This vintage image of the Turkeyfoot Baptist Church near Ursina, Somerset County, PA, also known as the "Jersey Church," is not dated and the faces are not identified. The grave markers at far left -- enlarged in the first two images below -- appear to be topped in mounds of fresh dirt and one instance marked with a small United States flag and covered with flowers. This suggests that the event could have been a Memorial Day commemoration of the military fallen, also known as Decoration Day. Two of the older men are wearing hats bearing the insignia of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Civil War veterans from the Union Army.
The Jersey congregation is the the oldest church west of the Allegheny Mountains. Multitudes of our cousins have been involved with this body of believers over the centuries as co-founders and members and many more sleep for the ages in the sacred soil of the adjoining cemetery. The Harbaugh Reunion of 1929, marking the birthday of Mary Magdalena (Whipkey) Harbaugh, was held at the church in August.
The image has been scanned in high resolution and cropped in six equal sections and enlarged below for easier study of the faces.
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