Tonoloway Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery, Pennsylvania

The Tonoloway Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery are co-located on Route 655, in Belfast Township, of Fulton County, Pennsylvania. To reach it, take Route 70 to the Warfordsburg, PA exit. Go North a few miles to Rt. 655, then turn right. Follow this winding road until you reach the church, on the right.

This church is a part of our family history, with a number of relatives worshipping here. It is not hard to imagine John K Carson and his wife Rachel attending services here, since they lived in and around Warfordsburg for some time. However, church records do not include them as members. We do know that Rachel's grandparents, great grandparents, and great-great grandparents were all members of the church.

The church was built in 1752, then rebuilt in 1804. It was the tenth Baptist church constructed in America. During the civil war, the church served as a hospital.

Here are a few photos I took while on my trip in May of 2006:


The Tonoloway Primitive Baptist Church, as viewed from Rt 655


The Tonoloway Primitive Baptist Church and a partial view of the cemetery. The graves of Benjamin Truax, Sr. and his wife Parthenia, are difficult to see in this photo, but they are directly between the camera lens and the church window on the far right.


A marker for Benjamin Truax's grave. I don't know if this was placed here as part of the Bi-Centenial memorial service (1976), or more recently.


The Marker placed in 1976 to remember Benjamin's Revolutionary War service.