Benjamin Perry gravestone found, returned to Clinton County The Express sept 29 2014 Benjamin Perry is coming home, Or, at least, his gravestone is. Benjamin Perry was from england and settled in Lamar Township Clinton County in 1800s. he was instrumental in the local iron industry, and became known as the first man in America to successfully manufacture iron with anthracite coal. He passed away in June 1870 at age 73, and was buried in Great Island Cemetery, under a monument that has been described as being 12 feet tall and made of grey marble. The stone saiud, Benjamin Perry, Born in Madeley, Stropshir, England, in 1797. Died in Lamar township, Clinton co.PA, June 1, 1870. Aged 73 years. The deceased was the first iron master that manufactured iron successfully with Anthracite Coal in America. A.D. 1838. What happened to this monument has been a mystery for almost 100 years, the mystery has now been solved.... partially.. Hreat Island Cemetery sat on the hill in Lock Haven, along the southern side of Bellefonte Avenue. It was one of the oldest cemeteries in the county, but by the turn of the century, it had fallen into severe disrepair. the city made a decision to move(A! to See Benjamin A6)the cemetery, picking up gravestones, digging up old coffins and skeletons, and moving them to other cem4eteries, including Highland, Cedar Hill, Flemington, Dunnstown. the move was not as well executed as it could of been. When homes were built on the location much later, Bones were found during digging of basements, Old Records show That MANY OF THE BODIES WERE LISTED UNFOUND, and some of the stones werent recorded at all. Including the monument of Benjamin Perry,. Perrys gravestone was not recorded on any known documents. It was mentioned in an article in the old newspaper called Clinton Republican in 1901. and then never mentioned again until modern articles were written about the mystery, including one from the late Matt conner, in 2008 piece, Cemetery Safari: The search for Perry. And now the 175th history of Clinton County it was found....part of it at least. The piece of stone with inscriptions was discovered sitting outside a storage shed at Penn State University. Henry Gong, an analytical chemist with Penn State, recently became curious about the stone. Believe or not, its been sitting next to a storage shed in the back of a building on the Penn State campus for as long as anyone can remember, stated Gong. He was curi0ous enough about the stone to contact his co-worker Bob Hazelton,, Which set the wheels in motion. Hazeltton contacted Judy Heald of Centre County Genealogical Society, who looked up Benjamin Perry stone online. She informed the men that the stone came from Lock Haven, and the Clinton county genealogical society was notified. Justin Houser, of CCGS, Provided info on Perry and the monument. Perrys Grave disappeared, and I suspect it was never moved, at least the records of the relocation dont indicate that it was, Houser said. It Appears that what you have a portion of Benjamins Perrys stone, which was a large Obelisk. You have the portion with the name and dates, which is the most valuable portion. Houser also helped by contacting modern-day descendents of perrys Line, including Rich Gummo of Jersey Shore, Pa. 77. Im descended from John Gummo who married Perrys daughter, Gummo said. Gummo was contacted with mass e-mail that included Gong, Hazleton Heald, and several members of the genealogical society.. He made arrangements to acquire the stone, which is 21 inches high, 15 inches square, and has a estimated weight of naround 500lbs. On the back side of the stone is the name John Gummo, Perrys son0-in-law and Richard Gummos ancester. John Gummo died in 1890, at age 78, his body was moved to Cedar Hill Cemetery when Great Island cemetery was moved. and he has a more recent stone. I was tol;d years ago that it was there, but no body could locate it, said Gummo, Ive been hunting this thing for over 40 years or better. I called Henry Gong, I emailed him, he gave me a cell Phone number. and that led to arrangement to give Gummo the stone, On the morning of Thursday sept 18th, Gummo drove to Penn state and picked it up the available portion of the stone. NO BODY HAS ANY EXPLANATION ON HOW THE STONE GOT TO THE LOCATION. My guess, although I have no clue is that the stone was repurposed for some building project or some such thing and something recently found at least this portion of it,Houser said. then commented he was glad they had this portion, though it was so sad how The Great Island Cemetery graves and stones were just abandoned and left to devices of whoever would take them. at least we recovered a small part of Clinton County Pa, history. the stone is currently in Gummos possession. Its past mystery, and its future is unclear. It has been suggested that the stone be placed in Cedar Hill Cemetery with the rest of Gummo graves, but rich gummo has some ideas of his own. I personally think it belongs up in Farrandsville. rich gummo acclaims, Perry was hugely influential in creating the Farrandsville furnace, which was the first working hot-blast furnace on the county. The process was largely discovered by Perry. even though no plans for its final location have been carved in stone, local historians are glad to have the stone back in the county where it belongs.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 23:26:16 +0000
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