The Missing Headstone
Coover Farm Cemetery is the home of the graves of the John Coover family. John, about six years prior to his death, decided that the old cemetery at Barbace Farm outside of Mechanicsburg would be his final resting place. His wife, Salome Keller’s parents owned the farm and her parents, Martin and Salome Keller were buried there. John’s parents, George Coover and Elizabeth Mohler Coover as well as his grandparents, George Dieterich Kober and Anna Catharina Hoffman Kober as well as his grandparents, according to a letter dated 10/25/1941 from Martin Coover to Walter Lee Kauffman. The remains were reinterned at the cemetery along with a headstone we have in our archives as shown below.
You can see from this picture that in the background there is a stone wall. This wall existed around the cemetery for many years. Vandals removed the flat top stone and the wall has deteriorated.
This picture of the headstone s also featured in Professor Coover’s book, “A limited genealogy of the Kober, Cover, Coover Family and Congnate Families” published in 1942 .
Some years later, when we visited in the early 2000s, this headstone was missing!
Somehow I got wind that the headstone had been moved and I was able to trace it down to the Cocklin Church Cemetery. It is located adjacent to the burial spots of Dietrich Coover 3rd and Catharine Cocklin. Dietrich Coover was a cousin of John Coover and shared the same grandfather.
Looking at the two pictures, there can be no question that the headstone was the same as the one at Coover Farm Cemetery.
I wrote to Eric Cocklin in 2016 presenting my case. A short time later we got a response from Mr. Cocklin inviting us to present at the annual association meeting in June for the cemetery and that he agrees that the stone should be returned to the Coover Farm Cemetery. He also mentioned that the association would not be responsible for its movement.
No further action has been taken on this since the stone is embedded in a huge concrete block which makes it very difficult to be moved. However, time will tell. For the record, the contact is:
- Eric Cocklin
- 39 Ashburg Dr. #2
- Mechanicsburg, PA 17050-8240
- 717 766-9871
March 30, 2016
Eric Cocklin
39 Ashburg Dr. #2
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050-8240
Dear Mr. Cocklin:
My name is Peter Kauffman. I am the great great grandson of John Coover who died in 1862. As you are likely aware, John was buried at Barbace Cemetery (also known as the Coover Farm Cemetery) off of Brandy Lane.
I am writing to you about a headstone from that cemetery that is currently at the Cocklin Cemetery.
In 1856, John had the remains of his parents, George (Kober) Coover and Elizabeth (Mohlerin) Coover and his grandparents, John Dieterich (Kober) Coover and Anna Catharina (Hoffman) Coover, moved from Trindle Springs Cemetery and reburied at Barbace. John and his wife Salome Keller Coover were very interested in their ancestral heritage and Salome’s parents were also reinterred at the same time into Barbace. After the death of Salome, the cemetery was closed to future burials.
There is a headstone placed at Barbace memorializing the Coover parents and grandparents. I have a letter from Professor Melanchthon Coover to my Great Uncle Walter Lee Kauffman which discusses these events dated in 1938 along with a number of Kodak pictures.
This picture of the headstone is also featured in Professor Coover’s book, “A limited Genealogy of the Kober, Cover, Coover Family and Cognate Families” published in 1942. Notice the stone wall of Barbace Cemetery in the background. There is also a crack in the stone which was caused when a tree was cut in the cemetery.
This stone has disappeared.
We have been able to locate the stone while researching at the national website of graves known as “Find A Grave”.
It is in the Cocklin Church Cemetery.
It is located adjacent to the burial spots of Dietrich Coover 3rd and Catharine Cocklin. Dietrich Coover was a cousin of John Coover and shared the same grandfather.
I am not going to speculate on how this headstone came to be located at the Cocklin Church Cemetery. However, I believe it should be returned to Barbace Cemetery.
We are in the process of a restoration project at Barbace. We hope to get the cemetery back to the condition shown in the pictures above. I am sure you appreciate the magnitude of the effort having restored the Cocklin Cemetery. I would appreciate any suggestions or sharing of experiences.
I have volumes of letters, pictures, legal documents, wills and the like of the Coover family. I would be happy to meet with you some day to show you some of the interesting materials from this era. They are fascinating.
My contact information is:
Peter W Kauffman
763 Boxwood Green Drive
Wirtz, VA 24184
703 328-3541
kaufpw@gmail.com
My best regards,
Peter Wright Kauffman