Lot #18 is the Hagman family
plot. Starting just after the close of the Civil War host of
immigrants from Europe began to arrive in this country. Over 3 million
came between 1870 and 1880 and by 1890, 25 years after the end of the war,
a total of 8 million had immigrated to America. Today itís difficult
to imagine this mighty army of Europeans - in one month alone, April 1880,
some 71 ships with 46,148 immigrants landed on our shores. Many of
these immigrants were Scandinavians and the Hagmans although not amongst
the earliest, were probably typical. Bengt came from Varberg , a
beautiful small town on the west coast of Sweden about half way between
Halmstad and Goteberg in Halland Province. Today this town has a
population of about 44,000 but  when
Bengt Hagman left there the population was only a little more than 5,000.
he arrived alone in Sheffield, Pa. in 1885 and his wife Hannah joined him
in 1887, in Clermont with two baby daughters Josephine and Carrie.
In the next 19 years 11 more children were born in Clermont, 6 boys and
5 girls. They lived first in the ìPatch,î a collection of 40 or 50
houses which was located just below the Clermont schoolhouse. Later
they lived on a farm on the Clermont - Norwich road which they left in
the early 1920ís when they moved into the village. In the last years
of his life Bengt lived with his son Fred - he was employed as a mail man
and met the incoming trains and carried the mail to the post office.
Daughter Carrie is buried in Lot #124 where son Carl Bernard is also
buried. Another son Gustave is buried in Lot #156; two sons who died
in infancy, Gerhardt and Theodore, are buried in Lot #84W, and three great
grandsons, (Ruggles), are buried in Lot #135S. Clair Flickinger,
Bengtís son-in-law, is the owner of Lot #101, and Lots #98 and #156 are
owned by Merton Flickinger, grandson of Bengt. Buried with Bengt
in Lot #18 are his wife Hannah, his son Fred Aurthur, Fredís wife Anna
and her mother Hulda Anderson. Anna and her mother were natives of
Stockholm. Anna came first to this country and was followed by her
mother in about 1921. Hulda was employed as a housekeeper by widower
Gerhardt Anderson (Lot #35) at his home in
Clermont until her untimely death at the age of 47 in 1923. Another
grandson, Clair Flickinger Jr., is the owner of Lot #135N. Bengt
has many descendants in the country and scattered throughout the United
States. |
in 1844. They were the parents of eight children, Davault, buried
in Lot #44 was their eldest son. Another
son, John Jr., is buried in Lot #41 as is their daughter
Elizabeth who never married. Son Philip J. buried with his parents,
served in the Navy just after the Civil War and was killed in an explosion
and fire outside a hotel in Wilcox on April 1, 1874. One unidentified
grave on this lot is probably that of another of their children.
John had a younger brother Adam born in 1805 who came to Teutonia from
Philadelphia in 1843. In 1849 Adam bought the farm on Bunker Hill
now known as the Axberg farm and lived there with his son Peter, who was
one of the Trustees when the original half acre cemetery plot was purchased,
continued at the farm until he was fatally injured on January 3 1890 at
the age of 55. He was on his way to Lawrence Boyer's mill for feed
when his young team became frightened and he was thrown from his wagon. 
Shortly
after his death the farm was purchased by A.J. Axberg whose son Herbert
still lives there. In addition to John and Adam there were six other
brothers, two of whom came to this country in 1794 but were never heard
from by other family members. Brothers Davault and Peter ( for whom
John's son and nephew were named), came with John and a sister Elizabeth
in 1835 to Philadelphia. Two of the older brothers served in The
Army of Napolean I, Emperor of France from 1801 to 1815. One was
killed in the bloody battle of Borodino, a village outisde Moscow in September
if 1812. The other was captured by the Russians and taken to St.
Petersburg, now Leningrad. John C. Martin, buried in Lot
# 31 with his sister Minnie (Martin) Reed and Edward and
Philip in Lot #44, were grandchildren of John
and Margaretha as were Burdette and Estella in Lot
#41. John C. Martin Jr., now resident in Kane and his brother
Eddy of Mount Jewett, are the great grandsons as is F. Martin Rumsey of
Derrick City. John C. Martin Jr., the owner of Lot #38W in
which no burials have yet been made, is currently one of the Directors
of the Clermont Cemetery Association. 
She
was 78 at her death and he was 83. Buried with them is their daughter
Amanda (Bishop) Lucas and her husband Joseph Lucas and three of their sons,
Bishop, Rueben and Alonzo.
both
McKean and Potter Counties. George Herzog buried in Lot #68
was married to Barbara Dehn who was the daughter of Maria Dehn and her
husband Conrad Dehn; she is also buried in Lot #68.
Jacob
Hafner farm adjoin each other on the Clermont - Wilcox road farm two or
three miles southwest of Clermont. Itís interesting to note and obvious
error in the tombstones on this lot - Eliza, daughter of Sophia is shown
as having been born 10 years earlier in 1800. Actually, Eliza was
born May 26, 1840.
Lena's
brother Joseph was a plant guard at Sylvania Electric Products Corporation
in Emporium during the early years of World War Two and descendants are
currently resident in the Emporium area of Potter County. The eldest
child of Sohpia and John was Mary Amanda born in 1844. She married
John Kleisath in 1861 and died in 1911. Both she and her husband
are buried in the Rasselas cemetery. Her mother Sophia was struck
and killed by a log train in the Clermont area in September 1891 and is
also buried in Rasselas. There are many Kleisaths in McKean County
descended from this family. As has been prevously noted, Louis Steinhauer
was one of the original incorporators of the Clermont Cemetery Society.
He was born to John and Sophia at Teutonia in 1848. He married Fanny
Beckwith in 1876 and he died in 1931. The Beckwith family predated
the Steinhauers in the area - they were contemporaries of the Bishops and
arrived in McKean County sometime during the second decade of the 19th
century. One of the last of the Beckwiths - Mrs. Charles Keefer,
daughter of Ransom Beckwith - was born in Clermont on April 15, 1841 and
died at the County Home in Smethport on October 5, 1933.
Lawrence
Boyer was the son of Michael and Elizabeth buried here, and he had a country
store at the family farm adjacent to the cemetery - now the Silfies farm.
Pierre Allison, former Clermont and Smethport resident, is married to one
of the descendants of this family.
The
tombstone on this lot shows Mrs. Hafnerís name as maria E. - actually her
name was Elizabeth May. Christopher was the forebearer of the Hafner
name in the area. He was born in Kurhessan, Germany and came to this
country with his wife and eight children in 1852. They lived in Flat
Bush, New York for four years and then came to Sergeant Township and in
June, 1855 settled on what is now known as the old Amend farm about 4 miles
southwest of Clermont on the road to Wilcox. Christopherís son Jacob
is buried in 
George
and Daniel A. Esterbrooks were the progenitors of this line. As previously
noted, David A. Esterbrooks Jr., was one of the cemetery Trustees when
the original half acre plot was purchased in July 1873.
347
Grand Army of the Republic - the American Legion of that day. He
and his wife Christina (Heitman) Hafner, had four sons, Adam; Frank; John
C. and Lewis - and one daughter Sophia. Frank and John C. were farmers
and bear hunters at the Hafner farm about 2.5 miles southwest of Clermont
on the Wilcox Road. John C. the third son, never married. Adam,
the eldest son, married and has descendants in the DuBois area. Frank
also was married late in life to Mrs. Zalena 
Annettie
Conklin whose death occurred just two weeks after Frank died. She
is buried in Kasson. Lewis, the youngest child was not married.
Sister Sophia was the organist when the Clermont Sunday School was first
formed in Decemter, 1889. She later married Alfred Kidder, a carpenter
from Smethport, who built the Clermont Schoolhouse in 1915.
Kathernia
was born in 1854 in New York City and they had six children. The
eldest was Lena (Hafner) Martin buried in 
and
Gretha and twin boys Lucius and Leonard. The girls and the twins
were mentally retarded and none of these children married. Jake and
his family members are all buried in Smethport. Jakeís brother Martin
never married and committed suicide by hanging himself in a tree not far
from the old ì Gumbootî mine in Augus, 1930. His body was discovered
by Edward Finn ( whose parents are buried in Lot #92 ) while deer hunting
on Monday, December 1, 1930. Martin was buried in this lot with his
parents, brother Louie and sister Allie. Louie, who died at the age
of 20 in 1881, was memorialized with a handsome tombstone produced by John
Digel in flagstone from Norwich Township near Hamlin - (Hamlin was then
known as Digel P.O.). This tombstone when delivered to the family,
was temporarily stored in the old Amend barn (in the rear of the Amend
house wich still exists in Clermont), pending its placement at the grave
site by some family member when there was time to do so. About 1958
the barn was torn down and the tombstone was discovered - a simple case
of intertia, the Amend family just never got around to placing the tombstone
in the cemetery. The stone was set up in the United Natural Gas Companyís
pipe yard near by and eventually - inevitably - people who had no reason
to suspect otherwise, thought that Louie was buried there. In the
summer of 1979 the matter was set right when this writer and Fred Hagmanís
son Karl transported the tombstone to the cemetey and erected it in its
proper place over Louiesís grave.
noted,
John C.ís youngest son, John Carpenter Martin owns Lot #38 in which no
burials have yet been made. His elest son, Edward Eaman Martin, presently
lives in Mount Jewett. Four other children who died in infancy and
buried in Lot #44 and Lot #41. Lena Martinís husband was John C.ís
uncle and when he died in 1884 Lena was left with a year old baby boy,
Burdette and four year old daughter Estella. So John C., who was
18 years old at the time, went to Lenaís home and lived there and worked
the farm for her until his marriage. He probably thought of this
as his home and when he and Irma lost their first child, Grace Elizabeth
born in 1912, it was probably buried in Lenaís Lot #41. Another daughter
Cleone Vernett was born in 1913 and sons Herman and Everett were stillborn
in 1917 and 1918. These last three are presumed to be buried in Lot
#44.
whom
were Swedish. In addition to himself and his wife, sons Andrew J.
Jr., and Gerhardt and Gerhardtís wife, Ida (Erickson) Anderson are buried
in this lot. An infant son of Andrew Jr., who died at birth in 1911
is also buried here. A sister of Andrew and Gerhardt, Ellen Johanna
(Anderson) Hafner is buried in Lot #103. She was Harry Hafnerís second
wife, killed in at auto accident on March 15, 1947. Her brother Gerhardt
was also killed in an auto accident three years later in 1950. Robert
M. Anderson, son of Andrew J. Jr., is buried in Lot #97N. The brother-in-law
of Andrew J. Jr.ís youngest daughter Alva, still living as of this writing,
is the widow of Clint Silfies buried in Lot #132.
Bell
Calhoun and they had four daughters, Mildred (Rozelle); Anna Bell (Plyler);
Martha (Shubert) and Elvira (Bowen) - all born between 1904 and 1908.
All but Mildred are still living as of this writing. Lizzie, (Josefina
Eliza) was born August 31, 1875 and died March 17, 1897 of what was later
thought to be a ruptured appendix. The Hellmen homestead was northeast
of and next door to the Clermont school and has been owned by the Grillo
family since its sale by Oscar Hellman in 1926. Aaron Hellman had
a livery stable in Clermont early in this century and was one of the first
in the area to have an automobile - which was a ìStanley Steamer.î
Aaron, born in October 1853 and Emma, born in July, 1885 came to the U.S.
in 1882 and both died in the early ë20ís.
of Christopher. Lena was a staunch member of, and long time Sunday
School teacher in the old Methodist Church at Clermont. Their homestead
was a mile and a half or so southwest of Clermont on the Wilcox road.
Son Burdette worked the homestead farm until his death at age 41 in 1924.
An oat grain became lodged under one of his finger nails and death resulted
from what was known in those days as ìblood poisoning.î Descendant
F. Martin Rumsey, son of Garth Eaton Rumsey and Estella (Martin) Rumsey
presently lives in Derrick City.
buried
here, son Phillip who was a deaf mute, daughter-in-law Alta wife of Edward
and son Edward, who survived his wife by 17 years and died July 22, 1932
in the Warren State Mental Hospital. He and his brother John C. (Lot
#31) had adjoining farms about a mile out of Marvindale on the Clermont
road. Also buried in this lot are three infant children of John C.
and Irma Martin, both of whom are buried in Lot #31.
the
son of Carrie, is also buried here, while sons Albert and Clifford are
buried in Lot #106. One daughter, Olive (Anderson) Connors
was still living as of this writing. Son Willie was killed in an
accident near the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad station in Clermont
when he fell under a train and both his legs were severed. Floyd
had a younger sister Glendora who is also deceased. Floyd was mildly
retarded, however this didnít particularly hinder his success as a human
being. He was very amiable, friendly, and good hearted man and everyone
who knew him liked him. As a small boy he was the personification
of Mark Twainís bare-footed character ìHuckleberry Finn,î and he was dubbed
ìHuckleberryî by Emil Erlandson ( Lot #99). This nickname was quickly
shortened to ìHuckî and that was how he was knows throughout his life.
He never married. As a young man for a few years he lived and worked
in Buffalo; during the last years of his life he lived in the old homestead
with his Aunt Mary Wilkow who was a widow and supported himself by operating
a gasoline station there.
Company
- (now the National Fuel Gas Company) - and lived at Five Mile along the
Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad right-of-way.
in
Lot #109. Mrs. Miller died at the age of 38 leaving 5 young children.
Irene, the eldest, was only 12 years old when her mother died - Pauline,
Carl, Alberta and Hilda were all younger. Mr. Miller didnít remarry
and the children were raised without a mother. Aaron Miller was the
brother of Andrew Andersonís wife. Andrew is buried in 
Minnie
Rozella Ross who was 20 years his junior, and they had 8 children, two
of whom are buried in Lot #83; an infant stillborn in March 1912; and Bertha
Elizabeth who died on September 22 1939 at the age of 21 years. Also
buried in this lot is the stillborn child of Esther (Dibler) Crattie and
her husband Charles John Crattie - born on December 30, 1934. Charles
Crattie, Joseph Luther Diblerís son-in-law, is buried in Lot #116 where
provision has also been made for his wife Esther, still living as of this
writing. 
Joeís
son-in-law, John Arvid Larson is buried in Lot #113S where provision has
been made for daughter Dorothy. Lot #113N is owned by son Joe Dibler
and contains no burials as of this date.
sister Laura and her husband Ed Yoder are buried in this lot. John
spent his entire life on the Erlandson farm and as a partner in Erlandson
Brothers General Store in Clermont.