Ever wondered where some of your beloved ancestors could be? Ever know someone was in a graveyard, but since they had no stone or it has weathered, you have no rock solid proof?
Just like all cities across the land, there are forgotten and destroyed cemeteries in Allegheny Co, PA. Take, for instance, the Allegheny City Home which was established in 1844. Its first site was in Shaler Twp. The home moved to O'Hara Twp in 1871 according to the Carnegie Library. The cemetery which was mainly used for the home was destroyed during the construction of Rte 28.
So, what's a family genealogy buff to do? One suggestion is to look at the census records for the poor house, workhouse and insane asylums of the area to see if any familiar names were there. There is always the chance the graves, which were most likely unmarked, no longer exist.
One of my genealogy buddies (or buddette?) was gracious enough to transcribe the names from the Allegheny Co Poor House and Workhouse censusus from 1850-1910. These names are now on our old Pittsburgh Newspaper Project and can easily be found.
Go here to see the list. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/index.html
Ahh, genealogy. While we can't always find absolute evidence for all of our blood, the past can be just a grave decision based on circumstantial evidence.
©2012 AS Eldredge