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Proposed sale of county acreage shines spotlight on family plot

3 min read

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

The Cooke Burial Ground at the end of Enterprise Road near Washington Country Club

When the Washington County commissioners discussed the sale of nine acres in South Strabane Township last week, one unusual aspect that came to light is that county property surrounds, on three sides, a private cemetery.

Commission Chairman Larry Maggi, a history buff, hinted at the significance when he asked if the site was a Revolutionary War cemetery.

Isaac Leet

He wasn’t far from the mark.

The Cooke Burial Ground, as described on a website by Gina G. Nestor, contains the remains of at least three figures from Washington County history:

  • Revolutionary War veteran Andrew Swearingen, a lawyer who died in 1824 at age 78. His widow, Elizabeth Chaplin Swearingen, outlived him by a decade.
  • Isaac Leet, a state senator who died in 1844 at age 42. His son, Edmund C. Leet, who died Oct. 26, 1852, at age 23, is also buried there. Nestor identifies his mother as Margaret Leet.
  • John Mull, a member of the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War, who died in 1919 at age 76. It appears from Nestor’s cemetery site that Mull’s wife was Mary M. Moore Mull, who was born Jan. 22, 1844, and died Aug. 15, 1911.

True to its name, the Cooke Family Burial Ground also contains the graves of Andrew S. Cooke, who died in 1823 at age 24; Helen Cooke,who died in 1822; John Lyttleton Cooke, who died in 1872 at age 61; John Cooke, who may have died in 1858 at age 61; and Sarah Swearingen Cooke, wife of John Cooke, who died in 1852 at age 81.

The last burial seems to be that of Sarah White, who died in 1939 at age 78, long before nearby Interstate 79 was conceptualized.

Nestor has documented 21 graves.

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

The grave site of Andrew Swearingen, a veteran of the Revolutionary War who died at the age of 78 on June 26, 1824.

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

The headstone for Andrew S. Cooke, who died at the age of 24 Aug. 18, 1823.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh hopes to build a chapel and conference center for parishioners from 55 Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio congregations near the north junction of Interstates 70 and 79. The initial part of the project is expected to cost about $3.5 million. The complex would eventually include a residence for the archbishop.

Cemetery land is not included in the sale to Michael Pihakis, who intends to donate the tract to the Greek Orthodox organization in honor of his parents, Manuel and Evelyn (Dolly) Pihakis.

J. Lynn DeHaven, county solicitor, said the purchase price of $15,000 is greater than the land’s appraised value. If the conveyance to the church does not take place, the land reverts to Washington County, even though officials say it has no use for the land.

The Cooke Family Burial Ground has access to Enterprise Road, off Country Club Road, through a 20-foot right-of-way, which would remain.

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