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Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Contributed by Patty Harris Aug. 2007

The following article was written by Bill Montgomery and was submitted by Patty Harris.

EAST FINLEY CEMETERY RESTORED
[Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, East Finley Twp.]
by Bill Montgomery
Weekly Recorder - November 8, 2002 page 3

The Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established about 1878-9 with 40 members, mostly from Old Concord Church. The cemetery is located one mile off Rte 232, northeast of the Old Bartholdi Post Office. There was also a store in this building at one time. Alexander and his son, Spencer, ran the store and post office. It is now know as Razz Thomas’ Church of God East Finley Twp., Washington Co., PA.

Emaline Elliott (daughter of William and Nancy Elliott) married Alexander Montgomery. She was one of the two score members to go from the Concord Cumberland Presbyterian to organize the Fairview congregation. Spencer Montgomery was elected an elder of the church in the fall of 1908 and had attended but one meeting prior to being stricken with paralysis in Dec. of 1908, which resulted in his death. He died 2/28/1909. The first minister of the church was named Keener.

The burial ground was laid out in two different sections. A horse and buggy was able to drive up on the hill and in between the two burial grounds.

The church was still standing in September 1924, when the chairs were sold to the Fairmount Methodist Church. No one seems to know just when the church was torn down. The church was sold to William Andrew and he used some of the lumber to build a barn, which has since burned down. In 1919 some of the stones were used to build a base of the Pee’s Bridge in East Finley township.

My wife and I along with a few volunteers, have been working to restore the cemetery. When we found it, quite a few of the stones had fallen and were turned over, making them impossible to read. The briars, weeds, vines, and bushes were taller than us. In the process of restoring, we found many stones just lying amount the brush. We have collected them and will display them in some type of dignified manner. We’ve poured concrete footers and reset the fallen stones, cut down trees and burned many, many piles of brush for three years, restoring the lower section of the cemetery to it’s original state. There are a few things left to do and them it’s time to start on the upper half of the cemetery.

The Cemetery was originally organized in 1877 with the following Board of Mangers: John Irwin, Robert & Sadie Bell, John Nelson Montgomery, Silas Montgomery, Spencer Montgomery, Henry Lindley.

In the year 2000 a new Board of Managers was established with the following members: William E and Lee Montgomery, Jay D. Albright, James Craig, Iona Montgomery Welling, Margaret R. Brownlee, Irma Jo Hall.

The following people are buried in the cemetery:

NOTE: The table was not used in the original article.  Also, Bill Montgomery used a capital B before the birth dates and a capital D before the death dates; the webmaster removed these letters to make it less cluttered in the table.  The webmaster added dashes (- - - - ) to indicate no date.

Click here for Part 1 of the original article - Large Image 1.45M

Click here for Part 2 of the original article - Large Image 1.23M