Cemetery Info

Here are some notable people buried in St. Thomas UCC (Wenrich’s) Cemetery. Transcriptions of all headstones can be found at www.findagrave.com.

Thomas Lingle

Thomas Lingle, 1742-1811, was the founder of The Town of St. Thomas, later unofficially named Linglestown. His tombstone indicates he served during the Revolutionary War in Pvt. Filbert’s Co., PA Vols. Born in Berks County, PA, the sixth of 11 children, he came to this area in 1765 and had a vision for organizing what was here at the time into a town. His designs are available in the church archives.

Francis Wenrich (Franz Wenerich)

Francis Wenrich, 1750-1827, sold 2 2⁄3 acres and 18 poles to the church for 2 pounds in 1793. His tombstone indicates that he served at Brandywine and Germantown during the Revolutionary War and on the Frontier. His wife was Elizabeth, 1751-1824. Wenrich Street is named in his honor.

John Eisenhower

John Eisenhower, 1774-1861, was the half-brother of the great-grandfather of President Dwight David Eisenhower. Genealogy records indicate that he served in the Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War and 5th Class Capt. Henry Snevely’s Co. during the Whiskey Rebellion (1794). His wife was Catherine Planck, 1770-1845. She was a daughter of Jacob Planck, a witness to the deeding of the church property in 1793. The Eisenhower genealogy is in our church archives.

George Pletz

On Sept. 17, 1828, George Pletz, 20, was laid to rest in Wenrich’s Cemetery. He and his brother, John, invented a flying machine and attempted to fly from the mountain to their Uncle Bickle’s farm in Fishing Creek Valley. The unsuccessful attempt ended with George dead of a broken neck and John surviving with a broken arm.

White Feather

On August 26, 1939, a Native American known as both Princess White Feather and Eagle Feather, as well as the English names Mary Greene, Mary Redd, and Mary Taylor, was buried in Wenrich’s Cemetery, the only local cemetery that would allow her burial. There are few proven facts about her life but we do know she was at the Carlisle Indian School. Some very interesting stories about her can be found in the church archives and online.

Burials “Outside the Fence”

In the early days of the church and cemetery the property was surrounded by a fence. The custom at the time in this area was to bury “the devil’s people” in the land outside the fence. According to Wenrich 1791 Rules and Regulations of the Church, when a person “falls from his faith,” officers of the church are to go to him 1-2-3 times, and then if he falls again, when he dies, he is to be buried on the outside of the graveyard with the Devil’s people. These people were not even given the respect of having their graves marked.

Slave Burials

Nevin W. Moyer, in his “Records of Wenrich’s Reformed Church, 1791-1938,” states that the 50 feet west of the 1794-1856 church site up to the Meese plot was the area where the slaves of colonial days were buried. The exact location of the old church site is marked by a large stone at the top of the rise in the cemetery. The Meese memorial stone is a tall column to the west (toward the wood lot). None of the slaves buried here are identified by any known records.

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