The abandoned Newkirk Family Cemetery is located in Big Beaver Borough, formerly known as Big Beaver Township, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania (1). The postal address for the area is Darlington, Pennsylvania. The cemetery is located on Shenango Road between Laurel Road and Park Road approximately ½ to ¾ miles from the intersection of Pennsylvania State Route 551 (Wallace Run Road) and State Route 351 (Shenango Road). The cemetery is about 20 feet from the side of the road and is on private property. It is unrecognizable as a cemetery and as is overgrown in trees and brush and most remaining gravestones have probably crumbled into dust. In the Fall of 1983 markings on two of the headstones and a partial headstone were visible:

Rebecca Newkirk died April 1, 1838 age 67 yrs. 7 days

Henry Newkirk died Nov 14, 1853

Partial headstone - age 62 years Nov. 1851

The cemetery is located on what was the Henry Newkirk farm (2). Henry's son Shipman Newkirk sold the property to Hugh James Marshall in 1857 (3). Nothing remains of the farm as the property was subdivided and the lots sold off in the early 1950s.

(1) "Big Beaver Borough was incepted on March 7th 1958. Until that date it was known as Big Beaver Township which was formed in 1802 when South Beaver Township was divided. In 1849 when Lawrence County was created, the new county line split Big Beaver leaving a township of that name in each county. Big Beaver in Lawrence County is now known as New Beaver Borough." Information from Big Beaver Boro website: https://bigbeaverborough.org/about/

(2) The citation that Henry Newkirk was a pioneer of Big Beaver Township can be found in the entry under Shipman N. Douthitt, page 643 Chapter XXVI Biographies--West Side in the publication History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania: including its early settlement; its erection into a separate county; its subsequent growth and development; sketches of its boroughs, villages and townships ... biographies of many of its representative citizens; statistics, etc; Published in 1888; Place of Publication Philadelphia; Publisher: A. Warner.

(3) The citation that Hugh James Marshall purchased property from Shipman Newkirk in 1857 can be found in the entry under Hugh J. Marshall, page 691 Chapter XXVI Biographies--West Side in the publication History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania: including its early settlement; its erection into a separate county; its subsequent growth and development; sketches of its boroughs, villages and townships ... biographies of many of its representative citizens; statistics, etc; Published in 1888; Place of Publication Philadelphia; Publisher: A. Warner. The citation that Hugh James Marshall in 1857 settled on a farm in Big Beaver Township, where he purchased what was known as the Henry Newkirk Farm can be found in the entry under Dr. Robert J. Marshall in the History of Columbiana County, Ohio, by Harold Barth In Two Volumes Illustrated, Topeka Historical Publ. Co., 1926.

The above information was provided by Brenda Scott in August 2023. You can reach me at Find a Grave, ID number 51280218.