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Our 2001 cleanup team, L-R: Wayne Miner, Art Miller, Leslie Leapline Potter, Bill Suffern, Mike Smith and Mark Miner. Kneeling: Dennis Morrison. Photo - Sid Miller. See the update on our 2006 cleanup effort.

Published summary

2002 UPDATE -- A formal report on the cleanup and mapping of Lynn Point Cemetery has been released to the public by the Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion Committee. Copies have been sent to select libraries and historical societies in Dunbar, Connellsville and Uniontown, PA, as well as in Pittsburgh.

The report contains a professionally drawn survey map of the cemetery, showing the location of six grave markers and between 55-60 unmarked gravestones, as well as dilapidated fencelines and vegetation. It also contains a narrative of cleanup efforts in 2001-2002 and a list of all individuals known or believed to be buried at Lynn Point.

Writing in the report’s introduction, Mark A. Miner (reunion president) and Sidney E. Miller (vice president and cemetery cleanup chairman) said:

When we made our first visits to the mountainous Lynn Point Cemetery near Dunbar in the 1990s, we both came to the conclusion that this was a sacred site -- -and, sadly, in danger of becoming forgotten, along with the identities of those buried there. The few headstones, among high weeds, broken branches and entangling vines, belie the fact that scores of other souls sleep there in unmarked graves -- each having lived a life filled with some level of experience and emotion, joy and suffering, energy and fatigue. We desire that this cleanup be a regular, ongoing effort. A spring or autumn visit is needed annually to inspect and beautify the site and to make sure the undergrowth and debris are kept at bay.

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Scout leader Dennis Morrison

MAY 2002 - Over the Memorial Day Weekend, volunteers Dennis Morrison, Scout Master of Boy Scouts of America Troop 180-Dunbar, and Mark A. Miner, Minerd.com founder and president of the annual National Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor Reunion, re-visited the Lynn Point Cemetery.

Their mission was three-fold -- to place American flags on the graves of Civil War soldiers as part of an annual Boy Scouts service project; to field-check the final details of the survey map sketched during the 2001 cleanup; and to make sure the cemetery was still relatively clean of debris and that all grave markers were still in place. Each of the three objectives was accomplished during the visit.  Seen here, Dennis plants a flag at the grave of Civil War veteran James Minerd Jr.

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Crews at work

APRIL 21, 2001 -- Despite intermittent rain and constant mud, eight volunteers spent a Saturday morning clearing extensive overgrowth and downed trees from the remote, mountainous Lynn Point Cemetery near Dunbar, Fayette County, PA.

The group included officials of the National Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion, as well as members of the Bodkin family and community leaders.

The cleanup crew was comprised of cousins Sid Miller, Art Miller, Mike Smith, O. Wayne Miner and Mark A. Miner, as well as community members Leslie Leapline Potter, Dennis Morrison and William Suffern.

The effort involved cutting and removing trees, fallen branches, heavy briars and weeds. The grave markers of two Civil War soldiers, both of which had toppled over, were lifted, straightened and re-set into place.

Cutting up heavy woodfall

At left, Mike Smith cuts apart a tree which had fallen on a grave marker of the Tressler family.

The 75 foot by 75 foot cemetery was mapped professionally, despite unclear fencelines and rough terrain.

The effort was a result of the long-term vision of brothers Sid and Art Miller. They first visited the cemetery in 1996, and were appalled to see the neglected condition of the grave of their great-great grandfather, Civil War veteran James Minerd Jr., of the 85th PA Infantry.

"Sid knew what needed to be accomplished, did the legwork and marshaled the resources," said Mark Miner, president of the Minerd reunion committee, and founder of the family's website. "He and the work team have provided a valuable service to the community, to our family and to future unborn generations."

Only a handful of graves were found to be marked, of the Minerd, Tressler and Forquer families. Retired civil engineer Wayne Miner, who performed the surveying and mapping, found from between 55 to 60 graves in various rows, marked only by rough upright fieldstones, with no lettering.

"This is our way to give something back to the Dunbar community which has provided a home and livelihoods to hundreds of members of our families," said Sid Miller. "It also helps us honor individuals of the past, and is an opportunity for all of us to learn. We're sending a message that these lives will not be forgotten."

Having completed his survey, retired surveyor and civil engineer Wayne Miner clears the grave of Civil War veteran John S. Forquer. Below: soaking web, but clean at last.

The group has developed these future goals for the project:

• Maintain a special page on the family's website, to serve as a single point of reference and baseline for future research efforts.

• Educate the public about the project, including distributing copies of the cemetery map to local libraries, historical societies, genealogists and community members.

• Gather as much history of the cemetery as possible, including the identities of as many individuals buried at Lynn Point as possible, and determining when the cemetery was first used. Possible avenues of research include courthouse, newspaper and genealogical records. The earliest marked burial is Mary Minerd (1885), daughter of the soldier.

Copyright © 2001-2002, 2008, 2022 Mark A. Miner