So, do you send out forwarding address cards?

So, in East Cleveland Cemetery, I’ve already posted photos of this obelisk.

I started out trying to find out if this obelisk in Woodland Cemetery was for descendants of the original family in East Cleveland.

Then I realized that the names and death years matched on one panel. It appears that at some point, the Edwards’ descendants erected a monument for them in Woodland Cemetery, and possibly moved the remains from East Cleveland. Then they continued adding other family members to the new monument and buried them in the family plot at Woodland Cemetery.

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Cemetery Flowers

One of my favorite things about visiting cemeteries in the spring are the flowers – not the cut ones that are brought by family and friends, but the ones that bloom every year in a place that most people associate only with death. Maybe some of them are descendants of flowers planted there years before, but often they seem to be a gift from Mother Nature to those who rest below the ground.

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A Grave Concern: East Cleveland Township Cemetery tour

This past weekend, we attended the 2nd Annual Halloween Night at the Cemetery at the East Cleveland Township Cemetery. Although the name might not make it completely clear, the event is a torchlit tour of the cemetery with stops for stories of individuals who are buried there. This year, they planned for the high turnout by having two tour groups at each time slot for a total of four tours. We visited 11 sites in the cemetery, with a mix of marked and unmarked graves, and there was only one brief story that was a repeat of the previous year’s tour. We were very lucky to have our tour lead by Nancy West, the author of To Dwell with Fellow Clay, a history of the cemetery and its residents. Before and after the tour, the restored chapel at the gate was open with baked goods, candy, and cider. Nancy stated they would have the tour again next year, and I will be there. I hope that in the future more of my readers will be able to make it out and support the great work the cemetery foundation is doing to take care of this historic cemetery.

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A Grave Concern: Alonzo Silsby

Alonzo Silsby served in the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery I, also known as Dilger’s Battery after its commander. According to Nancy West’s To Dwell with Fellow Clay, Silsby died of wounds received at the Battle of Gettysburg. I have visited both Silsby’s gravesite as well as the monument at Gettysburg that marks the general area where the Battery took up position.  Silby’s greatly eroded original tombstone does seem to mention the battle specifically, but he also has a newer government-issue monument.

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A Grave Concern: Mark your calendars

On October 22, 2011, East Cleveland Township Cemetery is holding their 2nd Annual Halloween Night at the Cemetery. This was a good tour last year, and they promised that they will have new stories so that people can attend multiple years in a row and always hear something they haven’t before. This is a link to their flyer. Hope to see some of you there!

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A Grave Concern: Mark your calendars

Sadly, the Woodland Cemetery Living History tour scheduled for tomorrow, June 26, is cancelled.

Woodland does have some other exciting activities planned for later this year:
August 21, 2011 — Annual Scavenger Hunt (1 pm)
We did this last year and it was a lot of fun.

September 24, 2011 — Geocaching with the Boy Scouts (but open to the public)
I haven’t done this, but my understanding is that the locations they find correspond with the Boy Scout oath.

October 2, 2011 — Murder Tour 2011
This is new, and I’m really excited about it.

East Cleveland also has a Halloween tour scheduled again for this year – October 22, 2011. This was a great time last year, and they have promised to have a different tour this year to encourage repeat visitors.

This is what I know about right now – I will update with more dates as I know about them.

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A Grave Concern: Rodolphus Edwards

Rodolphus Edwards was a member of the 1798 Western Reserve surveying party who remained in the Cleveland area. Rodolphus originally built his log cabin on what would become Superior Street in Cleveland, but moved to Doan’s Corners to avoid the diseases (mostly malaria) associated with the swampy land. His father, Adonijah, a Revolutionary War veteran, came to live with the family and eventually died with them in Cleveland at the advanced age of 92, and his son (also Rodolphus) became a prominent Cleveland citizen.

Sources:
Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, Volumes 1-2, Cleveland: Mount & Carroll, Printers and Stationers, 1880.

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A Grave Concern: Quick fact

John Crites was a soldier in one of the units sent to restore order during the New York City Draft Riots of 1863.

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A Grave Concern: Flower Art

I’m still catching up – I’ve been working on a lot of projects lately that haven’t left me a lot of time to work on the blog, and I’m out a camera, so I’m going to present you with a virtual bouqet – flower art from monuments in East Cleveland Township Cemetery. Enjoy!

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A Grave Concern: Charles C. Dille Revisited

I have previously written about poor Charles Dille, who perished in the hell that was Andersonville Prison in George during the Civil War. I observed when I visited the grave that the dates on the original marker erected by the family and the one on the new government-issue marker did not match – and according to the cemetery records, neither is correct. The Dille family commissioned their marker based on when they received news that Charles was deceased. It would be a number of years before Charles’ body was removed from Andersonville and transported north to rest in his native Ohio soil. Only then would the Andersonville Cemetery sexton’s records provide more specific information as to when Charles Dille breathed his last, and that does not appear to be the date on either tombstone.

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