St. John’s Union Church may also be called Old Towamensing Church and is now known as St. John’s Lutheran Church. It’s located in Palmerton, Towamensing Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is the second church built in what is now Carbon County. The land was purchased in 1798 and the church built the following year. The current church was built in 1862.

My husband and I visited this church in April 2001 to look for gravestones of my ancestors Frederick Boyer and wife Susanah Mehrkam. Other ancestors were baptized there but we did not get to see the records for them. Leah Boyer was baptized in Towamensing Union Church in Carbon County in 1828. Levi Stroup was born May 18, 1829 and baptized at St. John’s Union Church.

While there, we took the following pictures which I will share with you. You may help yourself to these pictures and use them any way you like.

When we were there, we also were given this paper, which is a sort of map of the cemetery. You can click on it to see it larger or download a pdf here. It’s very difficult to read but I’m sharing it anyway.

St Johns Union Cemetery Map of Graves

St Johns Union Cemetery Map of Graves

Here are some notes of unknown source that I found in my files. These are some of the surnames in my line but not all these folks are in my direct line. The first number is the row in the cemetery. The second number is the number of the stone. Rows are numbered from the church west and stones from the highway, south.

Row and Stone Numbers
Name
6-11
Austin Boyer
14-4
Catharina Boyer Ziegenfuss
33-6
Charles Boyer
24-13
David Boyer
22-16
Edith Boyer
6-16
Elizabeth Boyer
1-4
Friedrich Boyer
1-3
Heinrich Boyer
2-8
Infant Boyer
24-14
Irwin Boyer
23-3
Johannes Boyer
2-11
Maria Boyer
7-4
Salome Boyer Arner
21-7
Susanna Boyer
2-1
Susanna Boyer
16-14
Anna Mehrkam
6-21
Arabella Mehrkam
14-10
Catharina Bloss Mehrkam
17B-6
Charles Mehrkam
22-14
Christiana Brunzweig Mehrkam
22-11
Conrad Mehrkam
22-13
Conrad Mehrkam
8-6
Fayette Mehrkam
14-9
Jacob Mehrkam
8-5
Lilly Mehrkam
17B-7
Maria Mehrkam
9B-3
Reuben Mehrkam
8-6
_____ Mehrkam
7-10
Magdalena Ohlewein Straub
13-11
Anna Straub
7-11
David Straub
30-6
Eliza Straub
30-3
Johannes Straub
7-10
Magdalena Straub
13-10
Sylvester Straub
10-10
William Straub
6-13
Jacob Straup
10-11
Abilona Stroub
10-11
Thomas Stroub
12-14
Ellen Stroup

Contact info:
St John’s Towamensing Lutheran Congregation
2915 Fireline Road
Palmerton PA 18071
Phone: (610) 826-7766

This website has a great little map to help you find the church: http://www.kinfolks.info/arner/maps/palmerton.jpg