Rockafellow donated land for a cemetery as early as 1812, and the first burial was made that year. This cemetery appears to have held more ashes than coffins, according to“ History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania” by John Meginness. The book also notes that when construction began and the community began to encroach on cemetery land, the decision was made to create a new cemetery further east, and move to the new one.
The original cemetery was near the west bank of Loyalsock Creek, and when the Catawissa Railroad Bridge was built in 1867, they moved everything to the newer one. These were the earliest occupants of the current Montoursville Cemetery.
One of the people moved and reburied was General John Burrows, Revolutionary War soldier and founder of Montoursville. Burrows arrived in Lycoming County in 1794, bought the land that later became Montoursville in 1812, and began the community. He’ d died at age seventy-seven on August 22, 1837, and had been buried in the old cemetery. He was moved thirty years later.
There was once a church beside the old cemetery, described as an“ octagonal stone building.” It was built in 1818, and known as the Union Church, because more than one congregation used it for worship. It also became known as the“ White Church,” simply because it was white in color.
The current cemetery still stands and is still in use, a quiet, dignified tribute to the history of Montoursville.
Lou Bernard is a local writer and can be reached at loulhpa @ gmail. com.
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