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Civil War Burials in Coleman’s Church Cemetery
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 27, 2013
St. Matthew’s or Coleman’s Church in Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was organized as a Union Church of Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Congregations on Whitsunday, 1857 (Pentecost, or seven weeks after Easter). The first church building was erected shortly thereafter and resembled the present structure (shown above), except that it didn’t have a basement. Today, the congregations is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
Cemetery records pre-date the existence of the church at this site, with evidence of some burials before 1834. However, the original land warrant, recorded in Harrisburg, is dated 19 November 1834, and was issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the purposes of a schoolhouse and a “burrying ground.” Reformed Church records seem to indicate the existence of an organized congregation at this site as early as 1817 (as a member of the Deep Creek Charge), that the burying ground was used as early as 1795, and that the school was built many years before the 1858 church.
There are surprisingly few Civil War soldiers buried in Coleman’s Cemetery.
Of those either identified as Civil War veterans or suspected to be Civil War veterans are the following:
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[CW#K180] Jacob Koppenhoffer (1825-1887)
CivilWar service is suspected, but not confirmed for this Jacob Koppenhoffer. There is no indication at gravesite that he was a Civil War veteran.
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[CW#R025] Henry Reed (1839-1904)
While it is suspected that Henry Reed, buried here, was a Civil War veteran, no specific service has yet been located.
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[CW#192] Simon Wolf (1826-1879)
Records indicate that Simon Wolf served in the 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery.
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[CW#W183] Elias Wolf (1848-1920)
Elias Wolf served in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
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[CW#W011] Elias Walborn (1840-1861)
Elias Walborn‘s Civil War service is unknown at this time. There is a G.A.R. star-flagholder at his grave.
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[CW#L074] Jacob Lettich (1825-1910)
Jacob Lettich served in the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry which later was consolidated with the 95th Pennsylvania Infantry.
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[CW#S061] Frederick Schwalm (1831-1902)
This is possibly not the correct Frederick Schwalm since the birth year and death year do not match the one in the Civil War records. However, there is a G.A.R. star-flagholder at this gravesite, indicating Civil War service. The Frederick Schwalm in the Civil War records [CW#S061] was born in 1831 and died in 1902 and is buried in Zion {Klinger’s) Cemetery, Erdman, Lykens Township.
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The history and records of this church and cemetery were compiled by Dr. Glenn P. Schwalm and published in 1991 by Schuylkill Roots as Saint Matthew’s (Coleman’s) Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery Records (1872-1966), Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
You guys might want to check your site because you have an error and Elias wolf history. There was an Elias wolf that served with the night Pennsylvania Calvary but it is not the one that you have a picture of his gravestone. The one you have would have been about 12 years old when the Civil War broke out the Elias that served with the 9th Pennsylvania Calvary is buried in witmer’s Cemetery in Port trevorton Pennsylvania.