History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 98

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II > Part 98

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We now come to the grave of James Gilmore, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia, died October 10, 1817, aged 61 years. Then Mary Gilmore, wife of James Gilmore 20, died June 17, 1818, aged 28 years. James Gilmore 2d is certainly odd, but it is on the stone. It probably means James Gilmore, Junior. The next stone bears a short inscription : " Dr. John H. Lambert died Sept. 28, 1821, aged 34 years." In the midst of an almost impenetrable thicket of lilac bushes stand two tombs, those of James Crips, died 1843, and Edmund C., died 1849. Katherine Waisbacker died October 16, 1839. Two infant children lie by her side. The next that meets our eyes is a stone " In memory of Dr. Isaac Helwick, born May 31, 1778; died January 20, 1845," and by his side lies his wife Mary, born June 30, 1776; died December 27, 1837.

The next is somewhat curious ; we give a literal copy as near as possible: " Died Sept. 25, 1841, MURTTILLA, wife of John M., ,c e O, m e n _E. 24 years I ne 10 d's."

"Jane, wife of Wm. Wigden, died December 2, 1846, in the 86th year of her age."

"Hicrouhet in Gott Johann Michael Scheider, Gib. Mai 4, 1762; Starb June 11, 1845, in Inam Alter von 83 y 2 m 7 d."

This is all we know about this one. Near by is the grave of Hon. John A. McDowell, born May 6, 1789; died October 1, 1825. Possibly an uncle of General Irvin McDowell, who was born in Franklinton in 1818. Near by is the grave of Andrew Reid McDowell, died April 15, 1828, aged 24 years, and possibly an older brother or cousin of the General.

"Lewis Risley, born September 26, 1777; died October 8, 1833, aged 56 ys."

Flat on the ground lies a slab with the name of Mrs. Sarah Forsyth, died May 29, 1818 aged 38 years.

William Brown, born in Antrim County, Ireland, A D. 1774, died September 27, 1830, is the next to attract our attention.

A tall brown stone bears the following inseription, grammar, punctuations and all thrown in. " To memory of Wm. Robert Megowen, son of John Megowen and Sarah his wife who was born Decem. th 31 1785 and died Aprile th 22, 1813 aged 28 years 3 mon & 28 days." Also, "to the memory of Mrs. Martha Megowen wife of R. Megowen, daughter of Mr. Nathaniel Hamlin and his wife who was born May th 23, 1792 aged 21 years 10 mon & 27 days. The tall, the wise the Rev. head Must lie as low as Ours."

Near by is the grave of Mrs. Elizabeth Goodale, wife of Major Nathan Goodale. She was born in Rutland, Massachusetts, April 1, 1743, and died January 24, 1809, aged 66 years.

There is a hackberry tree fully two feet in diameter growing near the grave, and has grown partly around the stone in such a manner that it could not be removed without breaking it, or clipping the tree away. A tall, grey stone, in a good state of preservation, informs us that Francis Morehead died March 17, 1813 ; also three. of his infant children who died respectively in 1808, 1812 and 1814. Other stones inform us that Rebecca, consort of N. W. Smith, died February 7, 1828; Henry Sly, June 13, 1842, aged 61 years ; also that Dr. Alden Gage was born in Fairfield, New York, in 1790 and died in 1821.

The next stone we come to informs us that Jane Parks was the wife of Joseph Parks and a daughter of Colonel Robert Culbertson. She died in 1823, aged 60. By her side lies her sister, wife of Jacob Keller, Esq. She died May 17, 1817, aged 47 years. Adjoining is the grave of Rebeca Crivingston, a sister of Colonel Culbertson, who died May 11, 1811, aged 60 years By her side lies Kezia Brotherton, wife of Dan Brotherton and daughter of Colonel Culbertson. She also died in 1811. Next to her is Elizabeth, wife of Colonel Cul- bertson died aged 72 years (date obliterated). We could not find the Colonel's grave, though we presume it is in the family group. Jane M. D'Lashmutt died in March, 1814. Dr. John Ball, a native of Connecticut, died May 10, 1818, aged 43 years. Ann, wife of Jacob Grub, died December, 1827, aged 56 years.

723

CEMETERIES.

When the seat of government was located and the town of Columbus created by act of the General Assembly in 1812, a tract of ground for a cemetery was reserved and donated to the borough by James Johnston and John Kerr. This tract, afterwards known as the North Graveyard, was situated just west of High Street at the point where now stands the present North Markethouse. There seems to have been some negligence in its conveyance, for on May 8, 1820, a . committee was appointed by the borough council to enquire what title the cor- poration had " by donation " to "a certain lot of ground " then " used as a burying ground," and to obtain " a proper deed for the same." John Kerr was at the same time appointed to . " view and order a road to be opened from Columbus to the Grave Yard." The action taken pursuant to these proceedings is indicated by a record showing that on July 10, 1821, the County Recorder was allowed one dollar for recording a conveyance from John Kerr and wife for one and a quarter acres of land in the North Graveyard. On October 18, 1824, a regular sexton was appointed and on July 8, 1834, Robert McCoy was chosen " Superintendent of the Grave Yard " by the council.

In the Ohio Statesman of February 4, 1871, the different acquisitions of ground for this burial place were thus described :

As far baek as 1813 interments were made in the northwest portion known as the Kerr tract, but it was not regularly deeded for burial purposes until 1821. Additions were made to the graveyard in various ways, and at various times, so that it now consists of three tracts of land, the first of which is an aere and onehalf in extent and lies in the northwest corner of the Graveyard. This was deeded to the borough of Columbus on the sixth of June, 1821, by John Kerr and wife, with a provision for reversion when the city shall cease to use the property as a burying ground. or if the mayor and council cease to exist as a corporate body. The second tract consists of about eight and onehalf acres immediately south and east of the Kerr burying ground, and was deeded to the city by Colonel William Doherty in fee simple to the city of Columbus, on the twentysixth of February. 1830, reserving a commonsized hurial lot for his family. The third tract consists of seventeen grave lots on the north side of the graveyard, conveyed by warranty deeds to the lotowners by John Brickell, five of which were reserved by Mr. Brickell for himself.

In the cemetery grounds thus acquired and supervised most of the village interments were made throughout the borough period, but the growth of the city seems to have prompted the acquisition of an additional place of sepulture, for on February 11, 1841, the City Council appointed a committee to " complete the pur- chase of eleven and a quarter acres of ground on the north side of the Livingston road," and at the same time Messrs. Hibbs, Gilbert and Greenwood were appointed a committee to have the tract laid out in " small family grave lots." The price paid for this ground was one hundred dollars per acre. On July 10, 1841, the council made the significant order that colored people should " be buried under the direction of the north sexton and in the same manner that strangers are buried."

By an ordinance of 1834 it was made the duty of the superintendent of the graveyard to " make sale of the unsold lots therem ; to cause the lence about the same to be kept in proper order ; to defray the expenses thereof out of the pro- ceeds of the lots sold; to expend the balance of such proceeds in such manner " as might be directed by the City Council, and to make a yearly report of his pro- ceedings to that body. The price to be paid for the lots was fixed at five dollars cach, with reservation of a section for free burials. Pursuant to these require: men us the superintendent reported, on April 3, 1845, that he had sold all the lots, that the ground had been paid for from the proceeds, that a good fence, with cedar posts, had been erected at the front and a rail fence at the rear, that a good road had been made from the city to the middle gate, that the sum of one hundred dollars had been paid into the city treasury, and that a residue of $104 88 yet

724

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

remained on hand. On August 18, 1856, further interments in the North Grave- yard were prohibited by ordinanee.1

On June 22, 1848, an anonymous writer published over the signature " A Citizen " a card in which he said :

The time has arrived . . . for procuring from one to two hundred acres of land in the vicinity of this city for a burying ground. The " old buryingground," socalled, adjoining the town on the north, is pretty much filled up with the inhabitants of the dead. . . . The city is rapidly increasing, and in a few years it will grow entirely around the present seite.

Moved by the considerations suggested by these statements, twenty or thirty prominent citizens issued a call for a public meeting to be held at the Council Chamber on July 12, 1848, for the purpose of organizing a cemetery association." W. B. Hubbard was chairman at this meeting, and Alexander E. Glenn secretary. The following committee to report a plan of organization and select a site was appointed : A. F. Perry, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William B. Thrall, John Wal- ton, John Miller, William Kelsey, William B. Hubbard, Joseph Sullivant, Robert McCoy, and William A. Platt. Pursuant to an act which had been passed by the preceding General Assembly to provide for the incorporation of cemetery associa- tions, a sufficient number of citizens to form such an association signed the neces- sary articles and on August 26, met at the Council Chamber and elected the follow- ing board of trustees : William B. Hubbard, president ; Joseph Sullivant, Aaron F. Perry, Thomas Sparrow, Alfred P. Stone, William B. Thrall and John W. Andrews ; clerk, Alexander E. Glenn. This board at once advertised that, until September 16, it would receive proposals for a tract of land suitable for the ceme- tery, such tract to contain not less than fifty nor more than one hundred acres, to be situated not less than threefourths of a mile nor more than four miles from the existing city boundaries, to be secure from inundation, to have " a gravely, sandy or dry subsoil, to have an undulating surface, and to be covered to a considerable extent and wholly, if practicable, with trees and shrubbery."

On January 25, 1849, announcement was made for the trustees by their presi- dent, Mr. Hubbard, that a tract such as had been sought for had been purchased of Judge Gershom M. Peters, at forty dollars per aere. In connection with this announcement the lands acquired were thus described :

The grounds are from forty to fifty acres, situated less than two miles from the corpora- tion limits of the city, of easy access by either of the two main roads crossing the Seioto River ; bounding, in part, upon the Harrisburg turnpike; retired, in its locality, from the busy and bustling scenes of life, and wholly out of reach of the extending growth of our city and its connection with the numerous railroads destined to centre at our capital.

At a publie meeting held on April 16, 1849, resolutions were adopted recom- mending the purchase of additional contiguons ground, and General Stockton, A. C. Brown, John Greenleaf, W. T. Martin, James L. Bates and James Armstrong were appointed a committee to raise funds for that purpose. This movement resulted in the enlargement of the cemetery traet by an addition of fortyfour acres purchased at fifty dollars per aere, of William Miner. The Ohio Statesman of May 25, 1849, said :

On Wednesday, agreeably to notice, a large number of our citizens repaired to this very handsome spot [the cemetery tract] selected for the repository of the dead. It was one of the most delightful days of the season and as it was the first visit of the most part present to the place selected by the association, there was an interest in the occasion equal to the beauty of the day and the scenery. Gentlemen and ladies, age and youth, were on the ground helping to elear up the grounds in preparation for the dedication shortly to take place.

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CEMETERIES.

A dinner for the workers, at which Reverends Hitchcock and Doolittle pre- sided, was spread on the green grass, under the forest trees. Thus, by gentle hands, guided by fervent hearts, were the first clearings made for the future city of the dead. Nor was it long until that silent eity began to be occupied, for under date of July 10, 1849, we read :

The first interment in these [cemetery] grounds took place on Saturday last [July 7], being that of Leonora, infant daughter of Aaron F. Perry, Esq., one of the trustees of the association. That lone grave of an infant is the nucleus around which, in process of a few fleeting months, multitudes will assemble in their final resting place.

The next interment was that of Doctor B. F. Gard, the circumstances of whose death from cholera on July 11, 1849, have been narrated in another chapter.

On July 11, 1849, the new burial place was formally dedicated under the name of Green Lawn Cemetery. The ceremonies took place on the grounds, under the shade of the foresttrees, and were opened with prayer offered by Rev. H. L. Hitchcock. After an original ode, which was next sung, Mr. W. B. Hub- bard, president of the trustees, in fitting terms presented the grounds for dedica- tion, and a dedicatory ode composed for the occasion by Benjamin T. Cushing was read. Rev. Doctor James Hoge then delivered the dedicatory address. In con- clusion a hymn was sung, followed by a benediction. The Ohio State Journal of October 16, 1849, contained the following :

The first monument in Green Lawn Cemetery was erected during the current week by Mr. William G. Deshler. .. . The device with which the monument is adorned is a rose branch the bud of which has fallen from the stem and rests upon the plinth below. The inscription is simple, and beautifully expressive, thus : "Olive, wife of William G. Deshler. Aged 19."

An expression of the stockholders taken in 1856 as to the admission of colored persons to the privileges of the cemetery resulted adversely to the prop- osition, ninetyone to twenty. On June 10, 1862, the trustees adopted the fol- lowing resolutions :

--- That so much of Section M as may be necessary be and is hereby appropriated for the burial of officers and soldiers who may fall in battle or die while in the service of our govern- ment during continuance of the present rebellion.

The further proceedings as to this section, and also as to the collection for interment therein of the remains of soldiers who died in the vicinity of Colum- bus, have been narrated in a preceding chapter. An account of the monument ereeted in the cemetery by the ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Association has also been given. In 1872 a section was especially set apart for the interment of deceased colored persons.

After the opening of Green Lawn Cemetery the North Graveyard fell into a sad state of neglect. Weeds and briars grew in every part of it. Its fences were prostrated, and domestic animals of all kinds roamed at will through its sacred precincts. In 1869 about half the bodies had been transferred to Green Lawn and the emptied graves were left yawning. A few interments had been made in the grounds as late as 1864-5, but after that they had been voluntarily discontinued. The appropriation made of part of the graveyard for the use of the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati Railway in 1871 has been referred to in the history of that corporation. The value of the strip, comprising one and onethird acres, which the railway company succeeded in having condemned, was fixed by the condemnation jury at $14,625, which sum the company paid to the Probate Court on January 26, 1871.

726

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

On February 29, 1864, the trustees of the Green Lawn Cemetery Association proposed to the owners of lots in the North Graveyard to exchange Green Lawn lots for the Graveyard lots, the remains interred in the latter to be exhumed and decently reinterred in the new lots at the expense of the Green Lawn Association, which further engaged " to lay off said North Graveyard into town lots and to lease said lots as a permanent source of revenue for the support and improvement of said [Green Lawn ] Cemetery."3 In pursuance of this proposition conveyance was made to the trustees of most of the lots contained in that part of the graveyard known as the Doherty tract, heretofore described. Meanwhile condemnation suits were brought by the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Railway Company for the purpose of obtaining part of the graveyard area for the use of that corporation. To the petition in this behalf, John M. Kerr, son of John. Kerr, one of the original proprietors of Columbus, made claim that the portion of the graveyard deeded to the city by his father had reverted to the Kerr heirs under the conditions of the deed, and demanding that, in case condemnation should be ordered the railway company should be required to make its payments to him as rightful heir to and owner of the reversionary interest. Mr. Kerr also brought suit in ejectment against the city on the ground that the corporation of Columbus had ceased to use as a burial place the land conveyed to it for that purpose by his father, and had therefore forfeited its title to said land.4

These various suits and claims, united with complications of title as to the Brickell tract, caused great confusion and led to prolonged controversy and liti- gation. In the answer to the ejectment suit, Messrs. Henry C. Noble and Francis Collins, attorneys representing the city, denied that the borough of Columbus had taken possession of the Kerr tract under the deed of 1821, and claimed that in June, 1816, prior to the Kerr ownership, James Johnston, then owner, had deeded the land to the borough for a graveyard. Various additional points were made in the pleadings in dispute of the Kerr title. Pending determination of this suit, the plaintiff, John M. Kerr, proposed to the City Council to relinquish his claim to the ground provided the city would pay him $600 cash, and an annuity of the same amount during his natural life. After this proposition had been before the council for some time Mr. Kerr gave notice of its withdrawal, but the council insisted that it could not be withdrawn, and on August 25, 1873, unanimously adopted it. Mr. Kerr persisted in refusing acceptance, and finally sold his rever- sionary interest for $3,000 to J. M. Westwater, in whom the title to the tract was judicially confirmed.

The exhumation and removal of the remains interred in the North Graveyard, begun soon after the opening of Green Lawn and accelerated by condemnation of part of the old buryingground for the use of the Springfield railway, was not finally concluded until the year 1881. The reopening of the old graves and removal of their contents to Green Lawn were attended by some curious reveal- ments and incidents. On the finger of a young lady whose remains were lifted in 1872 was found, bright as ever, its circlet of gold, but the gems with which the. jewel had been set were gone. The body of Cyrus Sells, of whose murder in the Penitentiary an account has been given in the history of that prison, was taken up during the same year, and was well preserved. The skull revealed the fatal cuts made with the axe in the bands of the convict Clark. The remains of Peter Sells and wife, who had been dead for more than forty years, were also well pre- served. Substantially the same facts were true of many others. A bit of ribbon binding the hair of an unknown lady whose body had been in the grave more than thirty years, still retained its color. The hair of persons who had been deceased for nearly half a century was sometimes found in a state of almost life- like freshness. One of the wellpreserved bodies taken up was that of Jacob Leib, one of the pioneers of Columbus, who, when living, was considered the most pow-

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CEMETERIES.

erful man, physically, in Franklin County. His height was six feet two inches. Solomon Miller, another pioneer whose body was exhumed, had died at the age of 38. In the grave of Mrs. Standish, who had been dead twentysix years, were found two copper coins, much tarnished. In the grave of Mrs. Cole, who had beeu dead thirtyone years, were found her heavy gold earrings, which were pre- sented to surviving friends. One of the bodies taken up on December 1, 1881, was that of Henry Foster, the young man killed during the Know Nothing riot ou High Street in 1854. The last bodies to be removed were the unclaimed ones and those buried in the Kerr traet, which had been longest in litigation. The north- eastern portion of the grounds, owing to its marshy nature, contained but few if any graves. It was reserved by the city as a site for a markethouse.

In a preceding part of this chapter mention has been made of the purchase of cemetery grounds on the Livingston Road, now Avenue, southeast of the city. This purchase, originally made in 1839, was completed in 1841. The owner of the land, by whom conveyance was made to the city, was Matthew King. Owing to its marsby nature it was very unsnitable for cemetery purposes, and a considera- ble portion of it was never platted It ultimately became a place of sepulture for friendless waifs and paupers. On March 5, 1877, the council adopted the following in reference to it :

WHEREAS The further interment of bodies in the East Graveyard bas been prohibited by an ordinance passed by this council; and whereas, the fence around said graveyard is almost if not entirely gone; and whereas the council does not deem it advisable to retain said property for graveyard purposes ; therefore be it

Resolved, That all persons having friends buried in said graveyard are hereby requested to remove the remains, and the committee on East Graveyard are hereby instructed to report whether the property had better be laid out into lots and sold or retained by the city for the purpose of a public park.

The further history of this tract, including its reservation for a park, has already been given. The history of the Catholic cemeteries accompanies that of the churches. A tract long used as a cemetery by the colored people was sold in 1886, the bodies having been transferred to Green Lawn. The Hebrew cemetery, formerly located in the eastern part of the city, now occupies grounds in the vicin- ity of the Catholic cemetery, west of the Scioto.

NOTES.

1. This ordinance was intended to take effect on November 1, next ensuing, but before that date, owing to the outery it evoked, it was repealed. A second and final ordinance for- bidding interments in the old cemetery was passed May 30, 1864.

2. Among the names attached to this call were the following: W. B. Hubbard, W. B. Thrall, N. H. Swayne, A. F. Perry, J. E. Rudisill. James M. Westwater. C. P. L. Butler, A. Chittenden, L. Kitbourn, C. Fay, A. P. Stone, W. M. Savage, R. W. McCoy, Joel Buttles, S. Medary, James S. Abbott and S. M. Smith.

3. The trustees of the Green Lawn Association at the time this proposition was made were William A. Platt, Thomas Sparrow, John Greenleaf, William T. Martin, W. G. Deshler, J. M. Westwater and O. P. Hines. The members of the committee by whom the proposition was prepared and sub mitted were Messrs. Deshler, Westwater, Hines and Platt.

4. The appraised value of the grounds, exclusive of the Kerr tract, in 1874, was $143,051. The Kerr tract was appraised at $24,000.

CHAPTER XLVII.

CHARITIES.

The appeal made in behalf of the peasantry of Ireland and Scotland, stricken by famine in 1846 and 1847, elicited from the American people a most generous response. That appeal reached the citizens of Columbus, and was one of the earliest claims not of a local nature made upon their benevolence. That it might receive due and systematic attention a public meeting was held on February 18, 1847, at the First Presbyterian Church. At that meeting Hon. Joseph Ridgway was appointed chairman, and an introductory invocation was offered by Rev. Doc- tor James Hoge. A " plan of action " was reported by a committee appointed for the purpose, and the following committee appointed to execute the plan was named: John Miller, John Noble, James Aston, J. Ridgway, Junior, David Mitchell, John L. Gill, Robert McCoy, Eli W. Gwynne, L. Goodale. George M. Parsons, J. W. Milligan, A. P. Stone, John Funston, Isaac Dalton and Lewis Hos- ter. The work of collecting contributions was extended to the townships of Franklin County, and resulted in the donation of considerable amounts of Indian corn and other provisions.

The only organized and systematic charity in the city at this time, or at any pre- vious period, seems to have been that of the Female Benevolent Society, the history of which is reserved for another place. In January, 1852, the ladies of the city gave "a supper and fair " for the benefit of the poor, and realized from their efforts the net sum of $841.25. The tables were spread at the Odcon. A public meeting for the relief of sufferers by " the late calamitous fire at Chillicothe " was held on April 6, 1852, at the City Hall. Rev. James Hoge was chairman on this occasion, and Samuel Medary secretary. At an adjourned meeting held on April 8, sub- scriptions to the amount of $1,810 were reported, and resolutions of sympathy for the people made homeless by the fire were adopted. Early in 1853 a benevolent association of ladies was organized, and established a dépot on High Street between Rich and Friend, from which supplies could be dispensed to the destitute. Con- tributions from the citizens were invited. In February, 1853, a charity sewing society made its advent, under the presidency of Sarah A. Harrison, wife of Wil- liam Harrison. It was still in existence a year later. In 1855 and 1857 Mr. John G. Deshler, a citizen of Columbus, made some notable donations of flour and coal to destitute persons in New York and Cincinnati. A festival for the relief of the poor of the city was held under the auspices of the Odd Fellows in December, 1857. In 1858, Sister Felicitas, a member of the sisterhood of Notre Dame de Paris, established an orphans' home at the corner of Friend and Sixth streets. In February, 1860, Sister Felicitas, who was a lady greatly esteemed for her personal

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 98

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196