‘Voids’ in North Huntingdon cemetery could be unmarked graves
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The search for unmarked graves at a 239-year-old cemetery in North Huntingdon has found about 65 “voids” in the ground that could be unmarked graves from decades or centuries ago.
“I am doing this to find those unmarked burial sites because I don’t want anyone to be forgotten. There are no known records for the burials,” said William “Bill” Bray of Harrison City, who has organized the search.
A search Saturday was the second at Brush Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Leger Road in the township.
Burial records likely have been lost, as ownership of the cemetery has changed several times in the past two centuries when congregations disbanded and churches merged, Bray said. He is the sexton of the cemetery owned by New Hope Presbyterian Church.
The church has an agreement with Norwin Historical Society to maintain the cemetery, which has 340 graves, but no burials since 2005.
Five voids were discovered Saturday through the use of a ground-penetrating radar instrument mounted on a wheeled cart. The discoveries add to the 59 voids found during a similar search in late June, Bray said.
In that earlier effort, pieces of tombstones were found by volunteers removing scattered brush. Seven volunteers were helping with the search and cleaning headstones, Bray said.
Jerry Contino, ground penetrating radar manager for Utility Services Group of Camp Hill, conducted the search. Wavy lines on a scanner on the device indicated a void in the ground and the depth of that void, Contino said. The radar does not pick up the presence of bones within the voids, Contino said.
Because a dozen or so voids were found in a line near the edge of the cemetery, “most likely, the voids are (unmarked) graves,” Bray said.
Small flags and cones were placed in the cemetery where the voids were discovered.
They won’t do any exploring underground to verify whether the voids are, in fact, the final resting place for anyone, Bray said.
The use of the radar device was arranged through Jeff Maharowski of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania. The efforts to map the cemetery are being done through NiVets, an all-volunteer resource group sponsored by Columbia Gas’ parent company, NiSource Inc.
Maharowski, a Navy veteran who enlisted 12 days before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is a member of NiVets. The group promotes an inclusive environment which enlightens and empowers veterans and their supporters through education, partnerships and corporate stewardship, said Lee Gierczynski, a Columbia Gas spokesperson.
“We try to help out the veterans,” Maharowski said of the initiative to help Bray, who is an Army veteran and vice commander of the Trafford American Legion Post 331.
Bray has spearheaded efforts over the past year to obtain grave markers from the Veterans Administration for Civil War veterans who no longer have a headstone at the cemetery.
Another session of grave mapping will be done in the near future, Bray said. He wants to get flat 6-inch-by-6-inch markers placed over the voids to indicate someone is buried underneath.
The markers cost about $65 apiece, and Bray said he plans to post fundraisers on social media.