Lincoln Cemetery was founded in November 1877 by the
Wesley Union African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A.M.E. Zion Church),
and is located at 201 South 30th Street in the
Penbrook
Penbrook is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States, founded in 1861 and incorporated July 10, 1894. Penbrook was once named East Harrisburg and still maintains a Harrisburg, Pe ...
area of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
.
History
The oldest extant Black cemetery in Harrisburg, Lincoln contains many people re-interred from the approximately five original African-American Burial Grounds in the city of Harrisburg. Members of the Wesley Union church, spread out through the Harrisburg Area, were active in the
Underground Railroad.
veterans, including Ephraim Slaughter, the last surviving Civil War Veteran of Harrisburg are buried in the cemetery. He served in the
37th regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops and the
3rd N.C. Colored Infantry.
It is the site of one of the
historical markers in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Restoration
In July 2021, part of the descendant community of Lincoln Cemetery began clean-up, restoration and reclamation of the grounds.
Notable people
*
William H. Day
William Howard Day (October 16, 1825December 3, 1900) was a black abolitionist, editor, educator and minister. After his father died when he was four, Day went to live with J. P. Williston and his wife who ensured that he received a good educati ...
, abolitionist, educator, and newspaper publisher
*
Thomas Morris Chester, African-American attorney and Civil War correspondent
*
Harriet McClintock Marshall, nicknamed "Ma", assisted with the care and education of the escaped slaves traveling on the Underground Railroad stop located in the old Wesley Church.
See also
*
Mount Zion Cemetery (Kingston, New York)
Mount Zion Cemetery (–1967) is a historic African-American cemetery owned by the A.M.E. Zion Church of Kingston. The cemetery is on a lot located at 190 South Wall Street in the city of Kingston. It is in the city's Fifth Ward, less than a m ...
*
St. David African Methodist Episcopal Zion Cemetery
References
{{Reflist
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Cemeteries established in the 1870s
Cemeteries in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
African-American cemeteries in Pennsylvania
1877 establishments in Pennsylvania