Union Cemetery a gateway to Schuylkill Haven's past

Mar. 2—SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Walking through Union Cemetery with Dan Reed is like taking a stroll through the borough's history.

Situated on a hillside with a commanding view of the borough, Union Cemetery is the final resting place of business, political and community leaders whose influence has shaped the town.

President of the cemetery and the Schuylkill Haven Historical Society, Reed unlocked some of the secrets harbored by gravestones put up in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Schuylkill Haven's founder, Martin B. Dreibelbis, for example, has been in the cemetery since 1799.

Dreibelbis is believed to have come from Berks County and built a home and grist mill near Main Street and Parkway around 1775. He served in the Revolutionary War, and was a member of the Berks County Militia.

Caretakers of history, Reed and Ruth LaScala Tucci, treasurer, oversee the operation and maintenance of the nondenominational cemetery.

"I just want to see it kept in pristine condition," said Tucci, 81, a retired classified advertising specialist at the Pottsville Republican Herald. "When I was a child, this was our playground."

Though not quite as elaborate as the grandiose Victorian cemetery art of Charles Baber Cemetery in Pottsville, Union Cemetery has its share of period grave stones.

Henry J. Stager rests beneath a large monument with a book-shaped relief engraved with "Camp News."

Stager was National President of the Patriotic Order Sons of America in 1872 and founder of the organization's publication "Camp News."

Maj. Samuel A. Losch, who served in the Civil War, lies beneath an imposing granite stone topped by a globe encircled with an olive branch wreath, the symbol of peace.

A state senator, he was an operator of the Schuylkill Haven and Mine Hill Railway and incorporator of the Schuylkill Electric Railway Co.

Union Cemetery is a repository of Civil War veterans, including two recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military accolade.

Capt. Charles Brown received a battlefield commission to command Company C, 50th Pennsylvania Regiment, and captured a flag of the Confederate Army's 47th Virginia division. The flag is on display at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia.

Cpl. Henry Hill and another soldier held off enemy forces while the 50th Regiment regrouped after an unsuccessful charge.

Reed is particularly proud of a Civil War era wrought iron gate, which is at the entrance to a section where veterans are buried.

Festooned with a cavalry hat, saber and pistol, the gate is dedicated to Jere Helms and Grand Army of the Republic Post 28. It was restored about a decade ago.

Sgt. Jimmy Anderson and Cpl David Ney, Vietnam War casualties, are interred in the cemetery.

Reed and Tucci pointed out some well-known Schuylkill Haven families buried in the cemetery's mausoleum, which was built in 1947.

They include Harry Snayberger, owner of Walk-In Shoes; Willis Bashore, who owned Bashore Knitting Mill; and Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealer Earl Stoyer.

Tucci grew up in Schuylkill Haven, and knew many of the people now in the cemetery. Her parents, Dominic and Ruth LaScala, who had a soda fountain on Dock Street, are buried there.

Walking among the gravestones, she often feels a connection to the town's past and the people she knew while growing up.

"I think about them a lot," she said. "It's amazing how many important people we've had in this town."

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007