By SUSAN EVANS
The Tribune-Democrat
EBENSBURG
August 16, 2008 10:14 pm
—
For two centuries, Lloyd Cemetery has reflected the history of Ebensburg, its heritage, and its diversity.
Tombstones bear family names of the early Welsh settlers – Griffith, Evans, Davis, and the like – while others are marked with the later European immigrants, like Joseph and Katie Zoltansky.
The old blends with the new, like the shiny black marker in the new section, and faded white stones that, 206 years later, can barely be read.
But trustees of the historic cemetery, facing a growing deficit each of the past few years, are asking for financial help to fight rising costs and lowered returns on the cemetery’s investments.
They sent out a fundraising letter in June, and now are considering negotiating a natural gas lease to bring in more revenue, said David Champe, president of the cemetery association’s trustees.
Champe said that the current $8,502 deficit – the difference between expenses of $32,642 and income of $24,190 – was not easily predictable.
“You can’t foresee these things, like the severe drop in interest rates on our certificates of deposit, or the severe hike in gas prices. Gas costs are a huge factor because you can’t mow the whole cemetery in just one day,” he said.
The letter, mailed to 302 family members of those buried at Lloyd, so far has brought in almost $5,000, with only one complaining note, Champe said.
“Folks seem to be on board in this effort, and we appreciate that,” he said.
Lloyd Cemetery, located on Manor Drive south of Laurel Crest Manor on land donated by Ebensburg founder Rees Lloyd in 1802, is a historic landmark in the Ebensburg area.
Even those just driving cannot help but see the underground vault sunk into the side of the road. It is a storage area for caskets when winter conditions are too severe for burials.
The cemetery is operated by a non-profit association and pays taxes. It sells burial plots with a promise of perpetual care, and a percentage of the sales income, by law, is set aside for that care.
“However, expenses cannot be fully funded by a revenue plan established more than two centuries ago,” the fundraising letter said. “Even with investments earning interest, that revenue is not meeting our expenses.”
Norberta Marshall, cemetery manager, said she is heartened by the response to the letter.
So far we’ve received about 55 responses, and donations vary from $20 to $350, depending on what the person can be comfortable with. We feel we’ve gotten a fair response,” she said.
“We’re like any other business. We have expenses for upkeep, and the cost of gasoline keeps rising. It’s tough. The economy is taking a big bite,” she said.
Marshall said that even with mowing every day of the week, it’s impossible to keep 29 acres cut.
“We try to keep the front, and the entrance, looking spiffy, but we did let the field go because of the cost of fuel,” she said.
“Another thing that’s hitting us very hard is that more people are turning to cremation. There’s no money for the cemetery in that.”
A big challenge is the age of the cemetery, both Marshall and Champe agree.
“We have about 2,600 names that the original lots were sold in, but we came up with 300-some out of that to actually mail to. About 25 to 30 of those came back as undeliverable,” she said.
“The mailing was something the board felt needed to be done. Of course the cemetery is not belly up, and it’s not going to be abandoned, but investment interest we used to get at 4 or 5 percent is down to 2 percent now. That’s a big drop,” she said.
Trustees are hoping for annual contributions to help with the historic site and point out that donations are tax-deductible.
Who's laid to rest
Lloyd Cemetery is not just rich in history, but is also the final resting place of several elected officials who served Cambria County.
Buried at Lloyd are:
• Abraham Andrews Barker, 1816-98, of Ebensburg, served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860 and as a Republican member of Congress from 1865-67.
Barker was known as a local “conductor’’ of the Underground Railroad and is credited with helping hundreds of slaves find freedom in the North.
• Congressman Alvin Evans, 1845-1906, of Ebensburg, served as a Republican U.S. representative from 1901-05.
During the Civil War, he served in a volunteer company organized to repel the expected invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederates under Gen. Robert E. Lee. He later became a lawyer.
• Judge John W. Kephart, 1872-1944, an attorney who was appointed as Cambria County solicitor in 1906, served as a judge in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from 1914-18, and as a judge in the state Supreme Court from 1936-40.
He was chief justice for the last four years of his legal career.
• Cambria County treasurer and U.S. Rep. Harve Tibbott, 1885-1969, of Ebensburg, who served in Congress as a Republican from 1939-49.
A druggist by profession, his Tibbott’s Pharmacy still is in business in Ebensburg.
• Congressman James Russell Leech, 1888-1952, a Republican from Ebensburg, served as a U.S. representative from 1927-32 and was named a federal judge in 1932.
A World War I veteran, Leech also served on the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals, now federal tax court.
• In addition to politicians, many veterans are buried at Lloyd Cemetery, including Civil War vet Hugh Jones, 1829-65, whose tombstone says, simply: “A patriot who gave his life that the Union might be preserved.”
Details
Lloyd Cemetery on Manor Drive in Ebensburg is 206 years old and needs contributions to ease its cash crunch:
• Finances. $8,500 in the red, and expenses rising faster than revenue,
• Size. 29 acres, with 14 landscaped for burials plots and the rest a field that can be used in the future.
• Plot prices. $500 for the section allowing only flat markers; $600 for plots with upright markers.
• Available now. 500 plots in the newly opened section; about 160 in an older section.
• History. In 1796, a group of Welsh immigrants, led by the Rev. Rees Lloyd, founded the borough of Ebensburg, named after Lloyd’s son, Ebenezer, who died in infancy.
The first church was built in 1797, opposite what is now Lloyd Cemetery, and was known as the Welsh Independent Church.
The cemetery was established in 1802 on part of the 401 acres originally deeded to Rees Lloyd, who donated the land on the condition that members of the Lloyd family be buried there free.
Some of the oldest tombstones bear Welsh inscriptions, and history credits Lloyd with being the founder not only of Ebensburg, but of Cambria County as well.
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