Kriedersville Stone Church

The church is on a high hill overlooking the Lehigh Valley, Northampton County, with dairy farms, silos, and Allentown in the distance.  A very commanding view.  The cemetery is huge and we have just scratched the surface.  Many families who married into the Silvius family are buried here. It is now a Church of Christ as are many Reformed and Lutheran Churches in the area (Tohickon is too).   Kriedersville has chimes and beautiful wood paneling inside with stained-glass windows.  The village itself has maybe 25 souls in it . . . just a mere crossroads on the map.   

John (left photo)
born August 1752
died 14 January 1838

Anna (right photo)
born 3 September 1752
died 24 February 1838

This marker was erected by the DAR and has the name "Henry Silvius" on it as a soldier of the Revolution Who was from Kriedersville.

In studying the list of veterans and burials there, a caretaker found that Henry Silvius had the exact same birth and death dates as Henry Straus, a Revolutionary soldier buried at Kriedersville, but left off the memorial (see p. 131 of grave list below).

Furthermore, the caretaker found that there was no Henry Silvius buried at Kriedersville, just John "Sillifusz" whose grave is pictured on this page.

It is thought the person who created the plaque made the error of repeating the last name of the soldier just above, instead of inscribing STRAUS after Henry.

There is no known Henry Silvius who lived during this exact time frame, and further, the only Henry known to have enlisted for the Revolution is buried at Kunkletown, in Monroe County, PA, with a birth year of 1754 and a death year of 1838.

For these reasons most Silvius researchers believe this was a case of mistaken identity.

#13 John is listed fourth from the bottom and the erroneous entry for another Henry Silvius is fifth from the bottom

From the DAR plaque above: 

Henry Silvius Oct. 6, 1738 - May 31, 1805

From a small, mimeographed booklet, Zion's Stone Church Yard,

Heinrich Strauss 6 Oct. 1738, d. 31 May, 1805
(see bottom of the page)