USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County, Indiana, from its earliest settlement to the present time; with Biographical Sketches and Reference to Biographies, Volume I > Part 56
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SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS
The special belief of this religious order is: That the coming of Christ is at hand and they observe Saturday or the last day of the week as their Sabbath.
As early as 1887, irregular meetings were held in the Old Point schoolhouse on lower Market street; later in a room at 510 Sycamore street ; in 1889, at the corner of Vine and Osage streets, and from 1901-3, at 1431 Spear street. October 6, 1905, a permanent organization was effected in a private house on Washington street, by Elder J. W. Stone and B. Hagle, and an old frame building was purchased and moved to No. 20 Seybold street (west side), which was occupied as a house of worship until March, 1911, when the property was sold and the little congregation have been meeting every Saturday afternoon in the Uni- versalist church. The membership now numbers twenty-eight.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
The first meeting to organize a .Y. M. C. A. in Logansport was held in the courthouse, June 28, 1868. E. L. Metzger presided, and Robert Bringhurst acted as secretary. A committee consisting of Revs. Dudly, Mahin, Greenough, Leonard, Tucker and Charles Plank, and Doctor Minturn was appointed to draft a constitution. On July 7, 1868, the committee reported a constitution and the following officers were elected : President, E. L. Metzger; vice-president, William Chamberlain; secre- tary, M. N. Voorhees; treasurer, George M. McCarty.
The association secured Good Templar Hall at 407 Broadway for a
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meeting place, and continued their work until November 9, 1869, when the association died out from general apathy or inanition. The sa- loons, however, were never apathetic, made their places comfortable and attractive (as is often said the poor man's club room), so much so that an aroused sentiment on the part of the church people crystallized into a renewal of the Y. M. C. A, and on April 26, 1870, the Young Men's Christian and Library Association was organized with S. T. Mc- Connell president, J. H. Talbott vice-president, A. H. McDonald secre- tary, and Thos. H. Wilson treasurer. The association held regular meetings and many young men were turned from the saloon club room to the rooms of the Y. M. C. A. and finally into the church.
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On December 17, 1875, there was a re-organization, and Dr. J. H. Talbott became president; T. J. Legg secretary, and John A. McCul- lough, treasurer. The association continued its good work of rescuing young men from the saloon and other dens of vice until about 1890, when the association was merged into the -
RAILROAD Y. M. C. A.
This association was formally organized in the reading room of the Pennsylvania railroad station at the foot of Fourth street, October 20, 1891, James Burwick presiding. W. W. Reynolds was elected president, B. F. Butler secretary, C. W. Graves treasurer. Soon after, the present quarters at 414 Railroad street was leased of John E. Barnes for $300 per year. It is a two-story brick building and well fitted up with gym- nasium, reading, pool and bath rooms, etc., but larger quarters are needed to accommodate the increasing membership, which now numbers nearly three hundred.
Recognizing that sober, moral, Christian men are more efficient, the Pennsylvania railroad forbids its employees to frequent saloons, en- courages the Y. M. C. A. and pays half the expenses of the organization, and regards it as money well spent, in the increased efficiency of its employees, saying nothing of the spiritual well-being of the men and the rescuing of immortal souls from drunkards' graves.
The association is managed by a board of directors, elected by the members. The chairman of the board is now E. P. Hutton. A general secretary is employed, who devotes his entire time to the affairs of the association. E. G. Gibson was the first general secretary in 1891, and J. S. Findley in 1912.
The association is performing a grand and noble work and deserves to be sustained by all moral, Christian citizens.
1 SALVATION ARMY
Ballington Booth of London is the founder of this religious order. They operate among the slums of the larger cities. A post of the Salva- tion Army was opened in Logansport in 1897 at 315 Third street, by Capt. Maurice Murphy, and the post has been maintained to the present time under different commanders sent out by the head general, all of whom are supposed to be under the direction of Gen. Ballington Booth, or his successor. The local headquarters and assembly room has been changed to 204 Sixth, and from there to 124 Sixth street, the present headquarters. The Salvation Army labors chiefly among those who at- tend no church, and the poor and lowly of the city, and are accomplish- ing much spiritual and moral good and extending charitable aid to many worthy people.
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CHRISTIAN CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH IN ZION OR DOWIE CHURCH
During the year 1905, S. B. Osborn, of Lafayette, Indiana, a repre- sentative and follower of Alexander Dowie, organized a small class and held meetings in the court house twice a month, and services every Sunday by local deaconess Maude Hanna.
The effort to perfect a permanent church of the eccentric Mr. Dowie, whom the world believed to be a hypocrite and an impostor, was not successful, and the few deluded followers of Alexander Dowie, in Lo- gansport, had the scales removed from their spiritual eyes, saw the truth and abandoned the undertaking. Mr. Dowie professed to be a second Christ, whose word was infallible, and healed the sick miraculously, as did the gentle Nazarene.
MENNONITE BRETHREN IN CHRIST
This non-de-script religious order opened up a mission at 124 Sixth street in the summer of 1897, and held regular Sunday services and daily prayer meetings at 8 p. m. under the leadership of Herman D. Herrod. Mr. Herrod was a well-meaning religious enthusiast who expected the world would soon enlist under his banner and all become saints. His methods were crude for this day and generation, and his followers were not numerous, and his organization died "a bornin'" after a few months of difficult labor, and the subject is mentioned as one of the curious incidents of local history.
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CHAPTER XL
CEMETERIES OF LOGANSPORT AND EEL TOWNSHIP
BARRON PRIVATE BURIAL GROUND- JEROLEMAN VAULT-THOMAS FAMILY CEMETERY-SPENCER SQUARE-INDIAN BURIAL GROUND-OLD CEME- TERY-HEBREW CEMETERY-OWEN CEMETERY-VELSEY CEMETERY- MT. ST. VINCENT-MT. HOPE-SOLDIERS' MONUMENT-MT. HOPE MONUMENTS.
In all ages and in all climes the tenderest memories of mankind have centered around the Silent Cities of the Dead. There are at least one hundred and twenty-five of these sacred places within the bounds of Cass county, ten of which are located in Eel township and will be noticed in this chapter, the others will be mentioned in the respective township where situated. Prior to 1860 nearly all cemeteries were laid out and occupied, years before any deeds of conveyance were made and when deeds were executed they were never placed on record for many years. In one case a deed was made in 1849 and not recorded until 1900, over fifty years after its execution. In early days Cass county was a wilderness, sparsely settled, with no roads, no churches, no churchyards, no undertakers, the pioneer cabins separated by miles of intervening forests; when death entered one of these cabins, which it frequently did from the effects of the deadly malaria, the only means of disposing of their dead was to make a rough box and tenderly lay their loved ones away on a knoll near the cabin under the spreading branches of a giant forest tree.
In early days it was next to impossible to purchase a grave stone or marker and today many a pioneer lies peacefully sleeping in an un- marked grave and in many cases unknown to this generation.
"Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid, Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire, Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or wake to ecstacy the living lyre, The boast of heraldy, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e're gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour, The path of glory leads but to the grave."
The natural conditions and surroundings made individual and fam- ily burial grounds a necessity. As the country became settled, roads improved, churches erected with adjoining churchyards, the indi- vidual and family burial grounds were abandoned and the dead were buried in the larger cemetery or churchyard. In many instances the dead were removed from the private to the public burial grounds, but in other cases they were left to sleep in their original last resting place, often unmarked, unknown and forgotten.
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They, however, as peacefully slumber in those unmarked and for- gotten pioneer graves as though they were lying in yonder churchyard, to be daily trodden over by idle and thoughtless crowds, in hearing dis- tance of the chimes of the great church bells of today. When we see so many unmarked graves, so many neglected and unkept burial grounds, and especially the crowded condition of cemeteries in the large cities of this country and the old world, we are more firmly convinced that the best way to dispose of the dead is by cremation, not only from a sani- tary point of view but also from sentiment. The tendency of this age is towards centralization in nearly everything and cemeteries are no exception to the rule. Man is gregarious and congregates in great cities while living and when he dies prefers to be interred in the great cities of the dead, rather than in the individual or family burial ground as formerly. There is no system of registering the interments in any of our cemeteries with few exceptions and there is no means of ascertaining the names, dates or number of burials. This should be corrected by legislative action and a uniform system adopted, requiring the names, dates and place of burial to be registered.
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BARRON PRIVATE BURIAL GROUND
This spot, once sacred to the pioneer dead, is located about one- half mile west of the present city limits and sixty rods south of the Dun- kirk schoolhouse, on the Barron farm. This burial ground is situated on a high sandy knoll in the midst of a field where at this time may be found the broken remnants of five marble slabs, upon which may be deciphered with difficulty, the following inscriptions: Sarah Ann, wife of Peter Barron, died September 30, 1845, and other members of the Barron family from 1838 to 1846.
Joseph Barron, Sr., whose remains lie here in an unmarked grave was a French Canadian, born in Detroit, January, 1773, and died in Cass county, December 12, 1843. He settled in Vincennes in 1790, moved to Logansport in 1827. He was an old Indian interpretor for General Harrison in the War of 1812, and was at the battle of Tippe- canoe. He had four sons, Joseph, Peter, Anthony and Napoleon B., and two daughters, Mrs. Mary Ann Heath, later the wife of Anthony F. Smith, and Mrs. Hugh B. McKeen, who built the second log house in Logansport.
JEROLEMAN VAULT
This burial ground is located about two miles west of Logansport on the north bank of the Wabash river on a farm formerly belonging to Dr. J. M. Jeroleman. About seventy years ago Dr. Jeroleman built a substantial stone vault here in which rested the remains of his first wife, and the wife of Henry Helms, but both were removed to Mt. Hope. John Kistler, 1870, and a Davis child, 1855, and others, were buried here, but the ground belongs to the adjoining farm as no deeds are of record.
THOMAS FAMILY BURIAL GROUND
In the 'forties, Henry Thomas owned a tract of land on the north side, on a knoll about ten rods south of Pleasant Hill street and twenty rods east of Sycamore street. Near the edge of a gravel pit, that now exists, were buried Henry Thomas in 1845, his son, 1850, Isaac Booth, 1849, and a few others. Marble slabs marked some of these graves which were removed to Mt. Hope cemetery after it was laid out, but
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others were left in unmarked graves and this ground, once sacred to the dead, exists only in the mind of a few old pioneers.
SPENCER SQUARE CEMETERY
In the early 'thirties, General Tipton started a burial ground on what was known as Spencer Square, bounded by Ninth, Tenth, Spear and Market streets, where the Lutheran church now stands. James Bell, a son of Daniel Bell, a cadet at West Point was buried here and Gen. John Tipton, himself, in 1839, and a number of others. Monuments marked their graves. When Spear and Ninth streets were laid out and improved they were removed south into the old cemetery but the un- marked graves were never disturbed and lie at rest under the Lutheran church.
INDIAN BURIAL GROUND
When the last of the Pottowattomie Indians were removed west in 1838, by General Tipton, they were encamped on Horney creek, just east of the Michigan road, where the old fair grounds were located in the early 'sixties. Three Indians died while encamped here and were buried on the north side of Horney creek on what is now the right-of- way of the Vandalia Railroad Company on the east side of the track just south of Smith street. There were possibly other Indian burials here prior to this. The graves of these poor unfortunate Indians can be seen, only by the Infinite eye and their locations are known only to James Horney, whose father owned the land at that time, and who gave this information to the writer.
OLD CEMETERY IN LOGANSPORT
This is the oldest cemetery in Cass county and is situated between Ninth, Tenth,, Erie avenue and Spear streets. General Tipton donated the ground in 1828 when it was covered and surrounded by forest trees: He, however, never executed a deed and his administrator represented by Chauncey Carter as commissioner appointed by the court, conveys three and fifty-two one hundredths acres of land to the city of Logans- port as a grave yard and burial ground. The ground was appraised at $45.00 and the city paid that amount February 16, 1846. (Rec. F, page 252.) On September 29, 1846, Chauncey Carter, as surveyor, plats the ground by direction of the city council.
The first interment is said to be a child of William Smith that died in 1828, in the cabin of Daniel Bell, that stood just south of the cemetery.
James Foster died at Alexander Chamberlain's tavern on the south bank of the Wabash river, December 23, 1828, and was buried here on Christmas day, 1828, by the Masons, this being the first Masonic funeral held in Cass county. These two graves are unmarked and their exact . location are unknown as the ground was then covered with a thick forest and unplatted. The oldest grave, as shown by marker is Eliza- beth, wife of N. D. Grover, October 29, 1830. Some old inscriptions, Thomas S. Hartgrave, February 15, 1815, Samuel Fisher, November 17, 1816, were probably removed here, as Cass county was not then settled.
Pioneer ministers who sleep here are, Rev. William Corbin, died November 8, 1841; Rev. James Buchanan, died 1843; Rev. Burrows Westlake, died 1845; Rev. M. M. Post, died 1876.
An old millstone or burr, taken from the Forest mill marks the grave of H. H. DeWolf, he being a miller by trade, and died in 1905, aged 79. Gen. Richard Crooks, who served under General Harrison, in
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the War of 1812, and died in 1842, lies buried near the center of this cemetery with only a large sugar tree to mark the grave, which has grown up since his interment.
William Cooley, a colored man, who was a servant of General Jack- son at New Orleans, in 1815, is interred here, as is also Enion Kendall, Logansport's pioneer poet, who died in 1856
Soldiers buried in old cemetery :
Gen. Hyacinth Lasselle, War of 1812, died 1843; Sergt. James M. Lasselle, Mexican war, d. 1851; Capt. Stanalaus Lasselle, Mexican war, d. 1853; Sergt. J. Harvey Tucker, Mexican war, d. 1853; Capt. D. W. Douglass, Mexican war; David Douglass, War of 1812 and Revolu- tion, d. 1839; David Douglass, Jr., War of 1812, d. 1845; William Cooley (colored), War of 1812, d. 1851; Watson Kirkham, Mexican war, d. 1867; William L. Wolf, Mexican war, d. 1891; George Weirick, War of 1812, d. 1851; Corpl. B. P. Turner, Mexican war; Col. I. N. Patridge, War of 1812, d. 1874; Col. William L. Brown, 20th Indiana, killed at Bull Run, 1862; Gen. Richard Crooks, War of 1812, d. 1842; Benjamin Purcell, War of 1812, d. 1859; Col. Jordan Vigus, War of 1812; Gen. N. D. Grover, War of 1812, d. 1875; Louis House, Company F, 99th Indiana; Dr. H. C. Gemmill, Company H, 128th Indiana, .d. 1904; William Purveyance, Company F, 116th Indiana; J. H. Purveyance, 12th Indiana Cavalry; T. G. Barnett, Company B, 128th Indiana; Charles Hebel, Company B, 128th Indiana; Alexander Barr, Company A, 17th United States; George W. Green, Company I, 46th Indiana, d. 1880; Horace B. Vigus, Company B, 128th Indiana, killed at Atlanta, 1864; Augustine W. Nash, 46th Indiana, d. 1862; Erastus Covault, Company K, 138th Indiana, d. 1884; Samuel Chappel, War of 1812, d. 1839; Sandy Hicks, Company H, 11th United States; De Witt C. Wimer, Mexican war and 9th Indiana, d. 1861; Charles B. Rogers, Company F, 151st Indiana, d. 1865; John G. Reeves; William Smith; C. Hudson ; Joseph Looney; David Bowser; Peter Finegan; David Johnson; S. C. Davis, Mexican war; Abijah VanNess, Mexican war, d. 1859; W. A. Ward, War of 1812; William Jones, Mexican war; Isaac Bartlett, War of 1812; David Davis, Mexican war; B. C. Purcell, Company B, 155th Indiana, d. 1866; Frederick Karl; C. Cornwell; George Clendening.
HEBREW CEMETERY
On May 7, 1884, Charles A. Brownlee, for the sum of $500, deeds one acre of ground lying west of and adjoining Mt. Hope cemetery, to the Hebrew Cemetery Association of Logansport, Indiana.
On July 11, 1884, Soloman Wise, Elias Greenfelder and Morris Michaels, trustees, plat forty-eight lots of said ground. This is a small but beautiful cemetery well shaded with ornamental trees, kept neatly, and has some handsome monuments. The first interment was Gustave Lang, February 18, 1884. The second was Max Kraus, May 16, 1884. Twenty-four persons rest in these grounds in the past twenty- four years or at the rate of one a year.
OWEN CEMETERY OR PLEASANT HILL ADDITION TO MT. HOPE
W. D. Owen on August 5, 1892, laid out a plat of five and thirty- six hundredths acres of ground adjoining Mt. Hope cemetery on the west. This is a beautiful cemetery, artistically laid out, the curved driveways well improved, ornamental trees are abundant and it is
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maintained as a lawn cemetery. The first interment was John L. Lyman, May 1, 1893; Florence, wife of Jesse E. Enyart, May 15, 1893. There are many fine monuments to be found here and four stone receiv- ing vaults. The Elks have a large lot on which is erected a symbolic figure of a life size elk in bronze standing on a pedestal of native stone. The Knights of Pythias also have a characteristic monument on their lot representing a Sir Knight in a kneeling position.
Soldiers buried in Owen cemetery: Edward Ackerbaugh, died 1905; Alexander Brooks, Company D, 9th Indiana, d. 1900; Thomas J. But- terworth, Company K, 53d Indiana, d. 1905; Jackson Cooper, Company B, 180th Ohio, d. 1903; Fred W. Carle, d. 1885; James A. Craighead, 16th Indiana Battery, d. 1896; Dr. A. Coleman, surgeon, 46th Indiana, d. 1905; W. G. Crain, d. 1898; James R. Douglass, Company E, 9th Illi- nois cavalry, d. 1883; Samuel Downham, Company E, 128th Indiana, d. 1890; Rev. T. S. Freeman, chaplain in navy, drowned in Philippines, 1898; Willis G. Graham, Company B, 128th Indiana, d. 1898; Henry S. Gruber, Company A, 9th Indiana, d. 1900; E. B. Gustin, Company F, 116th Indiana, d. 1897; C. W. Fisk, United States navy, d. 1886; Robert Grant, Company K, 9th Indiana, d. 1875; John Hawkins, Michi- gan Regiment, d. 1906; Ira T. Jackson, Company M, 160th Indiana, d. ยท 1903; Luppe Kuhn, Company G, 48th Illinois, d. 1891; John Kies, Com- pany G, 73d Indiana, d. 1906; Rev. Samuel Kelso, Company K, 163d Ohio, d. 1895; Dr. A. H. Landis, surgeon, 35th Ohio, d. 1896; Mat. Massenna, Company H, 55th Indiana, d. 1899; William McMillen, Com- pany F, 151st Indiana, d. 1896; Marcellus H. Nash, Company B, 46th Indiana, d. 1897; Jacob Nicodemus, Company B, 128th Indiana, d. 1906; John T. Powell, captain, Company H, 128th Indiana, d. 1893; I. D. Patterson, Mexican war, d. 1896; Sol. Smith, Company K, 9th Indiana, d. 1902; Eli Walters, Company F, 20th Indiana, d. 1896; James Woodward, Company C, 47th Indiana, d. 1903; James Tracy, captain, Company K, 25th Illinois, d. 1901.
VELSEY CEMETERY OR PLEASANT HILL ADDITION TO MT. HOPE
February 23, 1906, Seth M. Velsey by permission of the city coun- cil and paying the city $500, makes a plat of a tract of land three hundred and nineteen by three hundred and seventy-eight feet, lying north of the Owen and west of the Hebrew cemetery. This new ceme- tery is admirably and artistically laid out with curved drives, im- proved with cement gutters and broken stone sewerage, etc. Samuel Fisher and Mrs. Isaac Hunnelberger have each erected handsome and costly granite receiving vaults, and a company is just completing a large mausoleum containing two hundred sarcophagi.
MT. ST. VINCENT OR CATHOLIC CEMETERY
On March 24, 1866, George W. Ewing of Cook county, Illinois, con- veyed by deed to the Rt. Rev. John H. Luers, bishop of Fort Wayne, ten and fifty-seven hundredths acres of land in section 25, lying south of Mt. Hope cemetery. On September 16, 1866, this ground was platted by. Rev. Bernard Joseph Force, pastor of St. Vincent's church.
First interments: Timothy Cahill, born in Cork, Ireland, died July 12, 1866. He is said to have been struck and killed in a quarrel over war and political matters. Priests buried here are: Rev. Father Cam- pion, died 1898; Rev. Father Koehne, died 1906; Rev. Father Bernard Kroeger, died 1909; Rev. J. G. Mark, died 1904.
Soldiers buried in St. Vincent's cemetery : John Higley, Company
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F, 1st Michigan Artillery, d. 1898; Michael McTaggart, Company C, 155th Indiana, d. 1906; John Baker, Company D, 54th Indiana, d. 1898; Capt. John C. Brophy, Company H, 27th Michigan, d. 1899; John Tonkey, Company K, 35th Indiana; Michael Ellison, Company C, 44th Indiana, d. 1879; Thomas Regan, Company F, 68th Ohio; John F. Burns, Company F, 151st Indiana; Herman Kempfer; M. McDonald; Michael Keeley, Company E, 35th Iowa, d. 1902; J. O. Barron, Com- pany E, 9th Illinois cavalry; John Leahy, d. 1897; John McKeeher, Company F, 151st Indiana, d. 1893; John F. Bruggaman, Company F, 127th Indiana; J. M. Harrod; George Schlusser, Company K, 9th In- diana; Newton G. Scott, Mexican war and 46th Indiana; P. Clifford; . P. Lewis; J. Weise; Lawrence Radkey, United States navy.
MT. HOPE CEMETERY
On September 10, 1856, for the sum of $3,100, the city of Logans- port purchased of Henry Thomas' heirs, eighty acres of land in sec-
SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT, LOGANSPORT
tions 24 and 25, in Noble township, now within the city limits. Sep- tember 16, 1891, the city purchased of William Douglass, twenty-eight acres adjoining the above tract on the north, paying therefor $5,500. This ground has been platted at different times: November 21, 1856; June 20, 1875; August 26, 1887; February 23, 1889, and October 27, 1894.
The first lot, No. 220, sold in Mt. Hope cemetery was bought in the fall of 1856, by Benjamin Peters, a lawyer, who wrote the deed and transacted the business in the purchase of the grounds by the city. Mr. Peters died May 22, 1857 and was buried on this lot and on his monument, a square marble shaft, about eight feet high, is carved these words: "The first monument erected in Mt. Hope."
This monument is situated on the south side of the central drive due west from the Clifton avenue gate and just south of Allen Richard- son's lot, which latter is enclosed by a granite coping. In recent years
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many removals have been made from other burial grounds to Mt. Hope and we find many old-fashioned slabs and stones with dates inscribed thereon as far back as 1830. Mt. Hope is the largest cemetery in the county. It is artistically laid out with circular walks and curved drive- ways. It is beautifully situated on the north hill overlooking the city and the river valleys. It is well shaded by native forest trees, as well as evergreen and ornamental trees. The first addition to Mt. Hope laid out in 1894, is maintained as a lawn cemetery and makes a much neater appearance and is much more desirable than the old part where each lot owner banks up his lot or graves to please his own fancy with no two alike.
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT
The city deeded to the county a large lot near the entrance to Mt. Hope in 1888, on which Cass county erected the "Soldiers' Monument," the largest and most expensive monument in the county, costing $10,000. It is made of Indiana limestone, has a rectangular base with steps lead- ing up to the sixteen tablets, upon which is carved the name of every soldier dying and buried within the county. Above these tablets arises a round column to the height of ninety feet surmounted by a figure representing a color bearer. The four branches of the military service are represented by a life size statue standing on each corner of the base, all in full dress, representing the different branches of the service.
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