April 2026 Program
​Remembering the Revolutionary War Veterans of Prospect Hill Cemetery
Speaker Alicia Forry

This presentation reviews the histories of Revolutionary War Veterans interred at York’s historic Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Watch the recorded presentation here.

Alicia Forry is the Administration Supervisor and Foundation Secretary for Prospect Hill Cemetery.  In her position at Prospect Hill she conducts history tours of the Cemetery and has done research on all veterans interred at the Cemetery.  She began in depth research on the Revolutionary War Veterans about two years ago.​

Program review by Erica Runkles:

Alicia Forry, the Administration Supervisor and Foundation Secretary for Prospect Hill Cemetery, conducts history tours of the Cemetery and has done research on veterans interred at the Cemetery. Their database includes the names of over 4000 veterans interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery from every war that America has fought in.

About two years ago, Alicia began researching Revolutionary War Veterans in depth. Prospect Hill Cemetery currently has 50 names of known Revolutionary War Veterans, 45 of which have been connected through SAR or DAR databases. Her presentation started with a partial list of Revolutionary War Veterans along with brief histories of each one.

Abraham Danner, 1753 – 1833

• Wife - Maria Wolf, 1 child
• Private in Captain William Bailey’s Company of the Pennsylvania Militia
• Section C Lot 38

Daniel Wagner, 1750 – 1810

•  Private in Captain Thomas Herbert’s Company of King’s Bridge
•  Pennsylvania Musketry Battalion
•  Commanded a flotilla (a small fleet of shallow draft gun boats, barges or row galleys) at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. Also engaged in transporting supplies at Trebell’s Landing.
•  Listed as a Patriot minister
•  Section E

Killian Schmahl (Small), 1735 – 1816

• Wife – Eva, 7 children
• Born in Essenheim, Germany. Immigrated at the age of 8 with his parents
• Enlisted in the 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion of the York County Militia that was organized in 1775
•  Was a carpenter and farmer
•  Member of the German Reformed Church
•  Said to have been temperate in all things, hard-working. and careful in managing his life.

Lorentz Schmahl, 1749 – 1832

•  Wife – Barbara, 1 child
•  Served as Deacon in the German Reformed Church
•  Enlisted in the Captain Eichelberger’s Company of York County Militia that was organized December 27, 1776

Jacob Lanius, 1732 -1788

•  Wife – Barbara Weiss and Anna Barbara Buhler
•  Served as Captain in the 4th Company, 3rd Battalion

Henry Maxwell, 1730 – 1792

•  Wife – Elizabeth, 1 child
•  Private on the list of non-commissioned officers and privates of the First Pennsylvania Regiment and Continental Line (This regiment was authorized in June 1775 as a Premier infantry unit of the Continental Army)

John Heckendorn, 1744 – 1789

•  Wife – Catharine
•  Active in the local efforts supporting the American cause
•  Often associated with local lists of citizens supporting the American cause

Martin Weller, 1751 – 1788

• Private in Captain Godfry’s (sometimes spelled Godfried) 3rd Battalion, 2nd Company
• Fought in Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Trenton

Mathias Smyser, 1715 – 1778

• Wife – Anna Catherine Koppenhaffer
• Private in Captain Rhinehard Bott’s Co – 3rd Battalion, 1st Company
• Provided assistance as a teamster conducting a baggage wagon when York County was called to provide wagons for the sole purpose of moving government stores to places of safety west of the Susquehanna

Mathias Emerich Schmeisser, 1744 – 1829

• Wife – Louisa
• Private Captain Emanuel Herman’s Company (1977) 2nd Battalion

Jacob Lether, 1755-1835

• Wife – Ursula, 7 children
• Private in Captain Bailey’s Company

John Harbaugh, 1735 – 1803

• Owned a flouring mill (water powered facility that ground wheat and grain into flour and meal)
• 1777 was commissioned as magistrate of Spring Garden Township in York County
• Was a member of the Committee of Sympathy Support and Safety for York County – helped to furnish aid to the American Army

George Betz, 1750 – 1826

• 34th Regiment, 2nd Battalion
• Private in Captain Godfry Fry’s Company
• Participated in key Revolutionary War Battles

George Goodyears (Gutjahr), 1751 – 1837

•  Private in the Pennsylvania Line
•  (2 short enlistments)
•  Served with Captain Christopher Lowman

Johannes Georg Ilgenfritz, 1728 – 1810

•  Private in 2nd Battalion. 3rd Company (Captain Simon Koppenhaffer’s Company

Jacob Fahs, 1741- 1815

• Private in Upper District York Co. Militia (Now Adams County)
• Guarded supply depots and POW’s
• Engaged in the 1777-1778 Philadelphia Campaign

Johan Jacob Struebig, 1726 – 1798

• Private in Captain John Ehrman’s Company, First Battalion, First Company
• Battle of Stony Point battle of Springfield and Siege of Yorktown

John Dobbins, 1754 - 1821

• Enlisted 1776 – served under the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment under Captain James Taylor and General Anthony Wayne
• Served in the Wagon Dept. (Never participated in battles)

Philip Rothrock, 1713 – 1803

• Glass worker and a farmer
• Held public office and commissioned to recruit for soldier
• Prospect Hill Cemetery has contact with a Rothrock direct descendent

John Morris, 1754 – 1808

• Wife – Barbara, 1 child
• Served in Armand’s Legion (Armand’s Legion was a special Continent Army Partisan Corps formed in 1778. Mostly foreign volunteer. Cavalry and infantry under French Colonel Charles Armand Tuffin – Known for serving the North and South. Absorbed remnants of Pulaski’s Legion in 1780 and played a key role in the Siege of Yorktown.
• Liberal Education – Studied Medicine and Surgery
• Immigrated to America the latter half of 1776
• Received a certificate as a surgeon in the Continental Army by William Shippen
• Appointed assistant surgeon in Armand’s Legion in 1777
• After the battle in Camden – he was appointed the Chief Surgeon in the Legion
• 1781 at the Battle of Yorktown, VA and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis
• Settled in York as a surgeon and druggist

Alicia had some interesting details to share:

• The area of Prospect Hill Cemetery is contained within 120 acres.
• The Prospect Hill Cemetery was started in 1849 during the Victorian rural cemetery movement.
• Since embalming wasn’t an option before the Civil War, soldiers were buried where they died.
• Many remains were moved and reinterred at the Cemetery after 1849.
• There are challenges maintaining headstones because some of the stone markers have deteriorated from aging and weathering.
• A recent grant for Prospect Hill Cemetery has provided means for signage for each of 20 Revolutionary War soldiers.
• Prospect Hill Cemetery will provide a tour of Revolutionary War soldier burial sites on August 23, 2026 at 1 p. m.