Mays
Meeting House /
Northwest of
Admire Road, South of Davidsburg Road
May’s Meeting House is located on the Weigelstown-Admire Road. The land was originally bought from the Gauff family who had received it by grant from the Penns. In 1776, Philip Gauff willed a tract of land to his son George. On March 26, 1776 the land was sold for five shillings to several members of the church, designating it as a church ground.
Neither cemetery nor church appears on the 1860 map of the county. It was used as a Sunday school from 1871 to 1919, and was often called May’s Schoolhouse as a result. It appears on the 1876 map with a notation “Meeting House”.
The building itself was thought to be originally a log house that was replaced later with the present brick building. The foundation is of sandstone, the walls of brick, the trim of wood and the roof is metal. It is 22 feet wide, 26 feet deep and 1.5 stories high. It is said to be the county’s smallest traditionally styled church. Formerly, a post and rail fence enclosed the grounds, except the southwest corner, which was left open for entry.
Book cupboards containing spellers, songbooks and Sunday school records hung from the plastered walls and kerosene lamps hung from the ceiling for night lighting. A stove placed in the center of the aisle provided the necessary heat for the bitter cold winters.
The County Head of Sunday schools, J.B. Baughman, founded mays Sunday school on June 1, 1871. Due to poor traveling weather, the school closed at New Year and opened later at Easter. Mays Sunday school operated until the Sunday school at Salem (Strayers) took over. The meetinghouse was used as a place for primary classes when the building served as a Sunday school.
The burial ground was in use in the 1750’s ands the ¾ acre plot was officially purchased from the surrounding farm on March 26, 1791. That deed makes no mention of any building. The graveyard is the oldest in Dover Township; the burial of Henry Kann in 1775 is older than the oldest interment in Salem or Strayers graveyard by eight years. The cemetery is to the rear of the church and consists of about 150 shaped sandstone and slate markers, many three feet high. The graveyard is arranged in three long rows of seventeen graves and one short row of four graves. Space was allowed between each of the graves for an additional grave and with more burial space at the end of the short row.
Most of the older stones are fieldstone. Some are so badly weathered that they are illegible. A few have only initials and no dates. Some are inscribed in English and some in German. There are several war markers indicating that men who fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 were buried there. The more common family names on the markers include Julius, Beiel, Leib, May and Hershey.
The May family owned the surrounding farm for many years, although not in 1791 when the cemetery was purchased. The family bought the church property once it was no longer in use and owns it today.
The descendants of Daniel May maintain the grounds and hold a family reunion there each year. A pavilion with picnic tables has been built to accommodate the annual reunion.
Dover History 250th Anniversary / Dover Bicentennial 1764-1964 / Prowells History
Volume 1 1907