Lying broken on the ground in the underbrush of a neglected Cumberland County burying site is the only known stone carved by Jacob Heneman. Who was he? Who were the other carvers of Cumberland County?
There are 228 Cumberland County burying sites listed in Cemeteries of Cumberland County by Bob Davidson (Carlisle, PA: Cumberland County Historical Society, 2000). After removing the sixty-four that are identified as leveled, moved, or unknown, 164 are still in existence.
Research and documentation on many burying sites in Cumberland County have been recorded, but the focus has been primarily on individual site history and markers for genealogical purposes. As primary documents, these burying sites also provide valuable information on community history, art, technology, landscaping, town planning, language, religion and ethnic customs, fraternal and military organizations, and a host of other subjects. Of equal importance is the examination of the sites collectively to identify patterns reinforcing regional or national generalizations during and over certain periods of time or significant to Cumberland County alone.
During the fall of 2000 and the spring and summer of 2001, a lay of the land field survey was conducted of all existing burying sites in Cumberland County except five. Two were on private property and three were inaccessible due to environmental conditions.
Lay of the Land Survey Defined
A lay of the land field survey is a preliminary survey conducted on-site. Its purpose is to observe and gather a large pool of data to identify patterns, or unusual examples not part of a pattern, over a large geographic area in preparation for a more in-depth data collection project on a specific topic. Often, one or more potential patterns are chosen at the outset of the survey for special attention. When substantial data on such a topic is collected, reliable conclusions can be drawn, but never with the intent to be characterized as a definitive study. For this survey, the identification of Cumberland County carvers prior to 1900 who signed their work was one of those focus topics.
Other focus topics included location and number of White Bronzes, hand motifs, fraternal symbols, and picture blocks.
Given the threats to gravestones from environmental deterioration, neglect, and vandalism, some of the data from this lay of the land field survey regarding carvers prior to 1900 made publication advisable - before the primary documents, the stones, disappear.
Some Preliminary Data Observations
Tables 1-4 summarize the base-line data recorded from signed stones to answer some basic, Level 1 questions.
1. Who were the carvers in Cumberland County prior to 1900 and how many?
2. Who were the carvers whose business locations (and probably residences) were in Cumberland County, how many, and what were those locations?
3. Who were the carvers from other Pennsylvania locations outside Cumberland County, how many, and what were those locations?
4. Who were the carvers from outside of Pennsylvania, how many, and what were those locations?
5. Who were carvers in Cumberland County with locations yet to be determined?
Using only signed stones from the field, additional data was collected to identify at which burying sites a carver was located, the number of signed stones by that carver at each site, the date span of a carver using all signed stones from all locations, and various forms of a carver's signatures.
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