It was an ordinary day. Mid-April of 2020 and I was standing in the Tschantz Cemetery which is located between the villages of Strasburg and Lampeter. At the time I thought it was the oldest cemetery in Lancaster County and thought it would be interesting to take a few photographs of some of the oldest tombstones in Lancaster County. Posted a story in April, 2020 showing photographs of the cemetery and a few of the readable tombstones. Well, it turns out that Tschantz Cemetery isn't the oldest in Lancaster County. I have recently discovered two other cemeteries in Lancaster County that are perhaps older. They are Chestnut Level Cemetery near Quarryville and the cemetery I visited today which is known as Carpenter's Cemetery. I found directions to the cemetery and before long my wife and I were headed east on Route 30E toward the town of Paradise.
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| The wall of Carpenter Cemetery near the town of Paradise. |
The cemetery is located in the middle of 2,200 acres of verdant farmland planted with wheat, corn, tobacco, tomatoes and just about any cash crop for whom the farmers, both Amish and English can find buyers. I drove south on Black Horse Road about a half-mile and drove across the train tracks of the Stasburg Railroad. I knew that I must have missed the cemetery since the directions I had found online told me the cemetery was directly next to the railroad tracks. Turned around and re-crossed the tracks, but still didn't see a graveyard.
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| The gate to the cemetery. The plaque on the gate reads "Historical Preservation Trust Site, Lancaster County |
Then I saw a metal fence sitting atop an incline in a grove of trees. That must be it I told my wife. I pulled into a stone area along the road, grabbed my camera and headed up the embankment. The cemetery was bounded by a rock wall about three feet high with an iron gate that faced the road, but hidden from view by the overgrowth of greens.
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| This tombstone carries an American flag telling of his service during the Revolutionary War. |
I stepped over the wall and began my search for the tombstone of Marie Warenbuer Ferree who was born in Picardie, France in 1653. She came to America by way of Nutten Island between June 13 and August 2, 1710. Eventually she ended up in Lancaster County. At the time, the area she called home was part of Conestoga Township in Chester County, since Lancaster County hadn't been formed until 1729.
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| A few of the weathered tombstones in the cemetery. |
After Lancaster County was formed, the area were the cemetery was located became part of Strasburg Township. Then in 1943 it became Paradise Township. When Marie died on January 1, 1716 she was interred at Ferree Cemetery, now known as Carpenter Cemetery. The cemetery is in the center of the farm owned by Marie's son, Peter as well as son-in-law Isaac Lefever. Legend has it that when she first arrived at the location where she would call home, she exclaimed, "This is paradise!" Perhaps that's why the nearby town is now known as Paradise, Pennsylvania. The site for the graveyard, which is 108 ft. in length and 96 feet in breadth, was selected by Madame Ferree soon after her arrival in Paradise, for use as a private family burial ground.
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| The oldest tombstone in Lancaster, Pennsylvania?? Notice the first name is Mary on this tombstone. |
The site was walled and she was the first one buried there when she died in 1716. Her tombstone, which is badly weathered due to acid rain, sits in the south-east corner of the cemetery. Another memorial tombstone with two American flags sits close to it with a plaque telling of its 300th Anniversary. Took me all but 5 minutes to find it, since the cemetery is fairly small.
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| A new memorial plaque telling of Mary/Marie Warenbuer Fierre |
About 50 yards away from the southern wall of the cemetery is the single track of the Historic Strasburg Railroad. The grass in the graveyard is in need of trimming, but the grass doesn't cover any of the tombstones. A few of the tombstones have new American flags next to them and a few have Lancaster County Preservation Trust plates on them. A few carry metal plates telling that they fought in the Revolutionary War. I finished my walk through the cemetery, exited the gate and found my way back to the car. Interesting visit to what is perhaps the oldest cemetery in Lancaster County. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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| From the wall of the cemetery can be seen the track of the Strasburg Railroad. |
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