Stories From The Cemetery - Mifflinburg Pa

Stories From The Cemetery - Mifflinburg, Pa

 Old Mifflinburg Cemetery, also known as Fairview Cemetery & Woodlawn Cemetery, is located on the west side of Rt. 304. The cemetery was established no later than 1817 but was likely utilized for about 20 years prior to that.  Several mausoleums in this section are built into the hill, like small caves.

View from the hill in the cemetery, November 2024.

The old Elias Church is the yellow building to the right.

There are a great number of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in this section.  Many of the stone are no longer readable.

 

Standing behind the front row of mausoleums

View from the mausoleums on the hill

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The Mausoleums

	Dr. Jacob Henry Hassenplug 1827-1899 DR. HASSENPLUG DEAD A Native of Union County and Highly Successful Physician Dr. J. H. Hassenplug, one of Philadelphia's oldest and most honored physicians, died yesterday afternoon at his residence, 611 North h Sixteenth street, of pneumonia, after an illness of only one week. Dr. Hassenplug was born in Miffinburg, Union county, Pa., November 25, 1827, and received his early education there, supplementing it with medical studies in this city and elsewhere. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1850, when he began practicing his profession in his native town. Dr. Hassenplug served in the Civil War for three years as surgeon in the 109th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and for the last thirty-Ave years was a resident of Philadelphia. Three sons, all physicians, and three daughters survive him. For many years he was identified with the Masonic fraternity and was a member of Potter Lodge, No. 441. He was also one of the oldest members of Trinity M. E. Church. Interment will be in the family vault, Mifflinburg, Pa.
	"Death of James  Cardwell at Chester. A Chester dispatch of the 16th inst. says: James E. Cardwell died to-day, aged 52 years, from heart trouble. For many years he conducted one of the largest furniture stores in this city, and yesterday closed negotiations for the sale of the building for $20,000 to Philadelphia parties, who will open a department store, having decided to retire from business and go South for his health. Mr. Cardwell was a son-in-law of Mr. Wm. B.and Mary Agnes Barber, late of Miffinburg, dec'd, having been joined in marriage with their daughter, Henrietta C., Dec. 26, 1889. After marriage they located in Chester, where he conducted a furniture store very successfully. a He was a fine gentlemany friends there and in this place and vicinity. Appropriate services were held at his late home on Wednesday, being largely attended, and on Thursday the remains arrived in this place, accompanied by his bereaved wife and a number of other relatives and friends, the body being taken to the home of Miss Sarah F. Barber, where, in the afternoon of said day services were held, conducted by Rev. M. H. Calkins, D. D. The body was placed temporarily in the vault of Mr. H. Strunk in Fairview cemetery. [James died in 1906.  The year on the mausoleum is 1906 - so it's likely the body was placed "temporarily" while this mausoleum was built?]

One of the mausoleums was broken into on April 26th 1990.

A skull was stolen.  It was later recovered, and placed back in the mausoleum by Terry Willow.

"he was asked to return a skull stolen by a couple of kids from a Mifflinburg mausoleum.  No one else wanted to do it, not even the cemetery's caretakers.  When he did, he caught a glimpse of the skeleton before he placed the skull in it's rightful position.  He didn't bother taking the skull out of the bag it was kept in."  - The Daily Item

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More Gutelius Graves

Frederick & Lydia Gutelius

Frederick Gutelius 17 Mar 1797 14 Feb 1866

Although marked as a Revolutionary War grave, Frederick, born in 1797, served in the war of 1812, not the Revolution. Frederick Gutelius Jr., son of Frederick Gutelius who owned the house, [today the Gutelius House Museum]  at the corner of  5th & Green streets, became known for his hand woven fabrics and coverlets as well as the dyes he grew. The son of Frederick Adam Gutelius & Anna Catherine Bistel

Lydia Crotzer wife of Frederick Gutelius Born May 10 1804 Died Jan 5 1894 Aged 89 yrs 7 mo & 25 Days

Lydia Crotzer Gutelius, was, at the time of her death in 1894, the oldest native citizen of Mifflinburg.  "Her life compassed the entire history of Mifflinburg, from its founding to its present." The Lewisburg Chronicle published her genealogy along with her obituary.   The daughter of Jacob & Elizabeth Crotzer, she was born in Mifflinburg on May 10 1804.  She had four brothesr and one sister - John, Jacob, Thomas, William, and Catherine. Lydia married Frederick Gutelius, the son of Frederick And Catheriner Gutelius,on June 6 1822.  They had 12 children, all of whom are listed, along with their spouses and children, in the article.   One son, Joseph S. Gutelius, was killed in the battle of Gettysburg on July 1 1863.

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Abraham Huddleston Confederate Soldier

Harry Schoch 1883-1895 Died in Sledding Accident at Bucknell Son of Elmer Schoch, publisher of the Lewisburg Chronicle

Samuel S. Barber 1819-1880 Emeline [Forster] Barber Wife of Samuel 8 Sep 1820 - 14 Jan 1898	Samuel broke his knee cap, and within a week he had died.  Note the line "The injury will cripple Mr. B. for life in all probability because he is pretty well advanced in years".  He was 61.
Benjamin W. Thompson 4 June 1814 - 14 Jan 1887 Isabella [Maize] Thompson 1 Nov 1819 - 17 Jun 1890	In the census records, Benjamin W. Thompson of Chestnut Street in Mifflinburg was listed as an undertaker and marble cutter.

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Rev. War Soldiers

[NOT a complete list.  Not even close to complete!]

Many of these stones were applied for in 1939, by then president of the Union County Historical Society, C.M. Steese.  The stones were shipped by railroad to the Mifflinburg P.R.R. station.

Information from the U.S. Headstone application form states: Daniel Campbell Unit 1st. Penna. Regt Company Capt. James Parr Enlistment Date 20 Aug 1776 Discharge Date 1780 Death Date 22 Apr 1793 Cemetery Mifflinburg PA

A quick search did not turn up any information on a Daniel Campbell in Mifflinburg.   One genealogist lists Daniel as the son of  Capt. Laughlin Campbell of North Carolina.  There is also another find a grave entry for a Daniel Campbell who died in 1834.  It's interesting that he is also listed as the Daniel Campbell that served in under Capt.  James Parr.   Daniel was a Revolutionary War patriot who served as a Private in the 1st Regiment of the Continental line of PA under Capt. James Parr and Capt. James Wilson.Source: PA Archives, 5th Series, Vol. 2, pp. 648-649

Name John Reasner Unit Frontier Rangers Northumberland Co. Company Geo, Overmeyer's Co Enlistment Date 1780 Discharge Date 1781 Death Date 1801 Cemetery Mifflinburg

John Reasner  owned  one hundred acres of land in West Buffalo, Twp.  On 8 Mar 1786 he transferred that land to his son, John Reasner II.

Conrad Auble 1758 - 1845 'Served as a dragoon in Count Pulaski's legion' Hessian Soldier

"Conrad Auble or Aubel was born in 1758 in Hessel Castel, Germany. Conrad Aubel and his brother were among the Hessian German Soldiers, who's services were sold to King George III of England, by the Prince of Hess, and were sent to America to fight for the English Army in the Revolutionary War. During the battle of Trent, N. J., Conrad was captured by the Americans, after that he swore allegiance to America and fought against England. Conrad served with Count Pulaskie's Legion as a Dragoon on the American side. He was wounded sometime during his service in the Revolutionary War. He served as a bodyguard for Washington. It was learned he was receiving a U. S. Government pension of $45 a month when he died. Legend has it that his brother Frank was two years older than Conrad and after the war settled in Hirkimer, New York and that a third brother went to Canada in the area of Nova Scotia. There is no accurate record of either one. Conrad began his school teaching career in 1785 in Pennsylvania Twp Northumberland, Union Co., now Snyder Co., Pa. He taught in a German school for a number of years. In his History of Mifflinburg Richard V. B. Lincoln states that Conrad Auble taught school in 1809 and 1814 and for some years afterward. He belonged to the Elias Youngman German Lutheran Church. With his wife Barbara he located in Buffalo Valley, Union Co., at an early date. Barbara Seebold Auble was blind for some years before her death, at the time of their death, the Aubles lived in Mifflinburg, they are both buried in old part of Mifflinburg Cemetery. Conrad  passed away in 1845 and is buried Mifflinburg Cemetery, Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania."

John Kleckner Died Sept 21, 1839 AGED: 89Y 1M & 9D Anna Barbara [Koch] Kleckner Aged 89 years, 1 month, 24 days.  Wife of John Kleckner

PA Militia Name John Kleckner Birth Date 12 Aug 1750 Age 89 Death Date 21 Sep 1839 Military Branch Army Veteran of Which War Revolutionary War Registration County Union Cemetery Name Old Mifflinburg So 5th Street Mifflinburg Cemetery Location Pennsylvania

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Mifflinburg Cemetery, as it is commonly known, is actually a combination of two cemeteries.  Old Mifflinburg Cemetery, also known as Fairview Cemetery & Woodlawn Cemetery, is located on the west side of Rt. 304. The cemetery was established no later than 1817 but was likely utilized for about 20 years prior to that. The grounds on both sides are well maintained although many of the stones in the oldest part of the combined cemetery, behind the old Elias Church, are very difficult, if not impossible, to read.

The Mifflinburg Cemetery Association, with the interment records archived at the Mifflinburg Bank and Trust Company, maintains the cemetery. The cemetery is still active. To get to the cemetery, turn south on Route 304 (South 4th Street) from Route 45 in Mifflinburg.

Hopp Carriage Works, Mifflinburg Pa

 
Hopp Carriage Company, Corner of 4th & Walnut Streets, Mifflinburg

This photo of Hopp Carriage Company was taken about 1910.  Owner Alfred A. Hopp, with bowtie, stands in the doorway.

The son of a shopkeeper, Alfred Hopp moved to Mifflinburg and opened his own shop on Market Street. He married Olivia Sarah Gutelius and in 1897 joined Robert Gutelius and Harry Blair in starting the Mifflinburg Buggy Company. 

"The Big Three" 
Harry Blair, Alfred Hopp and Robert Gutelius

Hopp left his partners, starting his own company in 1903. Using money from James Ritter. the town's most well known buggy salesman,  Hopp built the Hopp Carriage Company at the corner of 4th and Walnut streets.   

Hopps is the darker building shown on the right.

His former partners sued him for "blocking their air and sun", and Hopp had to move his new factory 18 inches west. 

Hopp's Carriage Company was the 2nd largest buggy manufacturer in Mifflinburg. It produced close to 2000 vehicles a year and sold buggies nationally.

"A Grandiose lithograph of the Hopp Carriage Company was used for advertising, the smoking stack suggesting great activity.  But the auto on the street portended the ruination of their buggy making"

1914

Wood Shop of the Hopp Carriage Company about 1916, with Clarence [Shorty] Musser on right.

The Railroad station, with Hopp Carriage Works shown in the background

Alfred Allen Hopp was born September 8th 1855, the son of Henry & Anna Mary [Rowe] Hopp of Montour County.  He died March 14th 1922. 

 His son Howard ran the business for a year or two after Alfreds death, but it closed soon thereafter.

After the fire - 1927

On June 21, "the most disastrous fire in Mifflinburg for years" destroyed the large building "formerly used by the Hopp Carriage Company."  All but a brick section at one end was "in ashes".  Several other buildings were destroyed.

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Alfred on the right

1927 fire

Howard Hopp died in 1944.

Alfred's parents anniversary celebration, 1904

Recollections Of A Drummer Boy - Harry Kieffer

Recollections Of A Drummer Boy, by Harry M. Kieffer

Henry "Harry" Martyn Kieffer  was born October 5th 1845 in Mifflinburg Pa.  His father, the Rev. Ephraim Kieffer, was a pastor at the Elias church.  His mother was Margaret Linn.

A  retired Episcopal Clergyman and Civil War Veteran, at 16 he had enlisted as a drummer boy in the 150th Pa Volunteers.  

Kieffer published his story, Recollections Of A Drummer Boy, in serial form in  St. Nicholas magazine.  It was then published as a book in 1881.  It can be downloaded, or read online here:

https://archive.org/details/recollectionsofd00kief/page/n3/mode/2up

He went on to write additional books, including The Funny Bone, Laugh Again ,and Short Stories From The Hymns.

In 1870 Kieffer graduated from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, with the highest mark ever given in that institution. 

Rev. Henry M. Kieffer, D.D., is the pastor of the First Reformed Church of Easton.  This church is the oldest of all the churches in that city, and is distinguished as preeminently a revolutionary church.  It was built in 1776, was used as a hospital during the revolution, and within its walls treaties were made between the colonies and the Indians.  Dr. Kieffer is of revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather, Abram Kieffer, having been a captain in the revolutionary army.  He is doubly related to Governor James A. Beaver whose great-grandfather, George Beaver, was an army chum of Abram Kieffer‘s, and like him a captain.  After the close of the war, the two married each the other’s sister — George Beaver marrying Abram Kieffer‘s sister and Abram Kieffer marrying George Beaver‘s sister.  On his mother’s side also he has several “revolutionary sires.”

Dr. Kieffer is a veteran of the late Civil War, having enlisted at the age of 16 as a drummer boy in the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, known as the “Bucktails.”  He served his three years to the close of the war, and was in all the chief engagements of the Army of the Potomac from Chancellorsville to second Hatchers Run.  His regiment belonged to the old 1st Corps, was amongst the first troops on the field in the first day’s fight at Gettysburg, and its losses there were amongst the heaviest of all the troops engaged.  It had 397 men when it went into action; came out with 133, losing 264, of whom 58 were killed and 77 wounded.  After the close of the war, Dr. Kieffer attended Franklin and Marshall College, graduated in 1870 in the same class with Hon. W. U. Hensel, attorney general, taking first honors.  He then took a three years’ course in the theological seminary of the Reformed Church at Lancaster; served in the Church of the Ascension at Norristown, Pennsylvania, as pastor for eleven years; thence removed to Easton, where he has been pastor of the old First Church for thirteen years.  He has served in the National Guard of the State for five years. as chaplain of the 6th Regiment.

Dr. Kieffer has given an account of his army experiences in a popular book entitled, The Recollections of a Drummer Boy, which appeared first as a serial in St. Nicholas about fifteen years ago; was afterward issued in book form by The Century Company, New York,.  The book has become very popular, having passed through numerous editions, and now being issued by Houghton, Mifflin Company, New York.  The book is said to have been the way-breaker for all the celebrated “war papers” afterward issued by The Century Company.  He is the author of several other books, and is a frequent contributor to the newspaper and magazines.

Some years ago Dr. Kieffer made a special study of the road cut by the troops of General Sullivan from Easton to Wyoming, the year after the massacre, in the celebrated expedition of Sullivan against the Indians, in 1779.  On this subject he will speak at the Wyoming anniversary – “The Old Sullivan Road.”

 He died on April 21 1930, age 84.

In 2000, Michael Sanders published a reprint of Recollections Of A Drummer Boy