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By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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PLYMOUTH – One site was littered with junk, from old automobile parts to garbage and debris.

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John Thomas of Plymouth is volunteer caretaker of the small cemetery adjacent to his home - the Reynolds Cemetery.

pete g. wilcox photos/the times leader

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Elizabeth Malloy visits the grave site of her fifth great-grandfather Thomas Davenport at the Davenport Cemetery in Plymouth. With Malloy is John Thomas of Plymouth who is caretaker of another small cemetery in town, the Reynolds cemetery on West Shawnee Avenue.

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The other site was overgrown with weeds and trees that made detecting its actual purpose impossible.

Both sites — one along West Shawnee Avenue and the other atop Davenport Street — are cemeteries rich in history and the final resting places for many of Plymouth Borough’s earliest settlers.

The Reynolds Cemetery on West Shawnee Avenue was established in 1828 as the Reynolds Family Cemetery. Thomas and Charity Davenport established the Davenport Family Cemetery on their property in 1789.

The names of some of the people buried at the two sites are familiar to Plymouth: Wadhams, Davenport, Reynolds, Turner — all have streets named after them. Other names, like Pugh, Gabriel, Thomas and Van Loon, represent families that have lived in the borough for generations.

Two people — John Thomas, a former borough police chief, and Elizabeth Malloy, a retired research chemist — have spent countless hours keeping after the cemeteries and researching the history of each.

These two burial grounds are now being cared for thanks to the efforts of Thomas and Malloy and the Plymouth Historical Society.

Thomas lives on West Shawnee Avenue — his property adjoins the Reynolds Cemetery. Thomas has lived in his home for 37 years and for the past 35 years he has taken care of the Reynolds Cemetery. Thomas cleared the lot and he cuts the grass regularly. He even erected a flagpole on the site.

The Plymouth Historical Society recently raised money to place a sign marking the cemetery. Thomas said he will plant flowers around the sign in the spring. Georgetta Potoski, director of the historical society, said a campaign is under way to raise money for a sign at the Davenport Cemetery.

“When I built my house, this was a dump; it was covered with junk,” Thomas said of the Reynolds site. “I knew it was a cemetery; it was just let go.”

So Thomas, 60, did what he felt needed to be done. He cleared the lot of all the junk and debris. He said it takes him longer to cut the grass in the cemetery than it does for him to cut his own yard, but he’s not complaining.

The grave markers are gone, many of them sunken into the ground. Two were recovered and are kept at the historical society office on Gaylord Avenue.

Potoski said only two original headstones from the cemetery are in existence. In 2010, James Moses, former owner of the old Eley Building where the stones were found, donated them to the historical society.

One marker is that of “Polly Rogers, wife of Joel Rogers,” who died July 31, 1814 at age 38. The other has only a death date and age, Feb. 4, 1839, 68 years, 9 months and 11 days. The top part of the tombstone is missing. Potoski said research indicates the stone could be that of Samuel H. Gaylord of Plymouth.

Potoski said in 1828, the old Reynolds Family Cemetery was leased by John Turner and Benjamin Reynolds to some of the town’s earliest settlers as a burial ground. The original leasers were Calvin Wadhams, Joseph Wright, Jameson Harvey, Noah Wadhams, Freeman Thomas, Samuel Wadhams, George S. Clark, Henry Gabriel and Joshua Pugh. The term of the lease was 900 years from the date of Nov. 20, 1828. The leasers paid $10 each.

Several of the founders are believed to be buried on the site.

Members of Malloy’s family are buried at the Davenport Cemetery. She said Tom Wright, who lives nearby, has helped clear the site and he helps keep it maintained. Thomas arranged for work-release prisoners from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility to help with the heavy work. Thomas said Plymouth Borough Council and Joseph Mazur, borough coordinator, have also helped with the effort.

“Many of these graves are those of this town’s earliest settlers,” Malloy said. “They should be remembered and their graves should be preserved.”

The Davenports were early settlers in Plymouth, having arrived from Orange County, NY, in February, 1778. After the Battle of Wyoming in July, 1778, they escaped back to New York, returning to Plymouth in 1789.

There are a few markers at the Davenport site, but many of them are worn and the inscriptions can’t be read. A large monolithic stone bears the last name Van Loon and it towers over the site and the landscape.

Another stone bears the name of James Peacock with his life dates of Oct. 20, 1845, to April 9, 1890.

Potoski agrees, not that the idea of preserving the two sites is opposed by anyone or any organization. But it’s the historical significance that means so much to Potoski, Malloy, Thomas and the historical society.

“These are the ones who put up with all of the hardships, dealt with the Indians, came here to start new homes for their families,” Potoski said. “They started the first farms and industries and trades. They carved the path for future generations.”