Israel Benevolent Society Cemetery
Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Consecrated in 1844, this cemetery provided a place for Jews to be properly buried under the requirements of Judaic law. Founded by Chevrah Kaddishah (Holy Burial Society), it is the first Jewish cemetery west of Philadelphia formed during a period of great westward migration in the mid-19th century. Jewish residents of the area are buried here, as is Isaac Burgauer, the only southern Jewish casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg interred in a northern Jewish cemetery.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Consecrated in 1844, this Chambersburg burial ground was established by a Jewish Holy Burial Society so that the area's small but growing Jewish community could bury its dead according to Jewish law. It stands as the first Jewish cemetery west of Philadelphia, opened during the wave of mid-19th-century migration that carried Jewish families inland from the coast. Among those interred is Isaac Burgauer, remembered as the only Southern Jewish soldier who fell at Gettysburg to rest in a Northern Jewish cemetery.
Why it matters
The cemetery marks the westward reach of Jewish life in early America and quietly ties one Franklin County plot to the nation's bloodiest battle just up the road at Gettysburg.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Isaac Burgauer
Related events
- · Battle of Gettysburg
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
US HQ 11-3rd Division Schurz
Gettysburg, PA
This tablet marks the headquarters of the Eleventh Corps' Third Division, led by Major General Carl Schurz, on the fields north of Gettysburg where the battle's first day unfolded on July 1, 1863. Schurz's division — with brigades under Alexander Schimmelfennig and Wladimir Krzyzanowski — was thrown into line to hold the open ground north of town against advancing Confederate forces. Heavily German-American in makeup, these troops fought hard before being driven back through Gettysburg to the safety of Cemetery Hill.
US HQ 11-3-2nd Brigade Krzyzanowski
Cumberland Township, PA
This tablet marks the Second Brigade of the Eleventh Corps' Third Division, commanded by Colonel Wladimir Krzyzanowski, a Polish-born officer whose brigade drew together New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin regiments rich in German and immigrant volunteers. On July 1, 1863, the brigade was posted on the plain north of Gettysburg, where it met the Confederate advance before falling back through the town. The listed regiments — the 58th and 119th New York, 82nd Ohio, 75th Pennsylvania, and 26th Wisconsin — reflect the diverse, foreign-born character of the Eleventh Corps.
58th NY “Polish Legion” Otto(w) / Koenig
Cumberland Township, PA
This monument tells the story of the 58th New York Infantry — the "Polish Legion" — whose two companies held this position north of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, before being ordered back to Cemetery Hill to rejoin the rest of the regiment. From that stronghold the reunited unit fought on through July 2 and 3, and after Pickett's Charge was repulsed it advanced as skirmishers back into the town. Raised in New York with a strongly immigrant, Central-European character, the regiment was part of Krzyzanowski's brigade in the Eleventh Corps.
107th OH Meyer(w) / Lutz
Cumberland Township, PA
Dedicated by the surviving members of the regiment to their fallen comrades, this Ohio monument honors the 107th Ohio Infantry of the Second Brigade, First Division, Eleventh Corps at Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the regiment — largely made up of German-American volunteers — fought on the northern edge of the battlefield, where the division under Barlow and Ames was overwhelmed and driven back into town. The inscription, "Ohio's Token of Gratitude," speaks in the voice of the veterans who returned to mark where their friends had died.