Blackmore Cemetery
a/k/a Black Friars Cemetery
(Peters Township / Washington County)
Library, Pennsylvania

Some History

From: HISTORY OF UNION TOWNSHIP-SURROUNDING AREA AND THE EARLY SETTLERS.
Bicentennial Edition-1976 compiled by Noah Thompson 1976

Page 103 BLACKMORE

Samuel Blackmore, Sr., bought 374 acres of land in Peters Township, Washington County in the late 1700's and this plot of land was called "Black Friars." It was left to his son; Samuel Jr. and later years it became the home of the Frank Zimmerman family and still remains in Zimmerman family. Mrs. Zimmerman was a descendant of the Blackmores. Behind the house is the Blackmore family cemetery which dates back as early as 1773. The house in the picture is partly log but in recent years has been remodeled.

The work of Thomas Barry Gotham states that his 4th great grandfather Samuel Blackmore, Jr. is buried in 'Black Friars' in a cemetery near Library, PA. The cemetery has no name to it but is referred to as the 'Blackmore Cemetery' by the small group of people that actually know it exists. Mostly the neighbors who live around there and a handful of researchers (Now yins too! HOW ABOUT THAT!). The family plots are on top of a hill surrounded by cornfields. At one time the plots were very picturesque with Osage trees surrounding the area and a fence around it. Unfortunately that is all gone. The cemetery is overrun by tall grass and weeds as you can tell by the pictures. I had to use a weed eater to get a clear picture of the tombstones. There are only 18 to 22 plots and most are readable. So we got fortunate to have Charles and Mary's still intact and readable. Most unfortunate is the fact the land has been bought out by a housing developer and the cemetery will soon have multiple houses around it. The developer does not know what they are going to do with the small cemetery but they do say the cemetery is under consideration. Consideration for what purposes I do not know.

DIRECTIONS: BLACKMORE CEMETERY is about 1 mile from Scenic Valley Golf Club on Church Hill Rd.

I-79 South to Bridgeville exit. Make a right off the exit ramp, go underneath I-79 and follow the Bridgeville signs. Make a left into Bridgeville. Go through the middle of Bridgeville until you come to the 'Orange Belt' signs. Make a right and follow the 'Orange Belt' signs. You will be going south east at this point. After about 1/3 of a mile you will notice you are on McLaughlin Road. Follow the 'Orange Belt'. When you pass under Route 19, continue on, you will pass a King's Restaurant on the left, go up a steep hill, bear right, pass the sign to South Park, then just past Al's Cafe immediate left at that light. You are on Clifton-Library Rd. (the orange belt) go a few miles to Route 88. BP gas station is on the left. You turn right, and see Peters Creek Church with a tall steeple. Take the next right before the Church. That is Church Hill Road. There will be a cemetery on the left. It is a long winding road. Pass the intersection of Sugar Camp Road which there is another cemetery on the left and continue on Church Hill Rd. Go pass the Scenic Valley Golf Club on right. At the Crest is Turkeyfoot road. You cross it and continue on for about a 1/2 mile. It will finally level out a bit. Look to your left for huge open corn fields. There will be a red brick house on the left that sits on Church Hill Rd. There is a huge housing development on the right side. Turn left off of Church Hill Rd onto a gravel road left of the red brick house. If you look behind the red brick house and up on the hill you will see a patch of overgrown weeds and stumps in the middle of the corn fields. That's the cemetery. The red brick house has a gravel road that runs further beyond and behind the house. Follow that road for a very short distance and ask the nice couple who live at the end of the gravel road and next to the field if you can park in their driveway to walk through their yard, the cornfields and finally to the burial grounds.  I found 16 plots plus the six footstones equals 22 markers. The families were Allison, Blackmore and Boyer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                SPAM ALERT
To protect Contributors from receiving SPAM their E-Mail addresses have
been altered. To contact contributors, please remove "-nospam-" from
their addresses. Thank You
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unless otherwise noted, this information was contributed by 
George Alexander Allison, Jr. ([email protected])
(Individual Digital Tombstone Photos are available upon request)

Special "Thank You's" to Jeanne Will & Nancy Long, Allegheny County (PA) researchers,
who provided Mr. Allison sufficient information for this cemetery to be located, recorded,
and posted here!!!


Posted: June 7, 2005
Updated: August 8, 2006
===========================================================================
Surname, First Name, Birthdate, Deathdate, Other
===========================================================================
Allison, Charles, 15 Mar 1748 / April 8, 1823 In the 76 year of his age, son of Charles and Barbara Moore Allison, (also footstone)
Allison, James,  b. 18 May 1790 / May 10, 1850 In the 60 year of his age, husband of Rachel Boyer, son of Charles and Mary Blackmore Allison
Allison, John B., Died Sept. 12/7(?), 1853/6(?), In the 24 year of his age, (assumed to be son of James and Rachel Allison)
Allison, Mary Blackmore, 12 May 1760 (Frederick Cty, MD) / June 7 1839 In the 80 year of her age,  Wife of Charles Allison, dau. of Samuel Blackmore, Jr. & Arabella Dowden
Allison, Rachel Boyer, 1792 / Oct. 24, 1855 In the 63 year of her age, wife of James Allison
Blackmore, Charles, died March 11th A.D. 1833 in the 20th year of his age, son of William Blackmore & Lucy Richardson Blackmore, (also footstone)
     "Reader as you pass by look here
        and drop a sympathetic tear
    For sprightly youth laid low in dust
       To await the rising, of the just."
Blackmore, Lucy Richardson, 24 Dec 1775 / Aug 29, 1865 In the 89 year of her age,  Wife of Col. William Blackmore
Blackmore, M., (no dates), (assumed to be Samuel Blackmore Jr's spouse)
Blackmore, Samuel Jr., born 12 May 1739 / died 1787
Blackmore, William (Col.), 05 Jun 1774 / August 5th A.D. 1818, Aged 44 years & 2 months, son of Samuel Blackmore Jr., (also footstone)
    "Old and young as you pass by
    As you are now so once was I
     As I am now so must you be
    Prepare for death and follow me"
Boyer, Ellen, Died June --7/9(?) 1823/5(?) In her 53/7 (?) year, Wife of James Boyer
Boyer, Jane, Died Jan. 3/5(?) 1841 In the 85 year Of her age, Wife of John Boyer, (also footstone)
Boyer, John, (no dates/footstone only) 
Boyer, Nancy, departed this life June 4th, 1849 in the 53d year of her age, Dau. of John Boyer (engraver / J.M. Birmingham),  (also footstone)
Swearingen, James, Died Nov. 16, 1833 In his 19 yr, Son of J & M Swearingen
       "We see in vision (dim and far) ?
    In the land of the bright & (blesd) ?
     A sinless throng & thou art there
           Sweet be thy holy rest."
Unknown, 'broken stone', In the 85 yr Of his age

===========================================================================

Back to Tombstone Inscriptions