St. Elias Lutheran Church & Cemetery of Emmitsburg, Maryland
The St. Elias Lutheran Church is located in the heart of Emmitsburg but the adjoining cemetery can best be accessed from Irishtown Road. This leads you to the rear of the church and ample parking next to the cemetery itself, which must be traversed on foot.
Notes and photos submitted by Kate Maynard, July 2008
(Click on a thumb for larger image.)
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St. Elias Lutheran Church, Parish House and Cemetery. The Gillelan family gravesites are visible to the left of the church. Here you will find many stones for the family of William and Magdalena (Hockensmith) Gillelan. Having walked the entire cemetery myself, I must say that it is quite unusual to see such a Scots-Irish name as Gillelan among a sea of German surnames, but these Gillelans became members of the Lutheran church when William married into the Hockensmith family, known to have been among the earliest members of the old Toms Creek Lutheran congregation. |
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This group of three stones marks the resting place for William Gillelan, 1809-1880, Magdalena Hockensmith Gillelan (died April 1, 1874) and their daughter Hannah Susan Gillelan, 1836-1923. Magdalena's stone is quite weathered and I intend to take additional notes with another trip to this cemetery. |
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This group of three stones is for William and Magdalena's son Jacob Gillelan, his wife Mary and daughter Fannie. |
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Jacob William Gillelan, 1832-1893 |
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Mary Ann (Dotterer) Gillelan, wife of Jacob. Her stone is badly weathered. This is among the stones for which I will record the engraving on my next trip to the cemetery. Unfortunately, some stones are too worn to decipher from the photos. |
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Fannie Annette Gillelan, 1867-1930, daughter of Jacob and Mary. Among all of the Gillelan stones at the cemetery hers is the lest legible due to the effects of weathering. |
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This group of stones is for David Gillelan, his wife Virginia and daughter Anna. Son William R. Gillelan is also buried at St. Elias but sons Charles Edgar and Harry Morris are interred at Emmitsburg Mountain View (also known as Fairview Cemetery). |
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The stone for David Samuel Gillelan, 1834-1904, and his wife Virginia (Flagel) Gillelan, 1843-1929. |
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Anna Virginia Gillelan, 1876-1958. |
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William Robert Gillelan, 1869-1946, was a son of David S. and Virginia Gillelan. |
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Footstone for Margaret J., 1877-1967, wife of William Robert Gillelan. |
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George L. Gillelan, 1842-1911, and wife Ida S. (Ohler) Gillelan, 1852-1927. George and Ida had a large family. Of their seven children I was able to verfiy that five of them were laid to rest at St. Elias: Ruth, Rhoda, George Samuel, Joshua Thomas, and Carrie Magdalena. They also had two other sons, John and Lawrence. |
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George Samuel Gillelan, 1880 -1904 |
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Carrie Magdalena Gillelan, 1875-1941 and her sister Ruth B., 1882-1965 |
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Rhoda H. Gillelan, 1885-1957 |
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Beneath this large headstone rests the footstones for Joshua Thomas Gillelan,1873-1958, and wife Mary Elizabeth, 1882-1959. Their graves were omitted from the published index I was using as my guide. |
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View of the cemetery and surrounding countryside. |