Camp Hill Cemetery

November 9, 2013 around 1pm

Initial Notes: It is apparent that this cemetery has been long forgotten. Well, maybe not long forgotten since there were pretty new American flags placed next to a majority of the headstones. But it is quite evident that there is no one who actually maintains the cemetery. As you can see from the pictures it is completely covered in, probably, a good six inches of leaves. A lot of the headstones are broken, have fallen over, and are so worn from the weather that you can't even read the names on them. Although, fallen branches had been dragged off to the side, but not disposed of. This was actually the first time I had ever actually stepped foot into the cemetery. What struck me as well was how randomly the graves were spread out. There were clusters of headstones then large expanses of nothing, then were were be three or four squished together, and then some evenly spread out. There was no exact or precise layout to the cemetery. 

Reaction: According to the very little I could find out about this cemetery it is very, very old. Many of Lebanon's early settlers are buried within this cemetery, which is why it is such a shame that it has not been maintained. It is surprising the lack of care it has received when other structures such as the Town Pound have received so much attention. It could be because Lebanon is such a small town or that no one really knows it is there. I mean, my road, Gully Oven Road, was only just finally completely paved a few years back. So, to say the least, Lebanon is a bit behind the times and usually forgotten in general. 

From what I could see and read on the worn medals and headstones a lot of the people buried within the cemetery served in the Revolutionary War and Civil War. In fact, most of the cemetery is made up of veterans of these two wars. Apparently, for the War of the Rebellion, Lebanon offered 121 three years men for the army, but apparently they never received any credit from authorities. I believe some were even firefighters if I could read the medals correctly. It is a little melancholy to see all these bright new American flags with old, crumbling medals on them placed next to headstones that have been sitting there being worn down by all the elements for countless years. The people buried in this cemetery probably don't even have any living relatives left or maybe relatives that don't even realize they have ancestors in this cemetery. The fact that so many war veterans are buried in this cemetery is baffling to me that there is not more attention given to it. There isn't even a sign or anything noticeable to mark that it is even there. Honestly, if I didn't live on the road and know it was there I probably would have never noticed it. 

I think this cemetery is an example of how history can be lost in small towns. There are no extremes to living in a small town it seems. It can be like the town pound where there is a society that is paying to maintain it and keep its history and story alive, or it can be forgotten when the people who did originally care or know about it pass away or move away. Small towns are treasure troves of history, but people need to take the time to realize it is there.