Apr 14, 2002 By Patty Shultz 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – A joint effort by two groups representing two distinct sides of the law are working side by side to clear away years of debris at a local cemetery. “Who would have thought for the common good of the community that the two of them could get together?” said John Sartori, a Westmoreland County state parole officer, as he watched parolees and the Connellsville chief of police cut down trees and stacking wood.

Over the past two weeks, those who have broken the law and those who daily enforce it have been clearing underbrush and removing trees in a long forgotten portion of Hillgrove Cemetery.

According to Harry Porter, who oversees the care of the cemetery, before the work began, a passerby would have mistaken the plot of land for just a wooded site between adjacent homes and the cemetery.

“This was a blessing when they came here,” he said.

Several weeks ago, Sartori was contacted by Connellsville Police Chief Stephen Cooper about the project and asked if Cooper’s group of men would be willing to assist in the project.

The men – all members of Positive Influence Towards Tomorrow Today, a support group for those who have served time in jail – agreed to the challenge.

“These are individuals who have chosen to give something back,” said Sartori. “So many times we hear the negative things, but this is something positive.”

The dozen group members are not required to take part in the community-oriented project, but have volunteered their time. Many are also active in visiting schools and talking to students about their lives and the challenges they continue to face.

“I got in trouble one time,” said Ray Perez, chairman of the group. “I made some bad decisions, and it cost me everything.

“But I do not allow that to determine how the rest of my life is going to go.”

Cooper said his officers also responded favorably to the project, with many volunteering their off-duty time to help clear the brush and trees that cover the graves of war veterans and former city residents.

A few of the officers, he said, have had past encounters with those alongside whom they are now working.

“It is a good experience for everyone,” he said. “We’re all working for the same goal.”

Sartori said the work would continue over the next several weeks, and the workers will return headstones throughout the cemetery to their upright positions.

“Our target date for completion is Memorial Day,” he said.

Porter said the clearing would enable the public to view the gravesites. Many are believed to be the final resting places of veterans.

The cemetery is filled with Civil War veterans that served with the 142nd Regiment, Company H, Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Capt. J.M. DuShane, who is also buried in Hillgrove.

The regiment became part of the First Brigade, Third Division, First Corps that was slaughtered at Fredericksburg and again at Gettysburg.

DuShane was wounded twice at Gettysburg and, along with many of those serving with him, was taken prisoner by the Confederates.

After returning from the war front, he assisted in the organization of the Youghiogheny Bank in Connellsville.

Porter said his grandfather, Pvt. William Porter, was one of the men recruited by DuShane during a gathering at the Connellsville Presbyterian Church on Aug. 5, 1862.

“There’s a lot of history in this cemetery,” he said.

Also buried within the confines of the cemetery are David P. Cummings, who died at the fall of the Alamo in 1836, and his son, who was a veteran of the Santa Fe Expedition and the Mexican War.

Hughie Cannon, who penned the lyrics and music to “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey,” has a small cemetery plot.

Little can be found about his life and death in Connellsville, but music historians cite Cannon as being the most important chronicler of the folk-style blues at the turn of the 20th century.