Local cemetery caretaker raising money for markers for newly-discovered graves

NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Every headstone in a cemetery tells a story.

“There’s actually a grave for a Revolutionary War soldier who was a bodyguard for George Washington during the Revolutionary War,” Bill Bray told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek while walking through the Old Brush Creek Cemetery in North Huntingdon.

There are more than 300 headstones there, each with a different story. The cemetery was first established in the 1700s. The last burial there was in 2005.

And while there is a lot of history here, there are at least 65 untold stories.

Unmarked graves were just discovered this summer, until now, just open spaces in the cemetery.

“The lower section down there is pretty baren,” Bray said of the lower portion of the cemetery. “There’s no stones or anything down there. There had to be somebody somewhere.”

Bray is the sexton for the cemetery. It’s an old term for caretaker.

It’s currently owned by the New Hope Presbyterian Church in North Huntingdon.

With the help of ground-penetrating radar, Bray and his crews were able to find that those empty voids in the cemetery were in fact gravesites.

Who’s buried there is anyone’s guess.

“There’s no records at all,” Bray said. “I contacted the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia. They have no records for it.”

Because the cemetery has been passed on through seven different congregations over the last 200 years, records have been lost.

But Bray wants to give those unmarked graves a more proper marker instead of the temporary orange poles that currently mark the gravesites.

“We’re raising funds to purchase 65 6.5 by 6.5-inch granite markers numbered 1 through 65 to be placed where the temporary markers are now,” Bray said.

So far, he’s raised enough money for about 20 markers. He said those who were buried deserve some sort of recognition, even if we don’t know who’s buried there.

“They deserve to be marked,” Bray said. “No one wants to be in an unmarked grave.”

If you want to help or if you want more information, you can contact Bray at 724-522-6965.

If you would like to donate money and become a sponsor of a grave marker, you can send a check to Friends of the Old Brush Creek Cemetery, the non-profit charity Bray has set up for this endeavor.

The address is:

Bill Bray

Friends of the Old Brush Creek Cemetery

90 Raymaley Road

Harrison City, Pa., 15636

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group