The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1876-11-17
THE GRAVE YARDS OF BLOOMSBURY.


Two thousand years before Christ, Abraham Of
fered to purchase of the children of Ieth the
field and cave of Machpeah for possession Of a
burying place. And it is worthy Of remark that
on his request he was answered-"In the choice
of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us
shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, that
thou mayest bury thy dead" Whereby it
appears that separate family burial places or
lots were even then common but not so exclu
sive but that other and even foreign sepulture
was allowed amongst the local interments.
But Abraham declined to choose grave for
his dead wife amongst those Of the children Of
Ieth, and begged leave to purchase from Eph-
ron the Hittite a spot which should be exclu-
sively his own. For four hundred shekels of
silver, at present rates about two hundred and
fifty dollars, he purchased "the field of Ephron
which was in Machpelah, which was before
Mamore, the field and the cave which was there
in, and all the trees that were in the field, that
were in all the borders round about" And in
the cave he buried Sarah, and there he himself
was buried aud it was to the sef-same spot
that Israel dying in the land of Egypt, desired
to be brought for burial What can be more
touching than this last request of the dying Pa
triarch?
81 am to be gathered unto my people: bury
me with my fathers in the cave that is in the
field of Ephron the Hittie, in the cave that is
in the field Of Machpelah, which is before
Mamore in the land of Canaan, which Abraham
bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for
a possession of a burying place. There they
buried Abraham a1d Sarah his wife, there they
buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there [
buried Leah"
| 1t is also worthy of remark, that amongst all
nations sepulture seems to be gregarious. Fam
| lilies, neighborhoods, communities bury in one
common enclosure. Even the Kings of Egypt
were not entirely alone and exclusive in their
mausoeums; and with many other nations the
greater the prince or chieftain, the more victims
attended his departure.
| Moses alone, the servant of the Lord, dying
in the land of Moab, was buried by his Divine
Master in a valley in the land of Moab, over
against BetoPeor; and rests there in the I'M
broken silence and solitude to which the hand
of the Lord consigned him.
Poor, weak humanity requires, in its last
hours, the aid of some gentle hand, some SYM
| pathetic eye; and it is not too much to be-
lieve that it feels a consolation to know that the
| body will rest in kindred earth with the loved
| of youth and the friends of maturer life that
the last sad ceremonies of sepulture shall mean
more than mere common "earth to earth, ashes
to ashes, dust to dust )" and the more so, if ever
the departed soul shall be allowed to take cog
nizance of the things which remain.
The Town of Bloom burg has laid out upon
one Of the romantic knobs that lie adjacent,
beautiful Cemetery, among the grounds OF
which, acquired and still possible of acquisition,
may be arranged graves in the sunlight and
vaults in the hillside catching on the one
hand the first beams of the returning sun, and
on the other, bidding the last farewell to the re-
firing day. From all parts of the grounds, va
ried and unusual beauties of landscape expose
themselves. Off to the South within a few hun.
dred yards winds the musical Susquehanna and
to the North, at the very foot of the declivity
the lmpid Fishingcreek pours its sparkling
waters while the broken hills and mountains
give pleasing diversity to the scenery.
| However it is not to Rosemont Cemetery that
attention is especially dire cted, but to those most
unsightly and neglected spots OF ground which
belong, or are supposed to belong to some one
| or more of the different religious organizations
in the Town. There are several of them one
on Third street between West and Market. We
need not hunt the gate to get into the grounds
| the fence is down and access is common to ev-
erythng. The graves are fallen in, the tomb
stones stand awry, ready to drop into the sunk.
en- grave, the moss and mold and weather have
obliterated and filled up the marks of the chisel
the trees are untrimm med the shrubbery has de
cayed, the roses have been choked by the briars
and the annual crop Of blackberries is said tC
be superior to any in the whole country rounG
about. We might dig out with our pocket
knife, the decayed vegetable matter which now
conceals the letters, and spell out the name o
the person buried beneath, but we will not, fol
the dead and the living are alike iorgetful.
| Another is located a the corner Of Second anC
Iron streets The fence around that, for the mos
part, keeps out intruders, but having once en-
| tllC VI lIIt pluCt hiiOWs 10 ul
vantage over the former. The building of tn,
Church made the removal and re,interment o
some remains necessary but the tombstone'
rest against the side of the house, or stand il
rows along or about the new made graves. A
few graves are cared for but generally the shrub,
berry grows wild, the roses are strangled by coars,
grasses, the grounds are unkempt, grown ove
with dock and weeds, the trees unlrimmed, ant
the wtole place in shocking state of neglect.
Another is at the corner OF First and Centr,
streets, perhaps the oldest, and certainly th'
most unsightly For while the one on Thine
street is hidden from the casual passer by, by
high and tight board fence; and the one OF
Second street is now enclosed and protected; th'
one on First street has next to no fence and lie
high and conspicuous. While it might witt
truth be said of this tn at it is the most neglect
ed as it is the most observed, it can also be saiC
that the Cemetery Company has offered TO TAXI
charge Of it, il the authorities will turn the
property over to the Corporation, and the Town
will open Centre street to First street at the en-
trance to the grounds OF the Cemetery Cumpa
ny. BY accepting that proposition, two mucl
needed public improvements would be accom-
pished.
But to return to the main question. We ar
led to inquire whose duty it is to keep in condi
tion and repair the burial places of which men
ton has been made? Is it to be done by tn
relatives and descendants of those who are bl
ried there? Many of the families have entirel.
died out others have removed permanently
and others still are not of sufficient ability Il
make the necessary expenditure. Shall it b
done at the common charge of the respeciv
congregations? They say they can hardly pa
current expenses, aud decline to assume 70
dead andremoved members any such pecuniar
obligation.
But have the con gregatons or Parish u rigl
to decline the duty of keeping in repair an
| hi. al L.