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Riverside.
Gc 977.102 C59c er 2033793
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
JEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02481 1090
HISTORICAL REVIEW.
-OF-
RIVERSIDE EMETERY
ASSOCIATION.
CLEVELAND, OHIO.
CLEVELAND, O. THE CLEVELAND PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. 1889.
TRUSTEES.
Names of all who have served terms as trustees since the Association was first organized Entered Retired from the Board. the Retired from the Board. Board.
Entered the Board. 1875
HIRAM BARRETT
1876
66
F. S. PELTON"
1876
ELIAS SIMS
1876
66
GEO. H. FOSTER
1879
A. T. VAN TASSEL 1876
THos. H. LAMSO 1882
..
JOHN G. JENNINGS
1885
1876
T. M. TOWL .
1878
FRANCIS BRANCH*
1827
E. J. HOLMDEN
1880
66 . JOSIAH BARBER"
..
L. D. BENEDICT
L. C. PIXLEY
1885
. NICHOLAS MEYER*
1880
1885
. W. M. BAYNE
1890
THOMAS DIXON
1883
J. M. ACKLEY
1888
16
. ROBERT R. RHODES
1881
1888 . CAPT. WM. WILSON" . 1891
J. C. SCHENCK'
1883
* Died
Those constituting the Board December 14, 1891:
1875 . ALFRED KELLOGG
1879
HENRY J. COE
..
. J. M. CURTISS .
1881
A. A. JEWETT
6.
S. W. SESSIONS ..
1882 . J. J. CARTRIGHT .
GEO. T. CHAPMAN
1883
. L. SCHLATHER
.6
JOHN DAYKIN .
. WM. SAMPSON
1876 . MARTIN SNIDER . F. W. PELTON
1884
A. S. GATES
1885
H. W. S. WOOD
C. L. JONES
1890 . NELSON PURDY
1877
J. S. HARTZELL
1891
. D. H. KIMBERLEY
1879 I. P. LAMSON
. GEORGE PRESLEY
1875 . J. M. COFFINBERRY
1891
1876
DIODATE CLARK"
1876
1884 1878 1876 1880
JOHN J. BIGELOW 1884
.
Board of Trustees.
ALFRED KELLOGG,
WM. SAMPSON,
S. W. SESSIONS,
WM. BAYNE,
F. W. PELTON,
I. P. LAMSON,
A. A. JEWETT,
L. SCHLATHER,
WM. WILSON,
H. J. COE,
A. S. GATES,
H. W. S. WOOD, JOHN DAYKIN,
C. L. JONES,
J. J. CARTRIGHT,
J. M. CURTISS,
MARTIN SNIDER,
GEO. T. CHAPMAN,
J. S. HARTZELL,
J. M. COFFINBERRY.
OFFICERS.
PRESIDENT-J. M. CURTISS.
VICE PRESIDENT-S. W. SESSIONS.
TREASURER-F. W. PELTON.
CLERK AND SUPERINTENDENT-JOHN C. DIX.
2033793
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
J. M. CURTISS,
S. W. SESSIONS,
.
J. S. HARTZELL, MARTIN SNIDER, F. W. PELTON.
CEMETERY OFFICE ON THE GROUNDS.
"To Live is in fact to Die, and Death is the Gateway to Life."
" The Grave should be surrounded by everything that might inspire tenderness and veneration for the dead, or that might win the living to virtue. It is a place not of disgust and dismay, but of sorrow and meditation."-WASHINGTON IRVING.
-M-N-G,
The Upper Jake and Bridge.
REVIEW.
BY THE PRESIDENT.
The high hopes and expectations expressed in our prospectus, issued at the inception of the Riverside enterprise, have been more than realized. Its phenomenal success has passed into and become a part of the proud history of our city. It is therefore with feelings of no little satisfaction that the Trustees, many of whom are among the founders, present this review of the history of the RIVERSIDE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION, representing the progress of an enterprise which in a little more than a decade has become the pride of our citizens.
Touching the inception of the Association, preceding any legal public action, there is an unwritten history, and between each line of recorded history there is an unwritten line, telling of anxious hopes and fears, of severe struggles and many discouragements. This undertaking, as many will vividly recollect, was no exception to the rule incident to the experience of men who embark in like enterprises. Riverside was the legitimate offspring of necessity. The 'Trustees of the city Cemeteries had reported the pressing need of additional grounds, urging the municipal authorities to take im- mediate action in the premises. The city had recognized the necessity, and by resolution had appointed a special committee to report a suitable location. But before any definite action had been taken, private enterprise had relieved the city of the heavy burden of taxation necessary to the successful accomplishment of the object.
Early in October, 1875, a number of citizens, in response to a public call and personal solicitation, met at the office of Judge Coffinberry, 201 Pearl street, to consider the advisability of organ-
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izing a Cemetery Association under the ample law of the state, and securing suitable grounds on the west side of the Cuyahoga river. We have no data enabling us to give the names of all the gentle- men who participated in this and subsequent preliminary meetings. However, on the fifteenth day of November the Riverside Cemetery Association was legally organized by electing the following Board of Trustees : J. M. Coffinberry, Francis Branch, F. S. Pelton, Geo. H. Foster, Diodate Clark, John G. Jennings, S. W. Sessions, Al- fred Kellogg, Josiah Barber, L. D. Benedict, Nicholas Meyer, Thomas Dixon, Robert R. Rhodes, J. C. Schenck, Geo. T. Chap- man, Elias Sims, Hiram Barrett, A. T. Van Tassell, John Daykin, and J. M. Curtiss. The Trustees immediately organized and elected Josiah Barber, President, and William M. Bayne, Clerk.
After the most thorough, painstaking consideration given to the work of selecting proper grounds, the Trustees were fortunate in securing the present desirable site of Riverside, containing 102 1/2 acres, and combining, it is believed, greater natural advantages and better adaptability for the purposes desired than any other tract in the county. The services of Mr. E. O. Schwaegerl, an accom- plished landscape architect and engineer, were secured to make a thorough topographical survey and prepare plans. The following April ground was broken, and the improvements were so vigorously pushed forward that on the 11th day of November, 1876, every- thing was in a condition of substantial completion-office, cottage, chapel and receiving vault; four rustic bridges, five miles of finely- graded driveways, and thirty acres of beautifully-lawned sections- and all in place and readiness for use and for the occasion of the Centennial memorial services.
Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor, and a large number of distin- guished guests and citizens were present and took part therein. The exercises were appropriate and in the highest degree interest- ing, the ceremony of tree-planting being a novel feature and a pleasant part of the proceedings. The President-elect of the United States planted the first tree. Each guest and citizen to whom had been assigned a tree, planted it with his own hands, labelled with his name, and afterwards a diagram of the several groups and lines of trees was recorded, with the names of those who planted them, on the section plat of the grounds, thus carefully preserving the record for future reference.
Thirteen years have these trees budded and leaved since they
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were planted. Let us hope that they may abide in decorative beauty long after the hands that set them in place shall be folded to rest, and that when another centennial of our country shall be cel- ebrated by our children's children they may rejoice in delightful summer shades and cherish endearing memories of the dead of Riverside.
Thus was Riverside Cemetery Association ushered into existence, but like all infant projects, is required long nursing and tender care ere it could stand, much less walk, alone. Of its early struggles and discouragements we need hardly speak. It is well that in the attainment of any great and worthy object we forget or think lightly of the thorny pathway along which we have trodden to suc- cess. It is well, also, that while the trials, sorrows and hardships of the past are thus softened and subdued by time, the future is kindly veiled from our view.
Of the twenty Trustees who started with us, and whose names are given above, eight now sleep beneath the green sod of Riverside. Nearly half of our original number, and two other honored Trus- tees, Mr. Thomas Lamson, who 'was indeed with us, if not of us, from the beginning, and Mr. John Bigelow, making ten Trustees who have surrendered their badges of office and life's duties within the few years of our organization. The last to leave his labors and this Board (for they all fell in harness) was our honored and lamented first President, Josiah Barber, who to the last counseled and worked for the enterprise he so dearly loved, and within whose sacred precincts his enfeebled body was so soon to find rest.
These feelings and events naturally cast a shadow of gravity over our deliberations which was unavoidable, yet we may feel and ex- press joy and exchange congratulations at the success of the enter- prise which has given us these beautiful grounds and placed the project on a firm financial foundation.
Nearly fourteen years ago we took these grounds fresh from the hand of nature, but with a heavy obligation to satisfy the demands of a fortunate middleman, (the purchase price being $102,457.00) and, after two years spent in grading and improving the ground, at an expense of several thousand dollars, we were enabled by reason of reduction obtained in purchase price, by raising the cash, and the liberal subscriptions made in advance for lots by public- spirited citizens, to bond the enterprise for $90,000. The bonds drew 8 per cent. semi-annual interest, and citizens interested in the
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enterprise were obliged to take them, as there was no sale for them on the money markets. The project was young, and, like most new enterprises, it was burdensome until firmly established and made a demonstrated success.
Starting with no endowment, and without receiving a dollar in donation even up to the present time from any source, (although a most appropriate object for generous action) this beneficent undertaking has not only beautified and maintained these sacred grounds, but wiped out over 25 per cent. of its entire debt. On January 1, 1889, the Association called in the $90,000 outstanding bonds. The sinking fund provided for by the trust mortgage given by the Association as security for these bonds and interest was, according to the terms of the mortgage, to receive two-thirds of all receipts derived from the sale of lots. These terms had been fully complied with, and on the day the bonds were called in the Association, out of this sinking fund, retired $20,000 of them. The remaining $70,000, which represents our present entire debt, was refunded at 6 per cent. semi-annual interest. As an indication of the public confidence in our enterprise, we are gratified in being enabled to say that every dollar of the new issue of $70,000 of bonds, which were to run from five to twenty years, at the option of the Association, was eagerly sought for even before the authority to issue was given.
To ascertain whether we were exhausting our available lands by sales faster than we were reducing our indebtedness, a careful com- putation of the sold and unsold lots has recently been made, and the results are most gratifying. Scarcely more than one-sixth of the lots have been sold, while the current receipts from sources other than land sales, which are constantly increasing, are nearly sufficient to pay the ordinary running expenses of the Cemetery.
Large, but judicious, expenditures have been annually made in beautifying and adorning the grounds, the more recent and perhaps the most noteworthy of which are the commodious dwelling near the Pearl street entrance, for the occupancy of the Superin- tendent, and a pretty and convenient lodge at the Jennings avenue entrance, securing thereby, through the occupants thereof, the much-needed accommodation to those visiting the Cemetery out of regular office hours, as well as affording better protection to the grounds. The present year has witnessed the displacement of two rustic bridges, and the erection in their stead, at a cost of $8,ooo, on
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foundations of heavy masonry, artistic iron truss bridges with firm hand-rail of unique pattern.
The signal success that has thus far attended our enterprise has greatly surpassed the most sanguine expectations of its promoters. Surely, the originators of Riverside, if they did not build better, built more opportunely than they knew. The wonderful increase of the population of the city in the last decade has far exceeded expectation. The necessity for extending the municipal bound- aries so soon had hardly been anticipated. The two splendid viaducts now spanning the broad valley and uniting the once dis- severed sections of the city were then wholly ideal. The improve- ment along the two avenues leading to and skirting the northerly and southerly sides of the Cemetery have largely increased the facil- ities for reaching it. Thus, by the co-operation of time and events unforeseen in its infancy, Riverside has been centralized and made approachable through some of the finest avenues ând most pleasant drives in the city.
With judicious future management, it may safely be estimated that long before its debt matures the Association will have redeemed its bonds and accumulated a fund sufficient for the care and em- bellishment of the grounds in future years. To us and to our suc- cessors is left the sacred responsibility of zealously guarding the interests of this important trust, and as the ranks of the earlier Trustees and promoters, to whom this enterprise was so dear, shall be thinned by the hand of death, may their places be filled by those imbued with the same spirit of zeal and faithfulness.
OCTOBER, 1889.
RULES AND REGULATIONS.
INTERMENTS AND FUNERALS.
I. Whenever an interment is to be made, timely notice thereof must be given to the Superintendent at the Cemetery office at en- trance to grounds. Persons giving such notice must be able to give the following particulars : Name of deceased, place of nativity, late residence, date of birth or age, date of decease, date of interment, disease, name of parents or kindred, in whose lot interred, location of grave, name of undertaker, outside size of coffin or box ; also place of death, whether single, married or widowed. The same information will be required when remains are brought from other burial grounds for interment.
2. All graves must be opened by the Association, and all inter- ments will be subject to the following charges, which must be paid at the time of giving the order :
For opening and closing a grave under five feet in length $3 00 For opening and closing a grave five feet and upward . . 5 00
BRICK GRAVES.
I. Brick graves will be prepared by the Superintendent at the following prices :
Under three feet in length (inside) $10 00
Three feet and under four feet . 13 00
Four feet and under five feet . 16 00
Five feet and under six feet 20 00
Six feet and under seven feet 25 00
Larger sizes in same proportion.
3 1833 02481 1090
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2. An order for a brick grave should reach the Superintendent fully twenty-four hours before the time of funeral.
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SINGLE GRAVES.
I. Single interments may be made in the sections designated for the purpose, at the following prices, payable when ordering :
For single grave under 41/2 feet $ 7 00
For single grave 41/2 feet and under 51/2 feet . 12 00
For single grave 512 feet or over 17 00
2. In these sections there can be no choice of location, as the spaces are filled in regular order, nor will spaces be sold and re- served for future interments.
3. Should any single grave be vacated and the body removed from the Cemetery, the ground shall revert to the Association, and the usual fee for disinterment will be charged.
4. Persons will not be permitted to plant trees, and no monu- ment will be allowed in these sections except head-stones, which must not exceed the height prescribed.
No orders for interments on Sunday will be received after 3 o'clock P. M. of the day previous.
The burial of two bodies in one grave will not be allowed with- out special consent of the Superintendent.
The charges for disinterring are the same as for interments.
RULES CONCERNING THE CHAPEL AND VAULT.
Bodies may be placed in the vault at all times, but the length of time they will be permitted to remain will in all cases be deter- mined by the Superintendent. The Association reserves the right of interment on twenty-four hours' notice to friends, whenever it may appear necessary.
Non-lot-owners, on applying for the use of the vault, are required to deposit with the Clerk a sum sufficient to defray the expenses of a single grave, burial and vault fees for the time stipu-
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lated. If such persons purchase a lot in the meantime, the amount deposited for single grave will be credited to their lot account.
Charges for the use of the chapel and vault are as follows :
For receiving and discharging each body $2 00 For vault rent for a person over twelve years (per month) I 50 For vault rent for a person twelve years or under (per month) 75
These charges are doubled if the remains are removed to other cities or cemeteries for burial.
Burials from the vault will not be permitted on Sundays or pub- lic holidays. They are recommended for the forenoons of the week.
The remains of any person who died of a contagious disease will not be permitted either in the public or any private vault except when hermetically sealed.
UNDERTAKERS AND OTHERS.
Undertakers must so arrange the time for funerals as to arrive before sunset, in order to be out of the grounds before dark. On entering and while within the Cemetery, funeral processions will be entirely under the control and subject to the directions of the Super- intendent and his assistants. Carriage-drivers, and others employed at funerals, must always keep on the drives, and remain with their respective vehicles during funeral ceremonies, and otherwise con- duct themselves properly and in accordance with the Regulations of the Cemetery. No music or firing of volleys will be allowed within the grounds, except in the case of the burial of a military or naval officer or soldier. The Superintendent of the Cemetery is instructed to arrest any person offending against the above, or any other Rule or Regulation of the Board.
MONUMENT FOUNDATIONS.
Foundations for all monuments will be built by the Association. They must be six feet in depth, of the same size as the lower base of the superstructure, and level with the ground. The bottom of the lower base of every monument must be squared sufficiently to allow it to rest firmly on the foundation, as no wedging will be
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allowed. Orders for foundations must be left with the Superin- tendent at least one month before the erection of the monument, and payment made at the time of giving the order.
The charges for foundations are as follows :
I. For 20 cubic feet or less, $7.
2. More than 20 and less than 54 cubic feet, at the rate of 35 cents per cubic foot.
3. Fifty-four cubic feet or more, 30 cents per cubic foot.
An extra charge of one-fourth of the above prices will be made for all foundations built from December Ist to the following March Ist.
LOTS AND THEIR OWNERS.
The following Regulations are instituted :
I. For the better effect and beauty of the Cemetery, as well as of every lot.
2. They will greatly facilitate proper care and keeping, and reduce the expense of maintenance.
3 . They are essential to the permanency of grave marks, and lot marks, as well as to the permanency of the monuments.
4. They operate to reduce the multitudinous number of insig- nificant monuments, head-stones, etc., and to promote the erection of larger, more becoming and more elegant structures, attended by less expense than the past custom of grave memorials.
REGULATIONS.
I. No lot or parcel of land shall be defined by any so-called fence, railing, coping, hedge, embankment or ditch, nor shall mounds over graves be allowed.
2. No lot shall contain any auxiliary vase, seat, rock or wire works, shells, toys, or any other architectural objects for which
special permission by the Superintendent has not been granted.
3. No lot shall be decorated by its owners, or other parties in-
.
terested in it, with any tree or shrub, without special consent of the Superintendent.
4. Lot boundary or center stones will be furnished and set by the Association, at reasonable prices, as soon as a lot is sold.
5. Hitching posts or stones will only be allowed in places desig- nated by the Superintendent.
6. Plans for all monuments must first be submitted to the Board of Trustees for their approval.
7. No monument shall be located upon any lot without con- sulting the Superintendent and receiving his consent to location, or placement of the same. ·
8. No lot shall contain more than one monumental memorial without consent of the Board of Trustees.
9. Neither head nor foot-stones will be permitted to stand or project more than twelve inches above ground. All stone slabs must be laid flat upon the ground. The Superintendent will deter- mine whether or not a foundation for a head or foot-stone is necessary.
IO. Wooden markers of every description whatsoever, being considered useless and detrimental to the general appearance of the Cemetery, are prohibited.
IMPROVEMENTS AND KEEPING OF THE GROUNDS.
I. The general care of the entire grounds and lots is assumed by the Association. This, however, does not provide for the special care of monuments, trees, shrubs, beds or vases of plants, etc., which may be placed on lots by their owners or for the grading or resodding of the lots or graves, preparing flower beds, setting head or corner stones, etc.
Estimates for any of the above-mentioned special work will be made by the Superintendent, at any time, on application.
'2. No other person than the proprietor himself, or the proper officers and servants of the Association, shall be allowed to per- form any work on any lot within the grounds, without a permit.
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Proprietors may obtain such permits upon a written application, to be renewed annually. All such employes shall be under the super- vision and control of the Superintendent.
3. The Superintendent will have entire charge of the planting and care of trees, shrubs and plants, in accordance with the general plan for the ornamentation of the grounds. Additional planting by the proprietors of lots, although not invited, may be allowed, pro- vided, however, that the Superintendent approves of the trees or shrubs to be planted, and designates the location of the same.
4. The Trustees shall direct generally all improvements within the grounds, upon all lots, before as well as after interments have been made therein. They shall have charge of the planting, sod- ding, surveying, and improvements generally.
5. Private vaults or tombs may be constructed in such parts of the grounds as the Board of Trustees may approve, but a design of such structure shall first be submitted to the Board of Trustees for their approval, and a permit obtained. And in all cases the owner of the lot or lots shall be held liable for any and all damages caused either to the Association or to private property in the construction of either vaults, tombs or monuments, and shall pay in advance, if demanded, an amount deemed necessary by the Superintendent to remove all debris and put the lawns and drives in a proper con- dition.
6. If any tree or shrub standing on any lot shall, by means of its roots, branches or otherwise, become detrimental to adjacent lots or avenues, or for any other reason its removal shall be deemed necessary, the Superintendent shall have the right, and it shall be his duty, to remove such tree or shrub, or any part thereof, as in his judgment may seem best.
7. All persons employed in the construction of vaults or tombs, erection of monuments, or other work, must conform to the rules and regulations of the Association under the direction of the Super- intendent.
8. Heavy-laden teams will not be allowed to enter the grounds unless by permission of the Superintendent.
9. No lots will be regarded sold until fully paid for, and if
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parties make interments before paying in full for their lots, the Association reserves the right to remove the bodies to the single grave allotment, and to sell such lot or lots to other parties.
IO. No sale, transfer or assignment of the certificate of owner- ship for any lot shall be valid without the consent of the Board of Trustees and their approval endorsed on the conveyance. The record of deeds kept at the office of the Association at the Ceme. tery is under the direction of the Secretary, and is the only evidence of the title of the proprietors recognized by the Trustees. Conse- quently, when a person receives a lot by transfer from a proprietor, he should send his deed to the Secretary at once to obtain the ap- proval of the Board of Trustees, and proper record of same, for which he shall pay the sum of two dollars. No record of any per- son's interest in a lot, less than entire ownership, shall be made on the books of the Association.
II. All interments in lots for which certificates of ownership have been issued, shall be restricted to the members of the family and relatives of the proprietors thereof, except special permission to the contrary be obtained in writing from the Superintendent.
12. No further burial or improvement will be allowed on any lot against which there is an unpaid charge due the Association.
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