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McAninch Farm Cemetery, Beaver Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania (2023)

The "McAninch Farm Cemetery", aka "McAninch Family Cemetery", was established in the

late 1830s on McAninch land near Ohl in Beaver Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.

Examination of the evidence shows that there are (at least) 13 or 14 graves in this farm cemetery.

Known historical source books and published cemetery surveys include

(1898) The Commemorative Biographical Record 1898 book,

(1981) The Tombstone Hoppin’ 1981 book by Patricia Steele,

(1994) The (Arthur) Leroy McAninch and Harold Stewart McAninch cemetery survey, and

(1995) The Blanche Blizzard survey at the McAninch Farm Cemetery, reporting 15 gravestones.

These four different sources are reviewed in chronological order below.

CBR’1898 (book)

The Commemorative Biographical Record 1898 book mentions the "McAninch farm" cemetery:

"William and Rachel (Thompson) Crowe . . . as early as 1802 they came to Clarion County,

when it formed a part of Armstrong County . . . At their deaths they were laid to rest on the

McAninch farm in Beaver township, Jefferson county" [CBR’1898, Note 1]

So, there are two Crowe burials in the McAninch Farm Cemetery, in alphabetical order:

(CBR’1898-1of2) Crowe, Rachel (Thompson) (with "CBR’1898" reference identification tags)

(CBR’1898-2of2) Crowe, William

William Crowe (b.ca.1787, Westmoreland County) and his wife Rachel (Thompson) Crowe

(b.ca.1787, Lanarkshire, Scotland) were early residents of the eastern part of Armstrong County,

before Jefferson County was established in 1804. One of their older daughters, Jane M. Crowe

(b.1813, Armstrong County) married Elijah McAninch (b.1810), and another daughter, Jane's

younger sister Mary H. "Polly" Crowe (b.1820, Armstrong County) married Henry H. McAninch

(b.1815), younger brother of Elijah McAninch. These two brothers, Elijah McAninch (d.1840)

and Henry H. McAninch (d.1875), are also buried in the McAninch Farm Cemetery.

TH’1981 (book)

The Tombstone Hoppin’ book by Patricia M. Steele was first published in 1981, based on survey

work that must have been done in the 1960s and/or 1970s. The Tombstone Hoppin’ 1981 book

says the "McAninch Cemetery" is "Located on Brosius Road (T306) southeast of its intersection

with LR #33010, near the village of Ohl on the Nolph farm." [TH’1981 book, Note 2]

Only nine burials are listed in the "McAninch Cemetery" section of the Tombstone Hoppin’ 1981

book. The list was not printed in alphabetical order, and it was not printed in chronological order.

Since it’s surely not a random list, it is probably in a ‘geometric’ order or ‘survey’ order, with no

explanation given in the book, and there is no known map of the cemetery for that time (1981).

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McAninch Farm Cemetery, Beaver Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania (2023)

McA. Family Hist. NL v.XXXI (31) n.2 / Nov. 2023 / Copyright Frank McAninch / pg.2023-18