Some Bracken Burials in Blacklick Community United Methodist Church Cemetery (Indiana County, PA)

The church is located between Dilltown and Vintondale, Indiana County, PA at 1488 Bracken Road.

This list is not all-inclusive. Several headstones in the cemetery are very old sandstones, nearly (or completely) illegible. I was rather rushed for time as I jotted down the Brackens that I could find there.

The Brackens in this cemetery can be correlated with people described in the book "William Bracken of New Castle County, Delaware and His Descendants" by Henry M. Bracken, M.D., 1930. Copies are available at the Library of Congress and on microfilm from your local LDS Family History Center.

1. Two very old sand stone tablets standing next to each other are of particular note because they are the ancestors of most or all of the other Brackens in the cemetery:

THOMAS BRACKEN
d. Jan 10, 1851
aged 86 yr. and (months and days illegible)

and

SARAH BRACKEN (this is just barely legible)
d. Jan (?) 1850 (?)

These are probably husband and wife. I believe the man to be "Long Tommy" Bracken (number 103 in Dr. Bracken's book). The book states he was born July 30, 1764 in York (now Adams) County, PA. It also says he was married to Sarah Twinem (or Twinam) on Dec. 18, 1787. It says he died on January 10, 1851 in Indiana County, PA. His wife is said to have died in 1850.

Attention, descendants of this couple--these gravestones really need to be replaced or supplemented with a new marker. They are almost impossible to read now, and will be faded beyond recognition in a few years.

A number of Thomas and Sarah's children and grandchildren are also in this cemetery.


2. TWINAM J. BRACKEN
died June 29, 1900
aged 74 yr. 5 mo. 2 d.

There is a GAR marker next to this stone. It is a tall pointed monolith. The opposite face has an inscription that is now illegible--perhaps his wife's name. I believe this man is number 1078 in Dr. Bracken's book. It says he was born January 27, 1826, lived in Buffington Twp., Indiana County, PA and was married to Sarah J. Davis. He was said to be alive in 1900, but an invalid. This man would be a grandson of the above Thomas and Sarah Bracken.


3. Rev. WM. BRACKEN
died Sep. 19, 1879
aged 81 yr. 5 m. 23 d.

Next to him is

JANE CAMERON
wife of Rev. Wm. Bracken
died Mar 27, 1885
84 yr. 8 m. 19d.

I believe this man is number 519 in Dr. Bracken's book. It says he was born in Mifflin County, PA on March 27, 1798, and died in Indiana County, Sept. 19, 1879. He is said to have married Jane Cameron on Oct. 1, 1822. This man was a son of the above Thomas and Sarah Bracken.

4. JAMES T. BRACKEN
died Nov. 2, 1881
age 75 yrs.

and

PRISCILLA
wife of James T. Bracken
died March 9, 1876
aged 65 yr. 5 mo. 29d.

I believe that this man's full name was James Twinam Bracken (no. 522 in Dr. Bracken's book.) The book says he was born (and died) in Indiana County. He supposedly lived near Florence. His wife was Priscilla Clarke (or Howell). He was another son of the above Thomas and Sarah Bracken.

Also nearby were

MARTIN L. BRACKEN
eldest son of
J. T. and P. Bracken
died April 7, 1867
aged 34 yr. 1 mo. 13d.

THORNTON F. BRACKEN
died suddenly April 28, 1887
aged 52 yr. 26 d.

Thornton was also a son of James and Priscilla.

5. JOHN BRACKEN
died May 23, 1872
aged 76 yr. 1 mo. 23d.

and

ELIZABETH
wife of John Bracken
died Oct. 2, 1881
aged 73 yr. 16 d.

Again we have a son of Thomas and Sarah Bracken, above. (He is listed as number 518 in Dr. Bracken's book.) It says he was born March 28, 1796 in York County, PA and died in Indiana County, PA. He married his second wife, Elizabeth Cameron, in 1832.

6. JAMES T. BRACKEN
1821 - 1906

and

EUNICE BRACKEN
1825 - 1903

I believe this man was another James Twinam Bracken (no. 1056 in Dr. Bracken's book), the son of the above John by his first wife. He was born April 25, 1821 in Indiana County, PA. His wife was Eunice Barnet, nee Stewart, and she was born Jan 18, 1825 in Ligonier, PA. They married April 2, 1860.

7. HENRY B. BRACKEN
May 17, 1846 - Aug 6, 1881

and

JENNIE C. BRACKEN
his wife
Mar 7, 1848 - Sep 4, 1905

also nearby are

FRANK E. BRACKEN
Feb 3, 1876 - Jan 16, 1880

and

ELDA E. BRACKEN
Jan 15, 1878 - Jan 16, 1880

This Henry B. Bracken was another son of the above John Bracken by his second wife. He is number 1064 in Dr. Bracken's book. The book says he was born May 16, 1846 (one day off from the headstone) in Indiana County. It says his first wife was Carrie Mardis and his second was Jane Coho. (Is it possible her nickname was Jennie?) The book gives her birthdate as March 2, 1847 which agains differs slightly from the headstone. The above Frank E. and Elda Emma were their children.

Oddly enough, it seems that Henry has a second tombstone not far away that reads

HENRY BRACKEN
died Aug. 6, 1881
aged 35 yr. 2 m. 20 d.

It seems hard to believe that two different Henry Brackens living in the area were born and died on the same day. It does seem strange that two headstones would be present; perhaps the other is a replacement.

8. SEDENA
wife of F. Bracken
born Dec. 13, 1833(hard to read)
died Oct 25, 1878

It’s quite possible that the F. Bracken referred to here was Fletcher Bracken, the grandson of Thomas and Sarah Bracken, above. He is indexed as number 1082 in Dr. Bracken’s book. According to the book his first wife was Sedena Clarke, and she died October 1878 in Indiana County. I should emphasize that there was only evidence of Sedena’s presence here in the cemetery, not of Fletcher Bracken.

9. A single stone with

BRACKEN

Father
T. JEFFERSON
1851-1925

Mother
M. EMMA
1856-1930

EDNA
1888-19__

I have not been able to identify any entries for these people in Dr. Bracken’s book.

That’s all I found.

--Eric Bracken