Derry historical society finishes replacement of Revolutionary War headstones

The Old Salem Community Church was one of the first congregations established west of the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania.

It was founded in 1786.

And while the church is still in lovely condition, some of the gravestones of Revolutionary War veterans in its cemetery are not.

On a chilly Saturday morning that marked the start of November, a group of two dozen-or-so volunteers were in the cemetery, replacing well-worn headstones to keep alive the history of local families whose ancestors fought to free the United States from British rule.

“The problem with headstones that date to the 18th and 19th centuries is that they de-laminate,” said Bill Snyder of the Derry Area Historical Society, which has been raising funds to replace 30 veteran headstones at the cemetery. “Water gets in between the stone layers. And since we have the freeze-and-thaw cycle in the winter, it causes the headstone to start coming apart.

Along with some Scouts from Pack 305, the group was finishing up the last of the Revolutionary War replacements on Saturday, having started the project back in 2017.

“It costs about $800 for a granite replacement that should last long after we’re memories,” Snyder said. “We get the stones from Shaffer Memorial in Loyalhanna, and they’ve been really great to us keeping the price the same after it went up a good bit during covid.”

The project is the result of a grant from the Latrobe Rotary Club, a donation from the Derry Area Revitalization Corp., and donations from the public.

Scout Grayson Hopkins, 11, of Latrobe was working with his father, Bonn, to replace a headstone as one of the pack’s community projects.

“It’s cool to learn about the history,” Grayson said.

The historical society and Scouts aren’t the only ones who’ve cared for the cemetery over the years, according to Snyder.

“A man from Mechanicsburg named Ray Schott used to drive three hours both ways to come here and preserve the older headstones as best as he could,” he said. “He continued doing that up into his 90s.”

Schott’s work can be seen throughout the cemetery, where many headstones are tilted yet held aloft by two metal brackets and twine.

Hilah Rebosky of Crabtree came out Saturday morning for the first time to help finish the Revolutionary War headstones.

“I love local history, and someone has to preserve it,” she said.

Snyder said in the future, the society may look to raise additional funds for headstones belonging to Civil War and War of 1812 veterans interred at the cemetery.

“We knew we needed to do something, or else these names would be lost forever,” he said.