Union Township in Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Blue Eyed Six Grave Site

St. Joseph's Spring

Photographed by William Pope, May 18, 2024

1. Blue Eyed Six Grave Site Marker

Inscription. Preserved between McLean Road and a tank trail, training & cultural resource management coexist. Four members of the Blue Eyed Six took out an insurance policy on Joseph Raber, an elderly farmer, and promised to take care of him until his death. As part of the conspiracy, the other two members, Franklin Stichler and Charles Drews, drowned Raber in nearby Indiantown Run in 1878. The trial that followed received international attention as the first trial for an insurance murder. The two were convicted of the murder along with three other members and were hanged in Lebanon in 1880. Stichler's mother carted his body home in a wheelbarrow and buried him here, in the family's back yard. Additional information may found on the Lebanon County Historical Society Site.

St. Joseph's Spring
A trading post, a group of houses, and a tavern and hotel existed in the vicinity of the spring on McLean Road.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Events. A significant historical year for this entry is 1878.

Location. 40° 26.693′ N, 76° 36.981′ W. Marker is in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, in Lebanon County. It is in Union Township. It is at the intersection of Wood Road and McLean Road, on the right on Wood Road. This marker is located in the Fort Indiantown

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Gap Military Reservation for the Pennsylvania National Guard. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Grantville PA 17028, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country,

and in Greater Harrisburg.

It is also in the American Northeast,

in the Mid-Atlantic,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: In Memory of Sergeant Charles Marquette (approx. 1.4 miles away); 95th Infantry Division Memorial (approx. 2.6 miles away); M2/M59 Howitzer (approx. 2.6 miles away); M915A1 Line Haul Tractor (approx. 2.6 miles away); Nike "Hercules" Missile (approx. 2.6 miles away); 40 & 8 Boxcar (approx. 2.6 miles away); Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge (approx. 2.6 miles away); M578 LRV (approx. 2.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fort Indiantown Gap.

Also see . . . Blue Eyed Six.

The Blue Eyed Six were a group of six men, all of them coincidentally blue-eyed, who were arrested and indicted on first degree murder charges in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, in 1879... This group of friends and unsavory business associates conspired to murder their neighbor, Joseph Raber, for an insurance pay-off.

(Submitted on May 24, 2024, by William Pope of Marietta, Pennsylvania.)

Photographed by William Pope, May 18, 2024

2. Blue Eyed Six Grave Site Marker

Photographed by William Pope, May 18, 2024

3. Blue Eyed Six Grave Site Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on May 24, 2024, by William Pope of Marietta, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 1,226 times since then and 151 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 24, 2024, by William Pope of Marietta, Pennsylvania. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.