Doug Ross of Bell Township can count five generations of his family, the Youngs, who have been members at Poke Run Presbyterian Church.

Linda Chicka of Saltsburg has a fifth-great-grandfather whose home was the site of some of the congregation’s earliest meetings, before America was officially a country.

And while church records go as far back as 1840, they were started by the church’s fourth minister. At least one headstone in the Poke Run cemetery dates back as far as 1787. It marks the grave of Revolutionary War soldier John Guthrie.

Church trustees recently learned the cemetery could be the burial site for more than a dozen Revolutionary War soldiers.

“We have a rich history, and a lot of folks have deep roots in Poke Run,” said Chicka, who grew up nearby as a member of the Gearhard family in Murrysville that has been farming their property since the late 1700s.

So when a member from a Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Omaha, Neb., reached out last fall with questions about their cemetery, Chicka and Ross were all ears.

“The chapters were all challenged to locate the burial place of their namesakes,” Chicka said. The Omaha chapter was named for Revolutionary War veteran Maj. Isaac Sadler.

“She told us she was fairly sure he’d been buried here and was looking for records to help her prove it,” Chicka said.

Unfortunately, some of the earliest records and physical evidence were nowhere to be found.

“I remember talking to someone who was a Boy Scout in the ’40s, and he remembered throwing old, worn-away headstones over the hillside,” Chicka said.

Working with the Sadler DAR chapter, Poke Run congregation members got in touch with the Massy Harbison DAR in New Kensington, whose members had recorded all of the legible headstone names in the cemetery during the 1940s.

“I sent them a copy of our church history book, and Marcia Shavlik from the Omaha DAR got back to me in two or three days saying, ‘I think it’s possible that a dozen or more Revolutionary War soldiers are buried at Poke Run,’ ” Ross said.

The church’s history book helped them identify 20 potential Revolutionary War veterans. Through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, the church recently received new headstones for Sadler as well as veteran John McConnell. They will hold a short committal ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Members of the DAR’s Omaha and New Kensington chapters will attend. A luncheon will follow.

“We’re waiting on the national DAR to approve a larger stone with a bronze plaque that includes all of the soldiers’ names,” Ross said. “And we’re hoping that by July of next year, we have a large celebration and commemoration of all these soldiers.”

Applications for official federal headstones to recognize the other 18 potential soldiers were not approved because of a lack of documentation.

Because the true location of burial plots for Sadler and McConnell are not known, the new headstones will be erected in the oldest section of the cemetery, along the northern side of the church.

Chicka said she is looking forward to placing another tile in the mosaic of local history surrounding Poke Run Presbyterian Church.

“Several of us have a real strong interest in genealogy,” she said.

To RSVP to attend the Sept. 23 committal service, call 724-327-5563.

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