Genealogy of the Woodcock Valley

When I started researching my dad's family, I was just fascinated by Casper Fisher (1824-1891).  He was my civil war veteran and a mystery man for a fledgling genealogist.  There were so many stories about him:  he came over on the boat from Germany with a brother, his log cabin stood empty for years with his civil war jacket still hanging inside, he was buried some where other than with his first wife, he was the tallest man in Huntingdon County...the stories just went on and on, and were a major reason of why I became so involved in genealogy.  I have since proved that Casper Fisher was born in neighboring Bedford County, the buttons from his civil war coat may still exist, he was buried separately from his first AND second wives, and I have some obituaries that say he was one of the tallest men in Huntingdon County!

In my search for more information on Casper Fisher, I met with family friend and local historian/genealogist, Clair Grove.  Clair had a book on the Beaver family, which he shared with me.  Casper Fisher was first married to Margaret Harker.  Together, they had seven children.  However, I only knew about six of them when I first started out.  According to the Beaver book, their first daughter, Mary Jane, died as an infant.  She was buried in the Gap Cemetery.  I asked Clair where the Gap Cemetery was.  Being almost a native of the area and a history buff, why didn't I know about this cemetery?  Clair explained to me that the Gap Cemetery was located near the Entriken Bridge in Lincoln Township, Huntingdon County, PA.  According to Clair, the cemetery just "disappeared" one day. 

Knowing about the construction of Raystown Lake and that 13 cemeteries had to be relocated, I inquired if this was a possibility.  Clair said the Gap Cemetery was never moved.  He wondered if the stones were moved for reconstruction of the highway.  However, in my preparations to write this blog entry, I consulted the book, The Lost and Forgotten Cemeteries of Huntingdon County Pennsylvania, by Linneria B. Wheland from 1988, to see if she mentioned the Gap Cemetery.  Low and behold...she did!  While the cemetery was referred to as the Gap Cemetery by locals, it was given the name of Farber Cemetery, most likely by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, who did relocate the cemetery for the construction of Raystown Lake.  They recorded 16 burials in this cemetery; 14 of which were unknown.

I have information on three burials in my records:

• John Morningstar (1813-1854)
• Frederick Morningstar (1834-1854)
• Mary Jane Fisher (1846-1846)

Two of the stones were inscribed and belonged to:

• Ephraim M. Farber (d. 1845 at 37 years)
• Jeremiah Smallman (d. 1853 at 9 years)

Linneria "Polly" Wheland also mentioned in her book that she found the following in the Beaver family book:

• Amos Parks (1855-1858)

This accounts for 6 of the 16 stones in the Gap Cemetery.  The Gap Cemetery (also known as the Farber Cemetery) had some early burials from the Woodcock Valley area. Do you know of any other people who were buried there without a marked stone?  With the exception of John Morningstar, who was relocated to the Entriken Cemetery, the other graves were supposedly reinterred at the White Church Cemetery.

If you have more information on the Gap Cemetery, or know of another family member that was originally buried there, please add a comment to this blog post!