The Coover Farm Cemetery Historic Trust is a land area containing a cemetery that dates to the beginnings of the 1800s. Located outside the town of Mechanicsburg, PA, it was initially a part of the farm owned by Martinius Keller. Keller purchased the farm for 246 pounds from Simon Grouse in 1810. The plantation “Barbace” consisted of approximately 246 acres and was originally the same plantation surveyed in pursuance of a warrant dated the 2nd of June 1762 to Christopher Seeley. There was no mention of the graveyard in that earlier deed. However, in the Keller deed, there is mention of an “Old Burial ground above 80 ft x 40 ft.” The earliest known burials there are dated to 1821. This was Susannah Keller Bosler, of Martinus Keller’s family. Earlier burials cannot be identified.
Over the next almost 75 years, family of the Coover’s, Keller’s and others were buried in this graveyard, a total of approximately 46 souls. In 1883, Salome Keller Coover in her will dictated her burial in this graveyard and stipulated that no further internments were to take place. She gave the property to her five daughters, Susan Long, Sarah Oswald, Ann Elizabeth Kauffman, Emma Coover, Mary Hummel. In 1892, the land was sold to Ellen Hummel for $14,700. The deed stipulated “..expressly reserved for the use of the dead therein interned, to wit, as a burial place the Grave-yard now located upon the said farm and inclosed by a stone wall, said parties of the first part hereby agreeing and expressly stipulating that no further interments shall be made therein, but that they, the said parties of the First Part, their heirs, executors and administrators forever shall have the right and privileges of free ingress, egress and regress to and from said grave-yard from the public road and above said farm for the purpose of visiting caring for and keeping in proper condition said graves.”
In 1930, Walter Kauffman purchased an 18’ x 1027’ foot strip of land from a nearby road back to the cemetery from Ellen Hummel. The farm including the cemetery was sold to local land developers who subsequently parceled out the land leaving the cemetery remaining on their deed. Subsequently, the surrounding land has been developed into a factory, warehouse, railroad spur, homes and a trailer park, leaving the cemetery surrounded with limited access to slowly decay. The Coover family five sisters, who married Longs, Zugs, Kauffman’s, Hummel’s and other Coover’s have struggled over the years to maintain this precious part of their history.
The cemetery is host to many Coover’s but most notable, John Deitrick (Kober) Coover, Palatine immigrant of 1730, who came to this country along with his close friend, Ludwig Mohler on the ship “Thistle”, Ludwig going east of the river to Ephrata and John going west of the river to the Manor tract along the Conodoguinette and Callapasscink creeks near Shiremanstown, PA. John Deitrick and his wife, Anna Catharina Kober as well as their son, George, and Elizabeth Mohler Coover were reinterned from a gravesite at that farm to the Coover Farm Cemetery in 1856 by his grandson, John Coover. John was buried there in 1862, his wife Salome in 1883.
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The Coover Farm Cemetery, originally known within the family as Barbace Cemetery and The Keller-Coover Cemetery and the Coover-Hummel Cemetery is the centerpiece of this Historic Trust.
The goal is the acquisition, restoration, and maintenance of this property in perpetuity.
To achieve this goal will require raising of funds, purchase of pieces of adjacent properties, restoration of the grounds, restoration or replacement of stones, planting of the grounds, provisions for egress and parking and protection of the property.
The tasks for the Coover Farm Cemetery Historic Trust are:
- Create a Trust: Pennsylvania land trusts and governments formerly had to rely on the common law when managing their conservation easements. The common law derives from centuries of court decisions rather than on laws passed by legislative bodies. Pennsylvania’s common law, like that of other states, contains ambiguities and features that present difficulties for easement stewardship.
The Conservation and Preservation Easements Act, passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Tom Ridge on June 22, 2001, provides a simple, easy-to-implement path for avoiding the common law difficulties. It also stands as a strong policy statement of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in support of conservation and preservation easements.
- Prepare a budget. The initial costs of establishing a trust and gaining ownership of the properties are essential. Once that is in place, the securing of pledges and donations will follow. Completing the development of a plan and estimated costs is a critical first task.
- Secure pledges and donations. The costs of this project are not yet determined. However, an initial goal will be to raise $10,000 to establish the trust, gain ownership of land and do an initial level of restoration and preservation. These funds can be raised through outreach to the Coover families and their descendants. A critical task will be the identification and location of these descendants. Subsequently, an additional $40,000 will likely be necessary to complete restoration, provide security for the property and create a long-term maintenance program.
- Join the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association. The PALTA is an American charitable conservation group that seeks to protect Pennsylvania’s special places – the farms, forests, parks and other green spaces that people love- the places that help to ensure healthy prosperous and secure communities.”
- Survey the land. Looking at the property maps of the Purina plot and the Brandy Lane Trailer Court, there appears to be some overlap on the land usage. A clean survey of the property is in order.
- Gain ownership to the cemetery from the Greater Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce. Ownership has been researched and tacitly accepted by the GHCOC. This agreement needs to be reverified and land transfer executed.
- Gain ownership of the right of way owned by the heirs of Walter Lee Kauffman. This property is in hand by the heirs and should be transferred at minimal cost.
- Regain possession of the headstone of Deiterick and Katharine Coover and George and Elizabeth Coover from the Cochran Cemetery. This is a bit of a challenge. The Cochrin Cemetery owners, i.e., Eric Cochrin has offered the return of the headstone at our expense. We would like to have them cover the cost as well since they illegally removed it. Also, the headstone itself is in bad condition and will require restoration.
- Restore the headstones of Coover’s buried at the cemetery. Many stones are in bad condition. These costs are unknown. See Find a Grave
- Restore the headstones of others buried at the cemetery.
- Restore the stone wall structure. The wall is generally in good condition however will require some work. Entrance ways need to be restored. The capstones have been removed. Replacement is a matter of cost.
- Preserve the grounds within the cemetery walls. The entire interior might be graveled in order to restrict weed growth.
- Add perennial flowers within the cemetery walls.
- Restore the front and rear entrance to the cemetery. What was the entranceway to the cemetery is now at the rear. What might be appropriate is to reverse the role of these entrances. The grounds in these areas are in bad condition.
- Sell or swap a portion of the Kauffman land adjacent to the Brandy Trailer Park (in green) to the owners. The property adjacent to the park is of little use. It is overgrown with trees and near the park. There is no parking at the base next to Brandy Lane. It might prove valuable to consider a land swap or other consideration in return for the portion of the property adjacent to the trailer park.
- Acquire the land adjacent to the Kauffman land owned by the Purina Organization. This area is shown in red. There is a rail siding on the west side of the cemetery immediately against the property line. Beyond the cemetery is an area to the west of the blue area that is also owned by Purina. Neither property is of use. They could be useful in providing a perimeter to the cemetery.
- Acquire the land adjacent to the Kauffman land owned by the Brackbill Partnership. This land is shown in Blue. We believe it is owned in entirety by Brackbill. A right of way has been granted thru this property for the Hampton Township. It is fenced off from their parking lot and used for drainage. Some is open field and woods. Some portion of this land might be helpful in creating a parameter for the cemetery.
- Groom the Kauffman land from the Brandy Trailer Park back to the cemetery. This would involve bulldozering the land to fill in the holes and removal of the scrub woods. Then the land could be grass and shrubs as appropriate.
- Groom the other lands adjacent to the cemetery and the Kauffman land. This depends upon our ability to acquire the land.
- Develop a plan for the annual maintenance of the cemetery. Generally, maintenance of a property of this nature might be $2-3K per year. A thought might be to negotiate something with the Cochlin Cemetery group along with the resolution of the Kober headstone recovery.
- Fence in the property
- Create a parking area and entrance to the cemetery.