The Gatekeeper at the Horner Family Cemetery

I was denied access today to the Horner Family Cemetery in East Millsboro where six of my direct ancestors are buried, along with 30 other relatives.

Before making the 30 minute trip from Bentleyville to East Millsboro in Fayette County, I researched the cemetery on the Find A Grave website. It was suggested that visitors stop at 262 East Millsboro Road to ask for permission.

So, I knocked on the door and no one answered. I was in the process of leaving a note, when a man came out and questioned why I was there. I told him I wanted to visit the cemetery and he immediately said, “No, it’s private property.” I asked if he owned it and he said that he did.

I told him that I found the information about the cemetery on line, but because there was only an address and no phone number, I wasn’t able to call. He repeated that the cemetery is on private property, then he told a story about how people ride quads on his property and how he’s ok with that.

I asked again if I could go to the cemetery and he made a lot of excuses: “I’m a private person” “It’s the Fourth of July” and “It’s private property.” He repeated that last phrase a few times.

I handed him the note with my number and email address and I asked him to give me a call when it was more convenient for him. I managed to get his first name, but not his number. (His last name was on the mailbox.) He ran through the excuses again and mentioned that I set off his alarms when I knocked on the door and that the Pennsylvania state police had called to see if everything was ok.

Finally, I said, “You’re never going to let me visit the cemetery, are you?” And he said, “No, probably not.”

That was that. I returned to my car where my daughter Abby was waiting and we left. Actually, we were pretty happy to get out of there. The trip wasn’t wasted though because we stopped at Duda’s Farm Market to get some fresh corn.

When I got home I did some research and I found that Title 9 of the Pennsylvania Statutes, Chapter 7, pertaining to burial grounds, allows for reasonable ingress and egress to private family cemeteries. The owner can designate the frequency, hours and duration of the visitation and the route of ingress and egress. If access is denied, relief can be sought through the court of common pleas.

I’m wondering, has anyone else had an issue with this cemetery or any other local private cemeteries? If so, what did you do?

I’ll be sharing this on some local genealogy pages to seek their opinions as well.

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