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• Lyonsville

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• Spring Creek

• Spring Creek Meeting

• Stauffer Mennonite

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 SPRING  CREEK  CEMETERY

The Spring Creek Church of the Brethren owns and cares for this historic cemetery today. Volunteers for the Derry Township Historical Society recorded the gravestones during 2000-2001 and incorporated records made available by the cemetery committee. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the official cemetery records in early 1923 so information about burials before that time was lost. At this time about 2,100 records are available.

The exact beginning of the Spring Creek Cemetery is difficult to determine. However, in 1948, it was reported that the oldest legible stone, written in German script, dated to the year 1783. The cemetery is shown on the map of Derry Township published in the Dauphin County Historical Atlas of 1875, p. 69, and adjacent to the "Bapt Ch".

The beginning of the cemetery from the standpoint of documentary evidence dates to August 18, 1848, when one acre and thirty perches of land was deeded by Wendell Henry and his wife to Abraham Balsbaugh and Joseph Hollinger, trustees of the Spring Creek Church, known at that time as the German Baptist Meeting House. Part of this land was used as a site for the church building and the rest was used for burial purposes. Wendell Henry, M.R. Henry and wife, and Benjamin Longenecker and wife gave additional land; Jacob Stauffer and wife, and S. L. Wenger and wife sold additional property to the church for the cemetery. On April 18, 1917, the cemetery was incorporated.

In 1886, the cemetery employed Abraham Bashore as its first caretaker. He received free rent and 75 cents each time he opened the church. In the oldest areas of the cemetery there were no burial lots. People buried there were placed side by side. In 1906, the cemetery was laid out in lots 16' x 18'. At first these lots were given free, later they were sold for $5, and then for $10.

On April 20, 1916, a new, 2-acre section was donated by Mr. Hershey, which was laid out in plots 18' x 18', with corner lots selling for $35 and center lots for $25. On March 21, 1947, another 2 ¾ acres was purchased from the Hershey Industrial School. The cemetery has an endowment fund to insure adequate care of this hallowed spot in years to come. The cemetery is located at the eastern end of Areba Avenue on the property of the Spring Creek Church.

We would be happy to conduct a cemetery search or do more extensive research for you.  The cemetery search would include all Derry Township cemeteries plus others that are closely associated with our township.  Most of the names in our cemetery database are not available elsewhere on the Internet.  The cost is $5 per surname and you may supply up to three alternate spellings (total of four).  If you find your ancestors in the list below and require additional information, please contact us . 

For more thorough research, please request a copy of our research policy.   In addition, our obituary list and our name index of “lost and found” ancestors may be of interest to you.  Please check our main library page for these and other links, as we continue to update our information on line.

Names carved on the stones in this cemetery include: