Erie Cemetery

Last week I received a client request to visit the Erie Cemetery and photograph some grave markers. At the time, we were in the midst of an unusually balmy January (think global warming) and a stroll through one of my favorite cemeteries sounded like a great way to enjoy the outdoors. Next thing I knew, we had several straight days of lake effect snow and blizzard conditions, not to mention highs never getting above the teens for what seemed like forever. Suddenly an excursion to the cemetery lost its appeal.

Fortunately, my client appreciates the hazards of Northwest Pennsylvania winters, and is happy to wait until conditions are a bit more clement. In the meantime though, I’m going to suggest to him that, if he hasn’t all ready done so, he might have good luck checking the Erie Cemetery Association’s online burial database.

I use the database as a finding tool for burials at the three cemeteries which make up the association: the Erie Cemetery at 2116 Chestnut Street, Erie; Laurel Hill Cemetery at 4325 Love Road, Erie; and Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery at 2601 Norcross Road, Erie.

Finding the database takes a bit of work – it is not one of the navigational links at the top left of the home page. Scroll down, and you’ll see a “Search for your Family Genealogy” click here button, or scroll to the very bottom of the home page and follow the “search our genealogy database” link. Following either link brings you to the search page.

Last name is required, but all other search fields, such as dates of birth and death, and lot and section, are optional. You have the choice of filtering cemeteries or searching all of them at once.

A search of Nicholson at all cemeteries produced a long list. Here is the beginning of it:

Cemetery
Name
Lot No
Section
Location
Birth Date
Death Date
Wintergreen Cemetery
Nicholson Adam W.
678
10
gr 2
03/25/1913
05/30/1999
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Alex
1
H
10/21/1878
Wintergreen Cemetery
Nicholson Andrew James
250
2
gr J
06/27/1895
02/08/1975
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Anna
261
20
SE cor Hd E
03/19/1846
06/22/1923
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Nicholson Anna B.
98
16
gr 1
03/18/1917
10/21/1998
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Catherine
1
H
02/27/1864
10/23/1885
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson ch of D. W.
Row R
B sgl
gr 21
03/30/1886
03/30/1886
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Nicholson Daisy D.
600
8
gr 1
09/21/1889
11/27/1981
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Donald W.
261
20
NE cor Hd E
10/14/1844
03/19/1909
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Dr. John
17
H
09/02/1830
08/01/1862
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Eliza Jane
17
H
4.5′ W of NE cor Hd N
03/23/1894
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Emma S.
16
B
10′ SW of NE cor of S 1/2, 4′ NW of edge of lot
07/23/1855
02/14/1933
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson George
1
H
Reint fr Presbyterian Grounds 3/25/1852
01/24/1834
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson George C. (or E.)
17
H
6′ E of SW cor Hd S
04/26/1834
09/25/1894
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson George Sheldon
1
H
03/29/1854
10/26/1856
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Henry C.
1
H
Inner circle, E line, Hd E
11/25/1903
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Jamie Lee
59
33
GR A
11/10/1969
04/11/2007
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Jane
1
H
Reint fr Assoc Reform Grounds 6/22/1854
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Jane
1
H
Reint fr Presbyterian Grounds 3/27/1852
12/07/1847
Erie Cemetery
Nicholson Jane
1
H
Inner crcl abt 4.5′ W of Alex’s stone, Hd SW
01/13/1899

The website also provides a map of lots and sections, which makes locating the graves easier, as these are large cemeteries. I’d also recommend checking with the cemetery office to see the original records.


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