Donegal Presbyterian Church Cemetery - Mt. Joy, PA
N 40° 06.037 W 076° 33.971
18T E 366504 N 4440100
An historic cemetery dating to the 18th century accompanies this even older Presbyterian church from the late 1830s.
Waymark Code: WMGV1Y
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 04/10/2013
Views: 7
The cemetery is on a rectangular piece of land, 164 feet x 295 feet, enclosed by an ancient looking stone wall with a wrought iron gate for access. The cemetery is south or to the left of the main church, on the same parcel of land. Tehestones are very old, very work and some are very hard to read due to weathering. I was only able to count approximately 260 interments. The Find a Grave site lists it as 509 internments.
The cemetery is mentioned in the NRHP nomination form from 1984: Much of the history of Donegal SPrings is reflected in Donegal Church and its cemetery. The emergence of the Scots-Irish and American religious ideals, resultant internal strife, and the upsurgence of loyalty at the onset of the REvolution, is apparent in Donegal's history, and visible in the more than thirty marked graves of Revolutionary War soldiers. Flat sarcophagi lying flush with the ground, mark the burial sites, and recall the names of Colonel Bartram Smith and Colonel Alexander Lowry, men who epitomize the loyalty proclaimed that day in 1777 at the foot of the Witness Tree. Stone tablets mark the graves of Donegal's ministry for over two-hundred years. The grave of Reverand James Anderson, who, according to legend, cut his sermon short that sunday in 1777 and joined Colonel Lowry's brave recruits under the Witness Tree bidding them well with a blessing, lies just within the stone wall.
Surrounded by a wall of rough hewn stone (18" thick and measuring 155 x 308') the cemetery built in 1732, encased more than thirty families by 1800. Built in a basic grid pattern, the cemetery was surrounded by the present stone wall in 1791. By 1900, one-hundred-sixty-three families' markers rested within its stone walls. The most prevalent of stone styles found in the cemetery fall within the period of the late 18th and 19th centuries. 18th century script and simple scroll design are overshadowed by a more elaborate scroll and swag pattern which emerged in the 19th century. Full standing sandstone tablets with intricate relief cover most of the area, and suffer minor damage due to age and weathering. The later 19th century brought in several oval beveled patterns with simple phrase recorded in fine script. The pre-Victorian/Gothic design can be seen in carved arch relief and inverted cross patterns of intricate filigree.
Transition into the 20th century was and is gradual, only a few polished granite tablets intrude in random fashion. The most recent burials (61 by 1983) have been restricted to the far end of the cemetery, so as not to detract from the overall view. Eight huge oak trees randomly spaced, accentuate the beauty of the yard. And bushes, landscaped in a half-circle pattern to the far left of the entrance, mark the cemetery's newest advancement: crematorial pots.