✣ Trexler Park, aka Cedarville Evangelical, Grace Evangelical ✣
Located on the outskirts of the Trexler Memorial Park, just to the east of the parking lot, this cemetery had been so well hidden that even some locals were unaware of its existence. Originally linked with the Grace Evangelical Congregational Church located along Broadway, the cemetery became orphaned when the congregation disbanded and sold their building some fifty years ago, and the current ownership remains unclear. The graveyard was abandoned for a time as a result, but thankfully an Eagle Scout took up maintenance of the grounds, trimming back the overgrowth and resetting toppled headstones.
The earliest burials date from the late 1840s, while the latest occurred in the early 2010s. While most of the older stones are not legible, I was pleased to find some English-language epitaphs. I found this one particularly touching, but unfortunately I’m not sure to whom it belongs:
“Oh how sweet it will bein that beautiful landso free from all sorrowand pain,with songs on our lipsand with harps in our hands,to meet one another again.”
➺ 1 & 2: Tilghman J Helfrich (1858-1905) has a headstone adorned with plumes and passion flowers ➺ 2, 3, & 4: Edwin F. Moyer (1856-1878) ➺ 5: Vermadella “Dellie” Knause (1852-1874): “Her Sun went down / While it was yet day” ➺ 6: Elizabeth Boyer Glick (1816-1869) has a tantalizing, eight-line epitaph engraved on her memorial, but sadly I cannot make out most of it. ➺ 7, 8, & 9: The Sanders family plot includes three similar headstones. It’s surrounded by a stone and metal fence with a gate that features a lyre-like motif and a handle with Eastlake details. Only Rebecca Probst Sander’s (1806-1894) gravestone includes an epitaph: “I have fought a good fight / finished my course, and / kept the faith.” ✣ Additional resources: ✣ ➺ Find A Grave ➺ New Horizons Geneaology ➺ Who is caretaker for old cemetery? No one is quite sure. The last known owner, an evangelical church, moved 30 years ago. The Morning Call. November 04, 2002. ✣ 153 Springhouse Road Allentown, PA 18104 • Cetronia, City of Allentown, Lehigh County ✣
Comments
Post a Comment