Kunkletown

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St. Matthews Union Cemetery
Kunkletown, Pennsylvania

This is the gate going in to the cemetery. It faces up hill from the gate but the cemetery also slopes off in another direction to the left side of the gate...it goes sharply down on the far end directly across from the gate. In other words, it is a small parcel of flat, high ground that has no room for expansion. St. Matthews church is on a ledge or shelf overlooking Kunkletown in the Aquaushicola valley below. The Appalachian Trail portion of the Blue Mountains is in the distance beyond the creek Aquaushicola.

Another view of the church at Tracy Rodriquez's site

This cemetery is arranged so that you cannot have a family plot...level ground is just too scarce. It goes chronologically. The earliest ones get the front row, best ground, etc. #11 Henry and Anna Maria Silvius (see the explanation below for Anna Maria/Elizabeth Catherine Silvius), and Suze (wife of #60 Henry) and #312 Jacob (a son of #52 Jacob and Catherine (Frantz) Silfies) are buried in this row. #52 Jacob and Catherine are buried about 12 or 13 rows farther down the hill and his baby brother is buried over on a ledge near the precipice. It is unbelievable what they did with that one. There is no room for a regular casket there..we don't know if the soil washed away, but nothing shows. Just barely room for a marker to say Wm Franklin son of J and C Silfies ...he is on Mary's chart I believe.

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#11 Henry

Born 8 May 1754

Died 29 December 1834

Thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth (Silfies) Hagenbuch, #11 Henry is finally, over 200 years later, recognized for his part in the Revolutionary War with the marker shown in these two pictures!

Rev. War Marker, #11 Henry, St. Matthew's Cemetery, Kunkletown

And thanks to the photographs taken by Missy Silfies one Easter weekend (#1.11.60.323.a.9.a.), we can finally see the Revolutionary War memorial marker by Henry's headstone!!!

Rev. War Marker, #11 Henry, St. Matthew's Cemetery, Kunkletown

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Below #11 Henry,
coming down the hill toward the gate,
is a tombstone, carved exactly like Henry's,
of an Anna Maria Silvius.

Born 5 May 1754
Died 13 February 1836
82 Years 3 Months and 8 Days

The date of death on this tombstone fits nearly exactly the time period Henry's wife, Elizabeth Catherine, lived after he died in 1834. Henry's estate papers gave a cost for her care for one year and five weeks ($62.50 and $2.17 1/2 for goods purchased for widow), and then gave expenses of obtaining and erecting two tomb stones ($8.00). From (1) the Will of Henry, (2) a deed poll relating to Elizabeth's inheritance from the estate of her father, Andrew Berlieb, and (3) from the two deeds of Henry and Elizabeth selling portions of their property to their son, Jacob, and son-in-law, Jacob Correll, we know her name was Elizabeth Catherine. For some reason, the wrong name was carved on the headstone of Henry's wife?

From this view of the church--the newer cemetery is up and to the back of it. The older cemetery with the gate, pictured above, is across the driveway from the front of the church (the left portion of this picture). Just to the right of the car are the older Silvii pictured above.

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Right to left:

�#11 Henry (d. 1834)
�Empty spot
�Anna Maria/Elizabeth Catherine Silvius (d. 1836)
�#316 Jacob b. 25 Jan. 1822, d. 24 Nov. 1846
�#60 Henry Silvius, 19 May 1793, 24 May 1849, 56 Jahr
U 5 Tag (stone supporting 'Gusannah' stone)
�The stone leaning on another is Susanna, wife of #60 Henry ("Gusannah" stone) (d. 1876)