History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 125

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
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USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 125

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A subscription for money to effect the purposes

1 Stsed on the corner of Junction and Second Streets.

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contemplated by the association was proposed in August, 1855, and in a very short time the sum of two thousand and forty-five dollars was subscribed. The first meeting of the subscribers was held at the office of Richard Coulter, Esq., at which a bill for the incorporation of the association was submitted and approved. The bill was passed by the Legislature, and approved by Governor James Pollock, April 19, 1856, under the title of " An act to incorporate the St. Clair Cemetery Association of the borough of Greensburg, Westmoreland Co."

The first section of the act incorporates into a body politic Richard Coulter, James C. Clarke, James F. Woods, Hugh Y. Brady, Jacob Welty, John Morri- son, Thomas J. Barclay, Alexander MeKinney, Henry Welty, John Armstrong, John Armstrong, Jr., Sam- uel P. Brown, Edgar Cowan, William Jack's ex- ecutors, John Loor, Daniel Kistler, Jr., David W. Shryock, William H. Markle, Matthew J. Shields, David Fulwood, Israel Uncapher, Jacob Turney, James Todd, Will A. Stokes, John H. Isett, William A. Cook, Robert Graham, Harriet McClelland, Lewis Trauger, Andrew Graham, J. Heron Foster, and Phi- lanthropy Lodge, No. 225, Ancient York Masons, together with all others who may become owners of burial-lots in the St. Clair Cemetery.

The third section empowers the association by its directors to receive all gifta, devises, bequesta, and donations of property for the use and benefit of the association, to purchase and hold real estate to the amount of twenty acres in connection with the burial- ground in which the remains of Gen. Arthur St. Clair are interred, to divide their ground into plots and lots, and sell to individuals, societies, or congrega- tions. It also provides that lots granted by the asso- ciation shall not be used for any other purpose than burial, and that they shall be forever exempt from seizure and sale by virtue of any execution, attach- ment, or other process against the grantees, their heirs or assigns.

The sixth section empowers a majority of the bur- geeses and assistant burgesses of Greensburg to con- vey by deed of indenture in fee simple forever to the St. Clair Association for the use of the cemetery the ground conveyed to the borough of Greensburg for religious and burial purposes by William Jack, Esq.

The seventh section declares that the real estate of the St. Clair Association shall be exempt from taxa- tion, and that no street, lane, road, railroad, canal, or other highway shall ever be laid out through the grounds of the same, except by the authority or con- sent of the association.

sions of the act of incorporation. The directors then purchased nine acres of ground on the south side of the Central Railroad, adjoining and surrounding the old borough burial-ground. They procured the ser- vices of John Chislett, Eq., under whose direction and according to whose plans the grounds were sur- veyed and laid out by J. Chislett, Jr., and J. Alexan- der Coulter. The directors then proceeded to grado, fence, build, and plant, on which operations from time to time they have expended some four thousand dollars. The grounds are divided into four sections, A, B, C, and D. In section A there are ninety-eight lots, in Section B, which includes the old burial- ground, there are seventy-four lots, in C there are one hundred and fifty-seven, and Section D is not yet subdivided, but is much larger than the other sections. The ground on which the old meeting-house stood is not divided into lots, but is reserved for the erec- tion of a free chapel, according to the intention of the original deed of gift made by Judge Jack. The lots contain from one hundred and fifty to six hundred square feet, and are in price from twenty-five dollars to one hundred dollars. More than eighty lots have been already sold. There is a large lot intended as a place for general burial at a small price for each in- terment. There is a Potter's Field where strangers and others without means are buried, and also a free lot for the colored people. The directors have te- cently bought fifteen acres on the north side of the railroad. A part of this is high ground. It ascends the Academy Hill to a point nearly opposite the Catholic graveyard, and overlooks the surrounding country. The directors have tendered a site on the grounds of the cemetery to the Westmoreland Sol- diers' Association, who design erecting a monument to the memory of the soldiers from this county who fell in the recent civil war.

In 1865, Joseph H. Kuhns, John Armstrong, Jr., James C. Clarke, Richard Coulter, Joseph Groes, and John Kuhns, Sr., formed the board of directors, and the organization of the association was the same as when the act of incorporation passed the Legislature.

The ground of the St. Clair Cemetery declines with an easy descent from the north and south. From the entrance on the west the gradation eastward is mod- erately equal until a little distance past the middle part, when it descends with rapidity to the eastern limit. The view is confined on the west and north by the town and the Academy Hill, but on the cast and south it is pleasant and beautiful. The cemetery is surrounded with a fence of palings, with a double gate for carriages, and one gate on each side of it for persons on foot. A well-graded carriage-road winds between the different sections, with footwalks diverg- ing from it between the subdivisions. The whole surface, except the spaces occupied by tombs and monuments, is verdant with grass or roseate with red clover. Along the southern limit of the grounds,

The other sections relate to election of directors and government of the association. After the or- ganization, James F. Woods, acting under authority from the directors, obtained from the burgesses of Greensburg a conveyance of the old borough burial- ground, and of the abandoned borough school-house and lot adjacent to it, in accordance with the provi- i near the road or street,. are rows of half-grown and

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full-grown silver-maple and silver-poplar trees, and interspersed over all the cemetery is a variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers, whose verdancy agreeably con- trasts with the whiteness of the tombstones and monuments.

A house built of brick, with a walled fountain of excellent water and a garden, stands in the southwest corner of the cemetery grounds, intended for the use of the sexton. There is a nursery of silver-maples be- longing to the association, and intended for the use of the directors in planting and adorning the grounds, but the trees, shrubs, and flowers used to hedge and ornament lots and graves by private persons have been mainly furnished by Mr. Cline. The perennial plants within the inclosure of the cemetery are Nor- way spruces, Scotch firs, blue spruces, cedars, box- wood, and three kinds of arbor-vitæ,-Chinese, Si- berian, and American. The deciduous trees are catalpas, larches, weeping-willows, silver-maples, sil- ver-poplars, horse-chestnute, mountain ashes, sugars, and Lombardy poplars. The hedging of the lots is all done with boxwood and Siberian and American arbor-vitse. The flowers and shrubs are roses of all varieties, rockets, magnolias, violets, verbenas, mig- nonettes, touch-me-nots, dahlias, pinks, pansies, cresses or nasturtiuma, myrtle, and thyme.

Besides a number of very handsome gravestones, the St. Clair Cemetery contains twenty-three monu- ments. The material of the most of them appears to be fine and costly, and the cutters of the monu- ments are among the best in the country. Some are from the chisels of Struthers, of Philadelphia, and Colville and Anderson, of Pittsburgh ; but the stately and beautiful monuments over Capt. Ed. H. Gay, Pris- cilla Bierer, John Morrison, and Anne Brady were cut by Lewis M. Cline, of Greensburg. These are very well executed, and on comparison will be found fully equal to those cut in the two great cities of the State.

Although the monument over St. Clair has often been described, and although it is of common stone, and not of marble, yet as he who lies beneath it was the first in birth, rank, and historical importance of all the dead in the burial-place, as his monument was first erected, and as he gave name to the ceme- tery, it is nothing but proper to describe it before giving imperfect delineations of some of the most remarkable stones in the graveyard.

The monument of St. Clair stands in the southern part of the cemetery, near the main carriage-road, and about half-way from the eastern and western limits. It is on a plot hedged with arbor-vitæ, except on the side that opens southward to the road. It is some twenty feet high, and is made of ordinary stone. It is composed of some three compartments, each one consisting of base, die, and cornice, rising above one another, and is surmounted by an urn. On the south side of the die of the second division of the monu- ment is this inscription: "The earthly remains of

Maj .- Gen. Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one due from his country. He died August 31, 1818, in the 84th year of his age." On the opposite side is this inscription : "This stone is erected over the bones of their departed brother by the members of the Masonic Society resident in this vicinity."

Other Monuments .- Not far from St. Clair's stands a monument over Maj. John B. Alexander. It con- sists of a common stone base, marble pedestal, and square pillar, with ornamented capital and urn on the top of it. To the top of the urn it is some eight feet from the ground. The inscription says that . " he was a distinguished member of the bar, that his knowledge and talents placed him among the first of his profession, and that he served his country as an officer in the late war with - Great Britain. Obiit 1840."

A little to. the eastward of St. Clair's monument lies the lot of the Coulter family of Greensburg. 4 tasteful monument of moderate size rests over the mother of the deceased Richard Coulter, Eeq. The inscription on it is said to have been written by Judge Coulter himself. It is the best epitaph in the whole cemetery. On the south side are these words : " Here lie, awaiting the resurrection of those who die in the Lord, the earthly remains of Mra. Priscilla Coulter, wife of Eli Coulter, Esq., who departed this life 15th of July, 1826, aged 75 years." On the north side is this inscription : " The tears which sorrow sheds, the flowers that affection plants, and the monument gratitude rears soon pass away, but the deep mem- ory of maternal kindness, piety, and virtue survives over death and time and will last while the soul itself endures.". A few paces from this place three graves lying closely together, marked by low marble head- and foot-stones, and covered with myrtle, show where sleep Eli Coulter and Rebecca, his wife, parents of Gen. Dick Coulter, and his uncle, Richard Coulter, Esq. On the southeast corner of the lot stands a cenotaph or monument in memory of those who are buried near to it. It is stately and beautiful, formed of marble, and consists of lower base and tablet, ped- estal, and fluted column, surrounded with an amulet, and finished with a capital. On the north side is this inscription : "Eli Coulter, died April, 1830, aged 39 years;" on the west side, "Rebecca, wife of Eli Coulter, died August 7th, 1854, aged 66 years;" and on the south side, "Richard Coulter, late Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, died April 20th, 1852, aged 64 years." Above this last inscription, on the cornice of the pedestal, are sculptured a scroll, sword, and fasces without an axe. On the south side of the square capital is sculptured in relief the name " Coulter."

One of the finest monuments in the cemetery has been erected over the father and mother of Dr. John Morrison and Mrs. Jane Graham, of Greensburg. It

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is some fifteen feet in height, and consists of plain stone base and tablet and marble pedestal and square pillar with capital. On the west side of the shaft is the name "Morrison," encircled in a wreath cut in relief. On the same side on the die is this concise inscription : " John Morrison, died January 27, 1821, in the 71st year of his age." Below are the words : "Rebecca, relict of John Morrison, died July 14th, 1854, in the 87th year of her age."

In a plot marked by low marble pillars at the corners and arbor-vitæ on the sides lies buried the old and well-known merchant, Jacob Welty. His place of interment is known by a plain head-stone, but a valuable monument to his memory rises in the centre of the allotment. The lower part is of course sandstone, and the upper part of fine marble. On the east side of the shaft is the name " Welty" in relief surrounded by a wreath. On the die is an inscription as plain and unostentatious as the person it commem- orates: " Jacob Welty, died April 30th, 1864, in the 78d year of his age."

A monument from the chisel of Struthers, of Phil- adelphia, is erected in memory of James Brady and Rachel, his wife, parents of Hugh Y. Brady. It con- sists of a sandstone bottom block, and base, die, cor- nice, and square pillar of marble. On the west side is the epitaph of Rachel Brady, and on the east is this inscription : " Filial affection and gratitude have erected this tomb over the remains of Jamen Brady, Eeq., who departed this life on the 11th -, 1839, aged seventy-nine years. He filled many offices of nigh trust, and having lived honored and respected, was, when full of years, called home by his Father and his God."

One of the most handsome lots in the cemetery belongs to Dr. Frederick C. Bierer. It is bright green with grass and hedged with arbor-vits. In one corner a pair of stones shows where lies Priscilla, his wife, who died in January, 1864, and in the middle of the lot is a monument intended to commemorate the dead within the inclosure. It is from sixteen to twenty feet high, and consists of a plain stone founda- tion with pedestal and octagonal pillar of marble.

A fine monument has been erected over the gallant Capt. Ed. H. Gay. It consists of plain stone base, and marble pedestal and square pillar, and is some fifteen feet in height. On the southern side of the shaft is a shield in relief, on which is sculptured in relief the name "Gay." On the southern face of the die of the pedestal is a Norman shield in relief, en- graven with the time of his birth and death. He was born October, 1842, and died March, 1864. On the western side of the die are the names of the four- teen battles in which he participated and the two battles in which he was wounded, to which is ap- pended the following words, taken from the official order of Gen. Dick Coulter, wherein he announced his death and gave directions for his funeral : " His regimental record stands without a blemish."

There is a handsome monument over James W. Goodlin (son of the old landlord, Goodlin), first lieu- tenant of Company I, Eleventh Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, who fell pierced with seven balls, December 15, 1862, at the battle of Fredericksburg, while leading his men into action. It is some seven feet high, and consists of coarse stone base and mar- ble pedestal and urn. On the southern side of the cap of the pedestal are sculptured in relief a drawn sword and scabbard lying across one another. Under this on the die is a Norman shield with the epitaph. On the north side of the die is an eloquent inscription commemorative of his deeds and virtues and death on the field of glory.

Space will not permit a description of all the hand- some monuments over distinguished persons who are buried in this cemetery, but it is due to the memory of the dead and to the feelings of the living to make some mention of the family to whose generosity and regard for the wants of the community Greensburg is indebted for this burial-place. At & short distance to the northeast of St. Clair's monument are four mas- sive old-fashioned tombstones and three marble mon- uments, all lying closely together in a row. Two of these old tombstones rest over William Jack, who died in 1821, aged sixty-one years, and Margaret, his wife. One of the two remaining stones rests over their son, Samuel Jack, who died in 1814, and the other oved John Cust, who died in 1828, in the sixty-first year of his age. John Cust fled from the rebellion in Ireland in 1798 to this country, married a daughter of Judge Jack, and was the father of Mrs. Shoenberger, of Pittsburgh. The three marble monuments alongside the tombstones were erected to the memories of three more sons of Judge Jack,-Harry Jack, who died in 1837, aged fifty-one; Matthew Jack, who died in 1848, aged sixty-five; and Wilson Jack, who died in 1852, aged sixty-one years. The materials of the monu- ments are costly and the work manship good, but the in- scriptions are nothing but simple records of the names and times of births and deaths. Away from these fam- ily graves and in a separate lot surrounded by a strong iron railing is a marble monument to the mem- ory of the late Judge William Jack, another son of him who donated the burial-ground to the borough. It is from sixteen to twenty feet high, and consists of base, pedestal, square pillar, and urn. On the east- ern side of the die is a simple inscription, recording his name, the time of his birth, and his death in 1852. On the same side of the shaft is the name "Jack," partially inclosed in relief by a wreath of flowers.

Among the many marble gravestones in the ceme- tery there are some worthy of especial note on ac- count of their costliness, designs, and workmanship. Large, massive, and well-executed marbles with side inclosures shut in the grave of Andrew Lowry, the old Mount Pleasant and Greensburg landlord, who died in 1864. Fine marble stones, ornamented with leaves and roses, stand at.the graves of David Gil-

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christ, Sr., and David Gilchrist, Jr. They are the work of Capt. Kistler, who fell mortally wounded at Antietam, and deserved a better monument than he ever sculptured.

The burial-place of the deceased wife of John Armstrong, Jr. is mournfully pleasant. A neat mar- ble tells who lies beneath the mound, a pine throws a gloomy shade around it, and the air is redolent of the odor of York roses and white rockets. Over some of the graves the willows droop until their leaves touch the ground, and appear, as the poets speak, like fond female friends weeping over the dead with long disheveled hair.

Handsome stones mark the graves of John Clarke, the old prothonotary, and Dr. John W. Coulter, of Latrobe, whose head-stone is adorned with Masonic emblems.

A beautiful part of the cemetery is the lot where lie Dr. Thompson Richardson and his adopted son. It is thickly hedged to the height of some four feet with arbor-vitæ; four white marbles record their memories, and the grassy green of the inclosure is en- ameled with a diversity of flowers. Within the in- closure a place is reserved for a third person.

A lot of about forty feet square, belonging to the Greensburg Lodge of Ancient York Masons, is hedged with arbor-vitse, with square marble pillars at the corners of the quadrangle. The pillars are inscribed with the name of the lodge, the designation of the section, number of the lot, and Masonic emblems. There are three graves within it unmarked by any gravestones.

A description of the cemetery would be entirely defective unless some mention was made of the fine lot of the Hon. Henry D. Foster. It is between thirty and forty feet square, and lies in the southern part of the cemetery, near the large carriage-road. It is hedged with arbor-vitæ. Four paths lead from as many openings on the sides and concentre on a walk that surrounds a circular bed in the middle of the plot, thus parting it into five divisions. In the northwest section of the lot lies buried Miss Fannie Foster, the favorite and best beloved daughter of Foster and his lady. There is a low white stone at the head of the grave. On its top are the words, "Our Fannie." The grave is covered with myrtle. At the upper part is growing a bunch of white lilies, and near to it trembles an aspen-tree. A tulip-tree stands in one part of the plot, and the circular bed in its centre is covered with roses, mignonettes, cranes' bills, shrubs, pansies, violets, verbenas, and gerani- ums.

It is a matter of surprise that no memorials mark the places where repose a number of persons, eminent in their lives for virtue, learning, official position, and fine social qualities. There are no stones to indicate the last earthly abodes of the old president judge, the Hon. John Young, Dr. James Postlethwaite, Dr. Alfred T. King, Rev. Henry (brother-in-law of James

Buchanan), Edward N. Clopper, Dr. S. P. Brown, Judge Burrell, Alexander Mckinney, and many others, whose memories are only preserved in the hearts of friends and acquaintances. It is very true that changes of place, time, and circumstances often invalidate good intentions and prevent a proper trib- ute of respect to memories that were once dear to those whose duty it is to pay to them the last mortu- ary honors.

The St. Clair Cemetery is now a beautiful place, and will be much more so in a few years. It is creditable to the hearts and heads of those who conceived this plan and carried it into execution. Taste, morality, and religion are all promoted by the selection of pleasant places for the burial of the dead, and by their embellishment with the graceful arts of civilized life.

The following early settlers are herein buried, and not heretofore specially mentioned :

Adam MeLaughlin, died Dec. 27, 1841, aged 84.

James Brady, died May 2, 1829, aged 76.

James Mcfarland, died Jan. 14, 1800, aged 81.

James Thompson, died June 25, 1869, aged 79; his wife, Eleanor, died Oct. 18, 1863, aged 67.

Hugh Lindeny, died May 31, 1879, aged 80; his wife, Jane, died Feb. 19, 1878, aged 63.

George Patchell, died Dec. 29, 1863, aged 66; his wife, Sarah, died July 11, 1861, aged 74.

William Morrison, died March 18, 1871, aged 87; his wife, Elisabeth, died June 4, 1836, aged 42.

Alexander Johuston, born July 10, 1793, died July 15, 1872; his wife, Treame, born Nov. 27, 1781, died March 28, 1863.

Alexander Johnston, captain in United States army, died July 8, 1845. aged 39.

Lieut. Richard H. L. Johnston, of United States army, killed at Molino del Rey, Mexico, Sept. 8, 1847, aged 21.

Joseph Russell, died May 27, 1844, aged }1.

John Y. Barclay, died Tob. 18, 1841, aged 42; his wife, Isabella, died Teb. 4, 1841, aged 41.

James 8. Burkhart, died Oct. 6, 1876, aged 78.

James Craig, died April 26, 1800, aged 66.

John G. Eicher, died Nov. 19, 1866, aged 57.

James Miller, born May 19, 1795, died Jan, 29, 1869;" his, wife, Agnes, born Feb. 26, 1796, died Nov. 26, 1862.

Dr. T. Richardson, born April 18, 1806, died Nov. 28, 1801; his wife, Mary, died Oct. 27, 1872, aged 69.

Capt. Daniel Kistler, Jr., died Sept. 26, 1862, of wounds received at An- tietam, Sept. 17, 1862, aged 41.

Margaret, wife of Maj. James Smith, died August, 1826, aged 88. James Hanter, died Oct. 3, 1892, aged 45.

William H. Richardson, died Dec. 26, 1869, aged 64.

James Dobbin, died March 13, 1887, aged 83.

Isabella A. Keenan, died Jan. 13, 1877, aged 82.

Joseph Steel, died October, 1824, aged 39.

Jane, wife of James Lowry, died March 22, 1845, aged 52.

William Ramsay, died May 2, 1816, aged 60; his wife, Jane, died Oot. 16, 1849, aged 76.

Alexander Storey, died June 11, 1851, aged 85; his wife, Margaret,fdied Oct. 28, 1848, aged 83.

Matthew Gemmell, died April 19, 1846, aged 60.

Thomas Gemmell, died July 16, 1846, aged 72; his wife, Elisabeth, died Ang. 29, 1851, aged 81.

James Gemmell, died April 8, 1864, aged 53; his wife, Nancy, died April 12, 1867, aged 57.

John K. Boyd, died May 5, 1861, aged 45.

John Walker, died June 3, 1861, aged 80.

Hugh Wilson, born March 11, 1788, died April 30, 1861.

Robert Wark, died April 27, 1832, aged 80.

Robert Hutchinson, died Sept. 17, 1879, aged,78.

John Armstrong, died June 11. 1806 seed TZ.

Daniel Kistler, died Dec. 26, 1870, aged .76.

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Andrew Lowry, died April 7, 1094, aged 70; his wife, Margaret N., died June 7, 1867, aged 67.

James Todd, born Dec. 96, 1786, died Sept. 3, 1863.

Dr. John M. Huston, died Dec. 1, 1863, aged M.

Alexander Ross, died May 3, 1873, aged 83; his wife, Elisabeth, died May 10, 1846, aged 54. John Clarke, died Sept. 13, 1842, aged 57. John Moore, died Ang. 5, 1873, aged 75.

William Moore, died Feb. 22, 1846, aged 81; his wife, Agnes, died July 4, 1848, aged 70.

James Harvey, died Dec. 29, 1842, aged 40. James 8. Beck with, died Jan. 11, 1871, aged 61. Elisabeth Atkinson, died Teb. 26, 1879, aged 70.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 125

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: