Laurel Hill Cemetery - 1821 Family Donated Grey Towers to the Forest Service for Public Visitation

Why the new burials (1970, 90 and 91)? Maintenance includes clearing of the original hearse drive and select footpaths to some of the Is this an active cemetery? The more recent Grey Towers National Historic Site headstones are not burials, but memorial markers family plots. US 6 placed by families after 1963, when the Pinchot The cemetery is now more accessible and safer Laurel Hill Cemetery - 1821 family donated Grey Towers to the Forest Service for public visitation. This self-guided brochure and the cemetery became inactive for burials. is intended to give visitors an introduction to this 1:650 1 inch equals 54.17 feet RIP 88 0 25 50 75 historical resource. RIP Old Owego Tpk Why are there depressions in the 87 Pistor ground? Depressions develop over time when McCarty RIP Laurel Hill Cemetery the wooden coffins deteriorate and collapse. 73 Also, some coffins may have been exhumed and Newman moved to the new Milford Cemetery after its • Public is welcome dawn to dusk g development. • Please treat the cemetery with care and Howell Bosler Gooding RIP Milford RIP 69 respect RIP RIP 68 67 Grey Towers Drive RIP • Many of these gravestones are not securely n RIP 66 58 59 RIP Laurel Hill Cemetery: fastened to their bases and can be easily RIP 61 tipped over and broken. Please do not 60 Today and the Future climb, lean or sit upon the gravestones. Cross n Stewardship and resource protection are a major • Gravestones can be further damaged by the E Bosler 106 focus of the mission of the USDA Forest Service oils left by touching. Please do not touch n Kircheis at Grey Towers. Rehabilitation work in the Bowhanan E the gravestones. Stone cemetery began several years ago with extensive ; Marker 101 • Gravestone rubbings, if done improperly, archeological studies and removal of the trees RIP can cause irreversible damage. Rubbings 109 that were a hazard and causing damage to the n 39 are allowed only with permission and 38 RIP headstones. In addition, invasive plants, shrubs RIP RIP guidance of the USDA Forest Service at RIP 37 Pinchot and brush were removed and the Forest Service 102 Grey Towers. RIP 36 RIP recently repaired the cemetery steps. The Pike 103 n E 27 County Historic Preservation Trust provided a 44 RIP sign for the cemetery. RIP 43 RIP 41 RIP 111 42 Stewardship is not our only focus in the cemetery. RIP 40 To volunteer to help care for the cemetery or for RIP n RIP n As we continue to do research, we realize and more information, call RIP 110 RIP benefit from the important role the Pinchot 112 25 Grey Towers at 570-296-9630 or email us at RIP LEGEND 26 ancestors played in the accomplishments of the [email protected] later generations. The Forest Service is sharing 7 RIP g RIP 6 RIP 22 Headstone named Stairs RIP 23 RIP 4 RIP RIP this information through programs and other RIP 24RIP 21 RIP 11 5 resources. RIP Headstone n Tree E Monument 18 Missing RIP undecipherable RIP 17 Future plans call for care of the monuments and RIP Hearse Road 16 RIP RIP 15 USDA Forest Service 2 headstones, a costly process because of the level E Family Monument RIP RIP 14 3 RIP 13 Northeastern Area RIP of expertise required to clean, repair and reset Rock Wall 1 12 State and Private Forestry ; Stone Marker Grey Towers National Historic Site the head and foot stones onto their masonry Quick RIP July 2006 Family Plots 10 USDA Forest Service RIP PO Box 188 151 Grey Towers Drive Milford, PA 18337 bases. The dry-laid stone wall along Old Owego Cemetery Sign 9 (570) 296-9630 Turnpike will be repaired and maintained. Laurel Hill Cemetery ® August 2006 The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and www.fs.fed.us/gt employer. Some engraved art work and designs indicate up the root systems remained, so the decision religious beliefs. We also know that many Frequently Asked was made to keep the stumps. The Cemetery children died, perhaps from disease, during the Why are so many stones toppled and first half of the century. Questions Laurel Hill Cemetery, established in 1821, broken? Some headstones were broken by contains 112 monuments, ranging from un- The formal Milford Cemetery, located just Why are some Pinchots buried here and falling trees or limbs. Also, over time, the low dressed fieldstone markers for paupers’ graves outside of the borough on Route 209 South, was others in the Milford Cemetery? ph of the soil, in combination with freeze/thaw to more elaborate obelisks and carved markers. dedicated in 1868. The Laurel Hill Cemetery, Constantien and Marie Pinchot, Cyrille Con- conditions, contributed to the decay of the mortise construction of some monuments. As the The majority of burials occurred from 1821- which simply did not have room to expand stantien Desire Pinchot and his first and second Why do some graves have footstones? to accommodate a growing town population, wives, Sarah Dimmick and Eliza Cross, and mortar disintegrated, the gravestones eventually 1899. There are some interesting examples of Some graves have a headstone and a smaller, was displaced by the newer one and it fell into their sons Cyrill H. and John F. were buried here toppled. Acids and soluble salts have also dam- 19th century gravestone carvings, including ‘urn similarly shaped footstone that is inscribed with disrepair. before the Milford Cemetery was established. aged most of the fallen stones. and willow’ patterns and ‘clasped and pointed the initials of the deceased and sometimes the James and his wife Mary Pinchot, and their son date of death. The two together provided the hands’ designs. The majority of the headstones During Laurel Hill’s active years, hardly any Why do the stones look so bad? The dark Gifford and his wife Cornelia, as well as other “bed of earth” in which the deceased would are lettered and have engravings that are visible trees - except a few large red oaks and Norway damp conditions caused by the heavy canopy family members, were laid to rest at Milford “sleep.” The sleep metaphor also was the reason spruce - existed in the cemetery. Over time, of hemlocks that have grown here promoted and readable. Two obelisk monuments also are Cemetery. for the traditional bed-board shaped profiles of nearly a hundred hemlock trees grew amid the the growth of moss and lichen on many of the present. At least six monuments are missing for the gravestones. unknown reasons. tombstones. Acids and soluble salts, tannic Why are there so many tree stumps? stones. Moss and lichens release organic acids acid from the trees and organic acids released Over 100 years of neglect resulted in hundreds that cause etching and decay of gravestones. What is the significance of the artwork Old burial practices, such as single unmarked The current sugary-like surface of many of the by mosses and lichens have expedited the of trees growing amid the graves. The Forest on some of the stones? graves and burying one coffin on top of another, marble stones was caused by tannic acid re- disintegration of the stones. The sandy, loamy Service at Grey Towers left the trees because of Ethnic traditions brought to small communi- have made the positive identification of all those leased by the pines and hemlocks, which attack soil couldn’t hold the roots of the potential damage to the graves and headstones. ties by stone cutters eventually were adopted by buried in the cemetery impossible. What we do the carbonate structure of marbles. The black massive trees, causing several In 2001, after high winds and ice brought down the people in the region. Some of the art on the know is that Laurel Hill is the burial spots are caused by acid rain permeating calci- to fall on and damage the heavy limbs and branches, it became clear stones in this cemetery, and their interpretations site for many of Milford’s early um sulfate into the carbonate structure on many stones and iron gates that that leaving the trees was a hazard to the from Biblical passages, include: residents, including cemetery and the visitors. Still, the of the stones. surrounded the family plots. - A flower cut from the several generations of concern about the damage that stem (found on children’s Pinchot family members. In 1963, Gifford Bryce Pinchot could be caused by pulling stones): “…cometh forth Other prominent family donated the Grey Towers estate – including the Laurel Hill like a flower and is cut plots include the Quick, down.” Bowhanan and Gooding Cemetery – to the USDA Forest - A hand pointing upwards: families. Service, the agency founded by conservationist and former “The way to the reward of The names, dates and Pennsylvania Governor Gifford the righteous.” inscriptions on the Pinchot. Grey Towers now - Urn & Willow: “Mortality headstones tell a story serves as a center for conserva- and earthly sorrow.” of what life was like tion leadership and education - Willow tree: “Earthly in this small riverside and a model for historic pres- sorrow, mourning.” community during ervation and stewardship. For the 19th century. The those early residents who lived, construction of the died, and now have been laid stones tells us the range to rest in Milford, Grey Towers of status of the families. serves as a living legacy..

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