07/14/2026
The following narratives are the first four entries in a series of biographical sketches of people whose remains are interred at the historic Shreiner Cemetery in Lancaster, PA.
Meet the Residents is an independent research and writing initiative of Mark Kelley, Ph.D., who has conducted his work with the cooperation of the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery Association, the organization that has taken on the responsibility of the care, maintenance and preservation of the historic cemetery. This burial ground includes the grave and memorial of US Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) and more than 60 veterans of military conflicts -- foreign and domestic -- beginning with the War of 1812.
Mr. Kelley is the author of the only biography of Lydia Hamilton Smith, the confidante and housekeeper of Congressman Stevens. His book, An Uncommon Women - Lydia Hamilton Smith, was published in 2023. Through her estate, Mrs. Smith donated $500 for the perpetual care and maintenance of Mr. Stevens’ gravesite, and Mr. Kelley had steadfastly assisted in that responsibility for several years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Shreiner Concord Cemetery Association.
Kelley holds a Ph.D. in journalism from Syracuse University. He worked for twenty-five years as a broadcast journalist and taught journalism and mass communications at Goshen College, Syracuse University, the University of Maine, and the New England School of Communications. An Uncommon Woman is his fourth book. Kelley served on the Scholarly Advisory Committee for the Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy, a museum developed by LancasterHistory and opened in May, 2026. Kelley resides in Lancaster with his wife, Marty.
Major Thaddeus Stevens, Jr.
February 24, 2026
By Mark Kelley, Ph.D.
Many visitors to Shreiner Cemetery are unaware that Major Thaddeus Stevens, Jr., nephew of Thaddeus Stevens, lies at rest directly behind the great abolitionist congressman's tomb. Major Stevens was born in Vermont, but came to Lancaster with his brother, Alanson, as a teenager, after their father died. They were raised by their uncle and his life companion, Lydia Hamilton Smith, whose sons, William and Isaac, were nearly the same age as the Stevens brothers. Stevens and Smith served as paterfamilias and materfamilias to all four.
Major Stevens attended John Beck's School in Lititz and graduated from his uncle's alma mater, Dartmouth College. When the Civil War began the Stevens brothers joined the Union cause. In 1862, then Captain Stevens and Lieutenants Samuel W. Rowe and Edward Hager opened a recruiting office on Centre Square in Lancaster. Alanson Stevens died in 1863, at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. Major Stevens attempted to retrieve his brother's body, but was unable to locate it. In 1864, Major Stevens was appointed Provost Marshall of Lancaster. In that capacity, in 1865, he acted as Chief Marshall when Lancaster welcomed the 79th Pennsylvania Regiment home from the war. A local paper, reporting on that day, said "all the bells in the city were rung... the streets are filled with people, men, women and children--the friends, relatives and sweethearts of the brave, battle scarred veterans."
After the war, Major Stevens practiced law in Lancaster, and assisted in management of his uncle's ironworks in Franklin County. He served as president of Lancaster's Shiffler Fire Company, a company first formed by Mrs. Smith’s sons, for many years. Major Stevens was at his uncle's bedside in 1868, along with Mrs. Smith, when the great Congressman died. Thad, Jr. and Mrs. Smith were so overcome with grief, they had be helped from the room.
Thaddeus Stevens, Jr. was only 39 when he died in 1874, his death Iikely hastened by a lifelong battle with strong drink. Delegations from Shiffler File Company and Post 84 of the Grand Army of the Republic were part of the large crowds of mourners who bid Major Stevens farewell here in Shreiner Cemetery. In bidding him adieu, The Daily Evening Express wrote: "And thus perisheth all that was mortal of Thaddeus Stevens, Jr., Than whom not man was-more genial, generous or kindhearted."
Meet the Residents of Shreiner Cemetery
Elizabeth Dorwart (1791-1861)
April 24, 2026
By Mark Kelley, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Dorwart was born in Lancaster and lived her entire life here. She was the first of seven children born to John Martin Dorwart and Margaretha Dorwart. She lies at rest here in Shreiner Cemetery surrounded by ten members of the Dorwart Clan. Her father, Martin, was a shoemaker of German descent, also born in Lancaster. Elizabeth never married. She was living with her brother, John, in a house in his home at the corner of North Prince and West James Streets when she died in 1861. Her funeral service was held in that home.
We don’t know a lot about Elizabeth’s interests and pursuits, but her lifetime spanned a number of significant events in the relatively newborn United States. She was but four years old when the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution was passed to prevent federal courts from hearing lawsuits against a state filed by a citizen from another state or foreign country. Congress took the action to overturn a 1793 Supreme Court decision (Chisholm v. Georgia) which allowed a citizen to file such a suit. The Eleventh Amendment was intended to protect states from potentially ruinous financial liability.
The nation’ capital moved twice in Elizabeth’s lifetime, first from New York City to Philadelphia, and then, for the final time, to the District of Columbia. Elizabeth was 21 in 1812 when the US fought a second war with Great Britain, to stop British interference in American maritime shipping and westward expansion. She was nearly 40 when settlers hit the Oregon Trail to claim western land “found” by Lewis and Clark. Elizabeth died in 1861, just as the Civil War began.
Meet the Residents of Shreiner Cemetery
Christian K. Frailey (1852-1913)
April 30, 2026
By Mark Kelley, Ph.D.
Christian K. Frailey was born in Lancaster in 1852 and lived and worked in the city until his death in 1913, at the age of 60. Physicians at Lancaster General Hospital attributed his passing to “apoplexy cerebral,” the term nineteenth century medical professionals used for what we, today, call a stroke.
In his working life, Mr. Frailey was a trackman and later foreman for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was working on the railroad when he was first elected constable, on the Democratic ticket, in the city’s Fifth Ward. In that post, according to his obituary in the Lancaster Intelligencer, he became so popular that both parties, Democratic and Republican, backed him for another term as constable. The obituary writer went on to say Mr. Frailey “did the business of Alderman Bressler’s office and was an affable and popular man and a good officer.” He was also a member of Lancaster Lodge No.1 of the American Order of Otters, a longstanding social club and membership organization established in Lancaster in 1911. The Otters serve as a community hub for social activities. Their “clubhouse,” still active today, at 232 E. King Street in Lancaster, features a bar, outdoor smoking area, free WiFi, and a focus on community engagement and camaraderie.
Mr. Frailey never married. When he died, he was survived by his sisters, Lizzie (Frailey)
Biggs, and Margie (Frailey) Sener. His brother, George W. Frailey, died in 1879 at the relatively young age of 29.
Meet the Residents of Shreiner Cemetery
Maria Shindel Kuhns
1815-1868
By Mark Kelley, Ph.D.
Maria Shindel was born in Lancaster in 1815, and with her husband, John A. Kuhns, raised three children: Henry (1834-1901), Mary A. Kuhns Ruth (1837-1923), and Julia Anna “Annie” Kuhns Simpson (1843-1907) on Manor Street. Maria died in 1868, at the age of 54.. We don't have many details of Maria's daily life, but her family made clear their love for her when she passed away. On her tombstone, they inscribed: “Our Mother” and “She always made home happy,” along with this bit of verse:
Our mother here lies underground
The dearest friend at eyes found
But throuist the Lord's unbounded love
We'll meet again in realms above.
The death notice published in the August 19, 1868 edition of the Lancaster Daily Intelligencer, gave Maria a voice from beyond the grave:
Good bye husband and children, do not weep,
This world is vain and full of pain,
Soon with your mother you all shall sleep;
Of care and troubled sin;
For Christ has claimed me as his own,
But they are best who are at rest
And in his mercy called me home.
With Christ for evermore.
Gone, but not forgotten.
