The word “pleasant” conjures up many images and feelings. Thinking pleasant thoughts may bring a smile to your face. A pleasant thought may be a grassy knoll with tree-covered hills surrounding it, with white puffy clouds in a sky of blue. Now, add the word “Cemetery.” Takes the pleasant thoughts away, doesn’t it?
However, the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Taylor Township is not misnamed. Sitting beside the Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church, the cemetery does sit on a grassy knoll, far from the sounds of the modern world. It is a good place to be alone with your thoughts and reflections. Area genealogists may also be interested in the cemetery, as many former Tyrone residents are buried there.
The cemetery dates from the early 19th century. Lois Baily, a member of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association, has no date as to when the cemetery began operations. A check of her cemetery map shows several of the oldest graves marked as “unknown,” names and dates lost to time, poor record keeping, and death of those who knew. A quick search of the cemetery revealed a marker with a death date of 1835. It is known that the cemetery predates the church, which was started in 1859.
The Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association will be holding it’s annual Homecoming Picnic at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 27, in the Mount Pleasant Grove. The picnic was started more than 70 years ago, when a day was set aside for families to clean up their plots and plant flowers. Now it has grown into a homecoming for this rural area.
To visit the cemetery, church, or picnic grove, go north on Route 220 to Fowler Hollow, which is just a couple miles past Reeses’ store. The hollow cuts off to the left. Follow the hollow road for several miles to Hoover Lane, a gravel road which cuts off to the right. Stay on Hoover Lane, and the church and cemetery will be on your left.
