Smithgrove (Kreamer) Cemetery

Location:

Kreamer, Middlecreek Township

History:

"Jacob A. Smith was born on a farm in 1825 in what is now Franklin Township. He was left an orphan when only three weeks old. He had three brothers and seven sisters. At the age of seventeen, he began his two-year apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. For sometime he followed this trade in Snyder and Perry Counties. He built the first courthouse at Middleburg in 1856 and remodeled the 'Washington House' as a hotel, and occupied it three years. In 1862 he purchased the Jacob Mohr farm in Middlecreek Township and moved there in the same year. Shortly thereafter, he went into the store business. At the time of his coming, the site of Smithgrove was a farm with two houses. In twenty years the village had grown to twenty-five houses, two general stores, a hotel (half-way house), a post-office, a railroad station, a blacksmith shop, a shoemaker's shop, and an Evangelical Church. The town undoubtedly owed its growth very largely to the Sunbury-Lewistown Railroad and the mining of iron-ore in the hills south of town... Jacob A. Smith was an enthusiastic supporter of the Sunbury-Lewistown Railroad. He contributed $1700 toward its completion, donated the land for the erection of a station house, and was the first agent of the company at this place. A postoffice was founded there about 1860, and Jacob A. Smith served as postmaster from 1862 to 1882 when he resigned, and his daughter became his successor. He served as associate judge of the county (1885-1887). He was a school director in Middlecreek Township for sixteen years, and was also assessor and assistant assessor of the township. He was very active in church and Sunday School work, and was much in demand as a speaker at conventions and Sunday School celebrations. He invariably spoke in the Pennsylvania German dialect, related many humorous stories to illustrate his point much to the delight of his hearers, and impressed the people with his religious fervor and sincerity. He died in 1894 and was buried in a private cemetery located a short distance east of the town." Dunkleberger, p. 90.

Source of Inscriptions:

Irvin E. Buck, (Wagenseller,) 1904.
Finsterbush, 1993-1994.

Notes:

See the cemetery listing from Wagenseller's Tombstone Inscriptions of Snyder County.

Inscriptions:

Aurand, Lewis A., s/o E.R. & H.E., d. Feb. 18, 1899; 6 m., 9 d.
Bollinger, Manerva C., d/o Samuel & Anna, d. July 5, 1875; 5 m., 5 d.
Bollinger, Martha A., w/o Samuel, d. Sept. 30, 1914; 78 y., 3 m., 9 d.
Bollinger, Samuel, d. Dec. 4, 1910; 68 y., 9 m., 27 d. Co. C, 136 Reg., P.V. [G.A.R.]
Bollinger, William H., s/o Samuel & Martha, Jan. 14, 1869-Dec. 20, 1892; 23 y., 11 m., 6 d.
[Gordon, Paul Smith, s/o Wm. & Lillian E.]
Gutelius, infant d/o Nelson & Josepha, d. Feb. 24, 1894.
Gutelius, Josepha Smith, w/o Nelson, Feb. 25, 1856-April 12, 1926.
Gutelius, Nelson C., Jan. 26, 1856-Feb. 24, 1910.
[Lenig, Margaret.]
Mitchell, Agnes D., w/o John A., 1865-1927.
Mitchell, Charles H., 1868-1939.
Mitchell, Emma J., w/o Charles H., 1871-1954.
Mitchell, Harry E., s/o Chas. H. & Emma J., d. Jan. 10, 1894; 6 m., 14 d.
Mitchell, John A., Feb. 22, 1863-Dec. 18, 1937.
Riehl, Elias A., c/o Joel & Rosa, d. April 5, 1888; 5 m.
Riehl, Frances L., c/o Joel & Rosa, d. Oct. 18, 1886; 8 m.
[Seaman, Mark, s/o Frank & Mollie; 2 m., 21 d.]
[Seaman, Ward, s/o Frank & Mollie; 1 y., 9 m.]
[Smith, infant d/o A.C. & Nora.]
Smith, Jacob A., Dec. 30, 1825-Sept. 28, 1894; [61 y.]
Walter, Elizabeth, 1829-1912.
Walter, Laphenus, Dec. 25, 1837-Sept. 5, 1900; 62 y., 8 m., 11 d.
Walter, Louisa E., w/o Laphenus, d. Jan. 4, 1896; 52 y., 2 m., 17 d.
Walter, Sallie A., w/o Howard A., d. Nov. 25, 1898; 22 y., 6 m., 18 d.
Wolf, Mary, 1847-1930.