A Revolutionary War-era Cemetery Inspires an Author by Cynthia Howerter

The colonial historical fiction novel that I’m currently writing is set in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania during 1777. It was a frightening time for the settlers, many of whom were Scot-Irish Presbyterians, on what was then part of the American frontier. Deadly, lightning-fast raids conducted by British-allied Iroquois war parties swept across the rural county while General George Washington and the ragtag Continental Army of ordinary men did their best to battle the highly-trained professional British army in the east.

The British burned American homes
 during the Revolutionary War (photo by Cynthia Howerter)

The story of the people who tamed and defended Pennsylvania’s backcountry and fought in the Revolutionary War is dear to my heart—mostly because my ancestors were among them.    

After conducting eight months of intensive research about that era on the Pennsylvania frontier, I needed to create the characters for my novel—and desiring to make them realistic, I knew where to turn for inspiration. 

A previous visit to the old Warrior Run Presbyterian Church and burial ground in Northumberland County had impressed me with the number of church members who not only lived during the Revolutionary War period, but who served their fledgling country as soldiers in the war for independence. You may recall my July 2, 2014 Colonial Quills article ("The Warrior Run Presbyterian Church in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania") about this church.

Warrior Run Presbyterian Church (photo by Cynthia Howerter)

The first time I visited the historic church grounds, a well-maintained stone wall near the church caught my eye—and I knew I needed to investigate the enclosed cemetery more closely. 

View of the stone wall and enclosed Warrior Run burial ground (photo by Cynthia Howerter)

After parking my car underneath several ancient shade trees, I spotted an old iron gate.The metal latch was frozen in place from infrequent use, but I persevered until it released and allowed me to swing open the heavy gate and enter the peaceful enclosure.

The burial ground's iron gate (photo by Julie Kane Trometter)

Inside the wall was a neatly laid out cemetery, the final resting place of many of the area’s early Scot-Irish Presbyterian settlers.

Warrior Run burial ground's neatly laid out graves (photo by Cynthia Howerter)

I was intrigued by the numerous American flags held in place by metal markers and wondered which war the honored person had fought in. Walking past flag after flag, I was stunned by the number of men who had fought in the American Revolutionary War.

The peaceful resting place of American Patriots (photo by Julie Kane Trometter)

These were the very men who defended their communities from Iroquois war parties and battled the British so the American colonists would be able to govern themselves.

These men were not professionally trained soldiers. They were ordinary men—farmers, shopkeepers, husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends—who did extraordinary feats to defeat the Iroquois and British Army—the most powerful Army on earth.

American boys and men of all ages fought for our right to live free (photo by Cynthia Howerter)

While some of these brave men traveled east and fought the British Army, others stayed home in Northumberland County and fought the British-allied Iroquois Indians whose goal was to destroy the homes and crops and lives of the settlers trying to eke out a living in the wilderness.

The men and women whose final resting place is inside the protective stone wall of the Warrior Run Presbyterian Church’s cemetery are the people whose lives inspired the characters in my colonial historical novel. In their honor, my characters bear a mixture of some of their first and last names. 

Let’s look at the gravestones of several American patriots and spend a quiet moment honoring those who put their lives on the line so that you and I can live a free life.

Patriot Thomas Wallace (photo by Julie Kane Trometter)

Patriot John Montgomery (photo by Julie Kane Trometter)

Patriot Thomas Barr (photo by Julie Kane Trometter)

Patriot John Caldwell (photo by Julie Kane Trometter)

A special and heartfelt thank you to my cousin and fellow DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) member, Julie Kane Trometter, for driving to the Warrior Run Presbyterian Cemetery and taking photographs for this article.

Photographs ©2014 Julie Kane Trometter 

Photographs ©2014 Cynthia Howerter 

Award-winning author Cynthia Howerter loves using her training in education, research, writing, and speaking to teach and inspire others about a time in America that was anything but boring. A member of the Daughters of the American revolution (DAR), Cynthia believes history should be alive and personal.

Visit Cynthia's website: Cynthia Howerter - all things historical 

Shopping in Colonial Times by Cynthia Howerter

Tarpley Thompson Store in Colonial Williamsburg

In the colonial historical fiction novel that I’m currently writing, there is only one store near the Wallace family who lives on a farm in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1777. Maclay’s Trading Post, owned by Scottish immigrant Robert Maclay, carries a large assortment of goods that settlers in a rural area need but cannot provide for themselves.

Because it’s helpful for me to visualize scenes as I write them, I visited the  Tarpley Shop in Colonial Williamsburg and took photos of the interior. Let’s take a stroll inside and see what items the Wallace women might need to purchase for their colonial kitchen.

During the colonial era, cooking was done in a large fireplace. The Wallace women would have set pans and tea kettles on iron trivets over the burning coals to cook their food. These would have been made by a blacksmith. The triangular trivet contains short legs and would have been used for pans that required direct heat from coals while the round trivet with its longer legs allowed a pan to sit farther away from direct heat.

Triangular trivet with short legs

Round trivet with longer legs

Both wood and iron cooking utensils were used by the Wallace women. Surely Mr. Maclay sold these items in his trading post.

Iron cooking ladles and forks

Assortment of wood cooking utensils

The Wallace family had an abundance of fresh eggs because they raised chickens.And what goes better with eggs than toast? Yes, colonial women were able to take slices of bread and toast them in their cooking fireplaces. But I'm certain the Wallace women had to keep a close eye on their food! Below is a two-slice toaster. Ahem.

 

A colonial "toaster"

The Wallace Farm had an apple orchard that produced an abundance of apples. Each fall, apples were processed into cider, a favorite drink of the family. The mugs below would have been made by a potter. 

Mugs or tankards

 Robert Maclay's Trading Post catered to the needs of his customers. Those who could afford dishes made from pottery would have been able to purchase them from Maclay's store.

Kitchen dishes made from red clay pottery

Before the Wallace women leave Maclay's Trading Post, they surely would have taken one last look to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. The photos below give a broader view of the inside of the Tarpley store in Colonial Williamsburg. 

Tarpley's store in Colonial Williamsburg

Interior of the Tarpley store in Colonial Williamsburg

I hope you've enjoyed shopping with the Wallace women today. Because they walked several miles from their home to the store and had to also walk back home, they only purchased what they could carry. And that simply means they will have to go shopping again soon.

All Photographs © 2014 Cynthia Howerter 

Award-winning author Cynthia Howerter loves using her training in education, research, writing, and speaking to teach and inspire others about a time in America that was anything but boring. A member of the Daughters of the American revolution (DAR), Cynthia believes history should be alive and personal.

Visit Cynthia's website: Cynthia Howerter - all things historical

    

The Warrior Run Presbyterian Church in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania - by Cynthia Howerter

The colonial historical fiction novel I’m currently writing is set in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1777. Because I want my book to accurately reflect the Scot-Irish Presbyterians who lived in that area during the colonial time period, I have visited a number of local historical sites. Come along with me as we visit the 179-year-old Warrior Run Presbyterian Church and learn about Pennsylvania's Scot-Irish settlers.

By the early 1700s, large numbers of Scot-Irish Presbyterians began emigrating from Northern Ireland to the American Colonies. Many of those who arrived at Philadelphia or several ports in Delaware began moving into Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In addition to building homes there for themselves, they established Presbyterian churches which remain to this day.

In June, 1769, land in Northumberland County was made available for purchase. Many of the Scot-Irish sold their Lancaster County properties and bought land in this new area - then the unsettled frontier of the colonies. And being a godly people, they brought their Presbyterian faith with them. 

The original Warrior Run Church was built about 1775. It was a log building situated next to where the Warrior Run Creek emptied into the Susquehanna River near present day Watsontown, Pennsylvania. In 1779, British-allied Seneca Indians burned down the log structure during the “Great Runaway” - a terrifying time in central Pennsylvania when settlers ran away from the area to escape marauding Indian war parties.

Once the threat of Indian attacks in Northumberland County had passed, the congregation rebuilt the church, but on land farther away from the creek and the river. This second building, also a log structure, was large enough to hold 300 worshippers. It burned to the ground in 1833, cause unknown.

Two years later, the congregation built the current building just feet away from where the second structure had stood. The congregants meant for their third building to last. Constructed with a limestone foundation and red brick walls, the one-story building is in the Greek Revival style. 

Each of the church’s 13 windows contains 28 individual panes of original glass - a lavish expense when the rural church was built in 1835. As I looked through the windows, I noted the delightful bubbles and waves found in old glass.

The exterior shutters are functional. They were designed to be opened during warm weather to help cool the sanctuary and closed during winter to help keep the building warm.

The floor of the four-columned front portico is made from bricks laid in the herringbone pattern and edged with limestone blocks. 

Because limestone is plentiful in this section of Northumberland County, it was used as a base for the church’s foundation and porch.  

On Sunday mornings, the congregants entered the large church via the two front doors.

The interiors of the old Presbyterian churches are austere. Because Presbyterians wanted to focus on worshipping God, their sanctuaries were devoid of "decorations" that could distract the people sitting in the pews.   

Notice the lack of lighting inside the sanctuary. The Warrior Run Church never had electricity—or heat—installed. While the church is still used for special occasions, services are mostly held during the daytime in warmer months.

During the early 1800s, many members of rural Presbyterian churches actually paid rent in order to have their own pews. One of my Scot-Irish ancestors, Colonel John Kelly - a Revolutionary War officer from Northumberland County, rented Pew 33 in the nearby Buffalo Crossroads Presbyterian Church.

The main characters in my novel are Scot-Irish Presbyterians who purchased land in Northumberland County after leaving their home in Lancaster County. Their lives on the Pennsylvania frontier were fraught with danger. At times, it was difficult to distinguish a friend from an enemy. In such a sparsely populated area, the lines between right and wrong, good and evil could easily have been blurred. When the Indians massacred their families and friends, no settler would have been criticized had they decided to quit and leave. But along with their unwavering Presbyterian faith, the determination to succeed that had accompanied their fathers from Scotland to Northern Ireland had traveled with the sons across the Atlantic. These new Americans brought that same persevering spirit with them when they moved into Pennsylvania's wilderness -  and when they chose to fight for American independence from Britain. During that dangerous and frightening era, the Scot-Irish Presbyterians set an exemplary example for us to follow in today's unsettling times.

As we leave Warrior Run Presbyterian Church, please look in the background of the final photograph for a glimpse of the adjacent cemetery. My August article for Colonial Quills will discuss how I found the names for the characters in my novel by walking through this cemetery.

All Photographs ©2014 Cynthia Howerter 

Award-winning author Cynthia Howerter loves using her training in education, research, writing, and speaking to teach and inspire others about a time in America that was anything but boring. A member of the Daughters of the American revolution (DAR), Cynthia believes history should be alive and personal.

Visit Cynthia's website: Cynthia Howerter - all things historical