Tags
Cemetery, Civil War, hike, Just Walk, markers, muddy, Pusey, Research, swamp, Trails, Worcester County
A week or so ago we found a brochure called “Just Walk”. It was put out by the Worcester County Health Dept. You could sign up and receive gifts for the miles you walked on 15 different trails. Most of which we had already hiked. There were a couple we hadn’t so we decided to go ahead and do it. The first one we picked was the Pusey Branch Trail on Old Furnace Rd near Old Beech Rd.
There is a cemetery at the front of this trail, so we thought we would check it out.
We then see this headstone. I knew by the writing and style that it is a military grave. When I got home, I decided to do a little research on S.C. Stevens. Private Stanley C. Stevens enlisted into the Union Army (Civil War) on August 30, 1864 at 28 years old. He was in Battery E of the 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. He was enlisted for 1 year and mustered out June 13, 1865. I could not find his birth or death dates.
We finish looking around and head to the trail.
The trail needs some maintenance but it is well marked.
We came to a secondary trail and headed that way.
The White Trail took us to a swamp, bright green life in an otherwise old, dying forest.
A few boardwalks and busted up benches along the way.
We found another path off of the designated path and tried to take that one but there was too much water.
Informational signs along the way. This one asks what is in a cord of wood?
I don’t think so! A mound of rotted wood.
Our path. A short hike and I couldn’t wait to get back and fill out the Health Department form to start earning free gifts!! Ha!! Get to the bottom of the form and it informs me that we have to be Worcester residents to register!!
As I mentioned above, I did some research on Pvt. Stevens. Because this hike was on the Pusey Branch and there were Pusey headstones in the cemetery, I just assumed the name of the cemetery was Pusey? (Researchers NEVER assume!). I went to the Find a Grave website and saw that the Pusey Cemetery is a couple miles west on Meadow Bridge Rd. The above cemetery is called the Nazareth Cemetery, from a church and not a private one.
So, a week later we head to find the Pusey Cemetery. As we head down the road Kathy sees some headstones in the woods. This one is a private cemetery called Bounds-McAllen Cemetery.
A small cemetery and not the one we are looking for. A photo on the Find a Grave site shows it with a fence. We head further up the road and we see a gate on a trail and we think this must be the place. Walking back about 700′ we found it. Seemed odd that there was a marker on the outside of the fence.
We found another Veteran’s grave. There is more available research on him, on Google, than that on Stevens. As can be seen, he was in the Confederate Army, the cavalry. Here is a link for info. http://www.mikehitch.com/me/5062.htm Thanks Mike for the info.
And here we have a tree growing on top a dead stump.
A photo from 2013 of the cemetery, Some sites show it just as the Pusey Cemetery. On other sites I saw it called the Pusey-Maddox Cemetery.
After visiting here, we hiked some. Another story, another time.
It would be nice to know the story of the two service men. They are buried a couple miles from each other, in cemeteries with family members of the same name. Did they know each other. One item I read about Azariah was that he enlisted in the union, was captured by the rebels and joined them?? So many questions, so little time…
