00:07 - Hi, I'm Joe Farrell.

00:08 - And I'm Joe Farley.

00:09 - And we're here in

00:11 - Mechanicsburg at

00:13 - historic Lincoln

00:14 - Colored Cemetery.

00:16 - We were astonished to find, after living

00:18 - here in this area for nearly 40 years,

00:20 - that there were black Civil War veterans

00:23 - buried right here in Mechanicsburg.

00:25 - If it wasn't for the Boy Scouts of

00:27 - America and the Vietnam Veterans

00:29 - of Mechanicsburg, this place may

00:31 - have been disappeared from history.

00:33 - As a matter of fact, it was overrun when the Boy Scouts first came here

00:38 - and cleaned it out and they took care of it for years and then in 1998,

00:43 - the cemetery was adopted by the Vietnam Veterans who view these black

00:48 - veterans that are buried behind us as comrades, as some of their own.

00:53 - The Vietnam Veterans, as you can see, erected

00:56 - a monument here for the United States

00:59 - Colored Troops and every Memorial Day

01:01 - they have a ceremony here to honor them.

01:04 - It's difficult to establish

01:05 - a lot of the facts about

01:07 - this plot of land and the

01:09 - people that are buried here.

01:10 - We went to, we visited the Cumberland County

01:13 - Historical Society, and looked through their records

01:16 - about the cemetery and found that no one

01:18 - actually claims ownership of this plot of land.

01:20 - And there is some varying,

01:22 - disputing information about

01:24 - how many Civil War veterans

01:26 - are actually buried here.

01:28 - Yeah, as a matter of fact, the Vietnam

01:31 - Veterans claim that there are 12 black

01:33 - Civil War soldiers buried behind us.

01:36 - The Veterans Administration says 10.

01:38 - And recent research

01:40 - sets the number

01:41 - at a minimum of at least five.

01:44 - What we know for sure: John W.

01:46 - Pickney is buried here.

01:49 - He was born in

01:50 - 1845 in Frederick,

01:51 - Maryland and enlisted

01:52 - at 18 years of age.

01:54 - He lost the lower part

01:56 - of his left arm to a

01:58 - shell at the Battle of

01:59 - Petersburg, Virginia.

02:01 - His arm was removed below the

02:03 - shoulder and he died in 1882.

02:06 - We're also sure that William

02:08 - Pope, who was born a

02:09 - slave in Paige County,

02:10 - Virginia, is buried here.

02:12 - He served in Company B 30 second

02:14 - regiment United States

02:16 - Colored Troops.

02:17 - John Williams is another one

02:18 - who we're sure of. He was

02:20 - born in Virginia, enlisted

02:21 - in Harrisburg in 1864.

02:23 - He served in Company

02:24 - C 41st Regiment,

02:25 - United States Colored Troops.

02:27 - And Richard David Howard was also buried

02:30 - here, served in Company G forty fifth

02:33 - regiment of the United States Colored

02:35 - Troops and was discharged in 1865.

02:38 - He died in 1895.

02:41 - And we know that William

02:42 - Bridget was also buried here.

02:44 - He served in Company G 22nd

02:46 - regiment, was enlisted

02:48 - in 1863, and died in

02:50 - 1900, at the age of 65.

02:52 - If you'd like to learn more

02:53 - about the Lincoln Colored

02:55 - Cemetery, you can read

02:55 - about it in our book.

02:56 - "Keystone Tombstones Vol.

02:58 - 1," available

02:59 - through Sunbury Press

03:00 - at sunburypress.com.