‘There’s a lot of history.’ Volunteers needed to help maintain Bellefonte’s Union Cemetery
A 19-acre cemetery is in need of more volunteers to help care for the grounds and records so the history-rich location can continue to be part of the heart of Bellefonte for generations to come.
Bellefonte resident Renea Nichols said she loves walking through the Union Cemetery, located on East Howard Street, but noticed in the fall that it wasn’t as pristine and clean as it had been. After asking around and posting about it on Facebook, she learned that help with the mowing and trimming had ceased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just a few dedicated people help with the upkeep of the cemetery, where some of Centre County’s pioneers are buried, along with Pennsylvania governors. They mow, trim and clean headstones, and Nichols is helping to recruit additional volunteers to establish a more active board with committees.
The two board members, Jim Baldwin and Paul Badger, have been helping to care for the Union Cemetery for so long they couldn’t quite give an exact number of years when first asked. For the past 25-30 years, they’ve been on the cemetery board.
Baldwin lived next to Union Cemetery and said he saw there was brush and trees that needed to be cleaned up.
“I thought if I could get on (the board), I could clean it up. But it turned out to be a bigger job,” Baldwin said.
He became more involved with cleanup efforts, but also learned more about Bellefonte’s history. Eventually he took over the records aspect of the cemetery — he has the records and maps of where everyone is buried and works with the funeral directors, diggers and those who make the monuments to make sure it all comes together.
Badger explained that the bylaws outline that the cemetery can have up to 11 managers who oversee the operation. When he came onto the board in the ‘90s, there were about 8-10 board members. They “dwindled away” until it was just three people, including Baldwin and Badger, due to age, health or other reasons.
For the last 10 years, it’s basically just been Baldwin and Badger on the board, managing the cemetery. The Daughters of Union Veterans (DUV PA Tent 62) and Bellefonte residents Vicky Benner and Dave Sexton have been volunteering to help clean and mow the cemetery, too.
“Not only do we manage it — I manage the finances and he manages the records — but we both manage the upkeep along with Bellefonte Borough,” Badger said.
It’s a big undertaking for two people, which is why they’re making an appeal to the community to become more involved.
“We are currently engaged in an effort to reestablish number one, a good management team that will be active going forward and manage the maintenance of the cemetery in all aspects,” Badger said.
The managers have the ability to create committees within their management group and have various chair people, Badger said. Some things people could do include mowing and trimming, maintaining gravestones, fundraising, general cleaning, record keeping and equipment maintenance.
An important part of recruiting more people is to have a succession of people in charge. That way, when one person is no longer involved, the knowledge is retained through other people, rather than lost forever.
A ‘vital part’ of Bellefonte’s history
The Union Cemetery is a beautiful place for people to visit and a vital part of Bellefonte’s history, Baldwin said.
“There’s a lot of history up there and there’s a lot of history written on the tombstones if you take the time to read them,” he said.
Matthew Maris, a history teacher at Bellefonte Area High School and a Centre County historian, wrote in an email that cemeteries and sacred landscapes have been used to remember and honor the dead as long as people have been around.
“They provide a space for friends and families to connect with those who have passed on but also a space for a community to preserve its local history and culture,” Maris wrote.
An entire town’s history can be shared from its cemeteries, as it’s the people who make history during their lifetimes, he wrote. He gave the example of how veterans are remembered and honored in cemeteries and at memorials. Traditions like that help people remember the sacrifices they made. On the other hand, he said organizations like the Centre County Genealogical Society have worked “diligently to identify and map burial plots at cemeteries like Union Cemetery so they can be researched.”
Union Cemetery is the burial site of many of Bellefonte’s early pioneers, according to the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association’s website, and three Pennsylvania governors and first ladies are buried there.
Maris said at the Union Cemetery, General James Beaver — namesake of Beaver Stadium — is buried alongside his wife Mary McAllister Beaver, and the founders of Bellefonte are buried in the “Old Ground” with grave markers going back to 1808. Many of the founders of Penn State — General James Irvin (who donated the land), Hugh McAllister and the first president of Penn State, Evan Pugh — are also buried there. Pugh lies next to his wife, Rebecca Valentine, a prominent local ironmaster’s daughter, Maris said.
“There are also countless veterans including, ‘U.S. Colored Troops’ (USCT) Medal of Honor recipient and a special feature called Soldiers Circle. William H. Mills, who is the grandfather of the famous Mills Brothers singing group, is also buried with his family in Union Cemetery,” he wrote.
The upkeep of the Union Cemetery helps to serve the memories and wishes of local families, Maris said, but also is essential to preserving local history and cultural heritage of a community.
“However, I believe it should be paired with education to ensure that local history is preserved not only physically but as shared memory and knowledge that is passed on. The two types of ‘upkeep’ go hand in hand. So the physical loss of cemeteries like Union Cemetery will likely lead to the loss of collective memory over time within the community,” Maris wrote.
For more information or to become involved with the Union Cemetery, email Renea Nichols at reneanash@gmail.com.
