Flourtown cemetery summons spooky spirits

By Deena ElGenaidi

Inquirer Staff Writer

The brother of the Sundance Kid was buried here. So were a Civil War soldier and the widow of a man who died on the Titanic.

On Sunday night, at Union Cemetery at Zion Lutheran Church in Flourtown, they all came to life in a reenactment that also featured spooky tales about the site.

"We've had many strange experiences here," the Rev. Marcia Thompson, the church's pastor, told the gathering of about 30 people at the annual Cemetery Tour.

She went on to describe an organ playing mysteriously, chairs being overturned, and preschoolers seeing the ghost of Alfred Sheets Jr. - or, as they call him, "Freddie" - who died in 1832 at age 1 and was buried in the cemetery.

Also resting peacefully at Union are Harvey Longabaugh, brother of the Sundance Kid, who up until two years ago was believed to be the Sundance Kid himself; Thomas May Peirce, founder of Peirce College; George Jago, a Civil War soldier; and Maude Van Billiard, whose husband and two sons died on the Titanic.

Thompson began the cemetery tour seven or eight years ago to raise awareness of the church. For performers, she looks to church members, Boy Scouts, and people she meets who show an interest in participating.

"I ran into two of the girls at the pumpkin patch, and they told me they were acting students," Thompson said.

Maury Harris, a contractor from Malvern, has been a Civil War reenactor for 10 years, he said, and has played Jago for "five or six years now." In full uniform, Harris fired a musket into the air to begin his performance.

Harris described being very interested in Jago's character, but until this year, he had not been able to portray the character accurately. Little was known about Jago, so much of the performance involved guesswork.

However, this year Harris attended a roundtable discussion at Villanova University and learned more about Jago.

"I'm very excited to do George his justice," Harris said.

Also performing were Sydney Smith, 13, and Kelly Letter, 14. Smith played Maria Willet, who lost two sons to illness in the 1800s. The entire Willet family is buried at Union Cemetery. Letter played Van Billiard. Both Smith and Letter attend Ambler Actors Studio.

"We're obsessed with acting," Smith said.

"And we have to start small," Letter continued.

Van Billiard was supposed to be on the Titanic with her family, but was sick and stayed behind. She received confirmation of her family members' deaths when the bodies were found off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Over the years, the pool of information on the deceased has grown, as Thompson has uncovered more facts. She checks tombstones, searches online, and looks at what was going on in history during an individual's lifetime.

"With George Jago, we took guesses, and Maury gathered more accurate information as time went on," she said.

In Longabaugh's case, he was believed to be the Sundance Kid, and had been introduced as such during previous years' tours. But two years ago, one guest found it odd that the Sundance Kid, Harry Longabaugh, would be buried in Flourtown after he died in South America.

After more research, church officials learned that it was Harvey Longabaugh who was buried there.

Contact staff writer Deena ElGenaidi at 610-313-8110 or delgenaidi@phillynews.com.

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