Herrold Family Cemetery

Location:

Peffer Valley Rd., Port Trevorton, Union Twp., Snyder Co.

History:

"Herrold's graveyard is located...a short distance south of the town of Port Trevorton, along the Susquehanna Trail where the river makes an S-shaped turn. This is below the three Herrold stone houses, a short distance back from the trail, and facing the Herrold schoolhouse. It is a very old burial ground. It is definitely known that burials were made there as early as 1810, and probably as early as 1775. In it are buried members of the Herrold family and soldiers of the Revolutionary War. The graves were marked for many years by old rough stones but were without any inscriptions. In 1937 a memorial service was held at the place in which was unveiled a marker in the form of a huge boulder taken from the river near Chapman. This marker bore a bronze tablet giving a brief history of the soldier and pioneer, John George Herrold... The place was used for burial purposes up to about 1885. Adjoining the Herrold graveyard, but separated from it by a wire fence, is an Indian burial ground. Maintaining separate burial grounds for people of different nationalities was in line with the generally accepted practice of not burying Indians and whites in the same cemetery... In the Indian graveyard, adjoining the graves of the white settlers, is buried an old but friendly Indian by the name of Long John because of his abnormal height of seven feet and ten inches. His grave is marked by two sandstones. Tradition has it that this Indian served as a soldier under an assumed name in both the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars. Long John was probably the last surviving Indian in that area. He died about 1800..." Dunkelberger, p. 652.

Source of Inscriptions:

Finsterbush: 8 December 1993
Finsterbush & Swanger, 27 May 2000

Inscriptions:

Burket, [Burkhart,] Philip, Jan. 9, 1835. Pvt., Harris's Pa. Regt., Rev. War. [Old stone has Borka, 1835.]
Herold, George, [John George Herrold, Jr.,] April 27, 1779. Pvt., 5 Bn., Pa. Mil., Rev. War.
Herrold, John George, Sr., 1725-1803. "In honor of John George Herrold, Sr., 1725-1803, first Herrold in the Susquehanna Valley and the pioneers of that period are gratefully remembered by their posterity. Dedicated July 3, 1937, by the Memorial Committee of the Herrold Reunion Association. Memorial Committee: T.G. Herrold, Chairman; Ned E. Herrold, Treas.; Chester S. Herrold, Francis Shaffer, Frank S. Attinger, Dr. Charles A. Fisher, Family Historian."
Reed, Casper, Aug., 1802. Captain, 5 Bn., Pa. Mil., Rev. War.
Straser, Nicholas, [John Nicholas Strawser,] 1814. Pvt., 6 Bn., Berks Co. Mil., Rev. War.