Clendening Cemetery, June 2012, Cable Hollow Road, Elk Township, Warren County, PA.
"died May 11, 1817"
"L. 8 mo. 15 da"
Most of the graves here appear to be unmarked. The sign for the cemetery notes that it was incorporated in 1893, yet these photos show that it was used much earlier than that. The earliest marked grave I found was dated 1817 and if my history is correct there were only a few hundred Europeans living here and many more indigenous peoples.
The oldest standing structures in Warren County date back to the 1820s. Many of the graves here are probably older than that.
I believe the earliest wave of settlers came here down the Allegheny River from New York state, such as Ezra Pound's grandfather who set up a sawmill in Elk Township. His son became Governor of the Territory of Wisconsin. Ezra Pound had to move to Italy because his poetry was too radical.
photos by Chris Lareau
It's interesting that you have used a G instead of a C for the Clendening Cemetery. I do suspect that Glendening is a possible alternate spelling, but at this point, I have found none of my ancestors that did that. This cemetery was across the road from the Joseph and Andrew Clendening farms. This particular Joseph was my Great-Grandfather. Clendenings came to this area sometime after 1850. Depending where you look, there were two spellings used, Clendening and Clendenning.
Posted by: Ken Hartley | 2012.09.24 at 06:55 AM
Thanks for filling us in. From which country did your ancestors come?
Posted by: editor | 2012.09.24 at 08:36 AM
I think I need to have my eyes checked! Your are right! I have changed the article. Thanks so much.
Posted by: editor | 2012.09.24 at 08:47 AM
They came from Ireland, spending some in NY state. Properties either side of the cemetery belonged to O. Feeney and A. Enos.
Posted by: Ken Hartley | 2012.09.24 at 11:01 AM