Westtown organization seeks historic marker for neglected black cemetery

The only remaining gravestone from Westtown Shiloh AME Church and Cemetery. The marker is that of Alfred Bye, a US Colored Troops soldier who served in Company A, 32nd PA regiment. Photo by James Guterl

More than 200 years ago, a Westtown church was the center of a vibrant Black community, the Westtown Shiloh AME Church. It is estimated that at least 140 congregants are buried in the adjacent cemetery on Shiloh and Little Shiloh roads, including at least 14 Black veterans of the Civil War. Sadly, the abandoned church was pulled down, and the grave markers destroyed or stolen. Today, this historic space is unkempt and overgrown, with no access possible for descendants of this community.

This week, a proposal was made by the Friends of Shiloh AME Church and Cemetery (FoS) to Westtown Township supervisors to begin recognizing the importance of the church and its members. Stephen Lyons, chair of FoS, asked the supervisors to approve an historic marker commemorating the place where hundreds of Chester County Black Americans worshiped and celebrated holidays, births, and buried their loved ones. (FoS is a group of Westtown and Chester County residents formed to find ways to recognize the historic property.)

Lyons’ passionate presentation — attended by many local supporters, in person and via Zoom — emphasized this was a strong, close knit Black community that attracted ground-breaking AME preachers and played a role in the Underground Railroad.

The marker would be paid for from donations raised by FoS and managed by the Brandywine Valley Civil War Round Table, a nonprofit organization. The group asked the township to place the marker in the public right of way on Shiloh Road, quoting the Westtown Township sign ordinance that states signs can be placed without the landowner’s permission if “authorized or required” by the township. The landowner has not responded to several attempts to begin dialogue.

“With America250 celebrations in 2026 this is the time to commemorate members of our community,” Lyons pointed out.

The supervisors emphasized they “have a responsibility to look out for landowners’ interests,” however, saying, they were supportive of the concept. Lyons responded that the community has a duty to honor historic Black cemeteries which include veterans in light of the passage of the African American Burial Grounds Act of 2022.

After the supervisors asked for examples of other townships who have installed similar signs on property where the landowner is not in agreement, they informed the audience that “this is a workshop, so we won’t vote here.”

Several county groups presented endorsements of what “would represent the first historical marker about African Americans in Westtown Township,” as Bertha Jackmon, a member of FoS said in audio testimony that evening: Pennsylvania Hallowed Ground; members of the Chester County Historic Preservation Network; the pastor of Thornbury AME Church, and 28 participants of Westtown Meeting who attended the meeting via Zoom.

In conjunction with placing an historic marker, FoS is looking for descendants of those buried at the cemetery. An alphabetical list of burials can be found at FindAGrave: insert Westtown Township under cemetery location. Contact friendsofshilohame@gmail.com if you are a descendant.

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