USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > Sketch of Mound cemetery, Marietta, Ohio > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
The next hero of the Revolution to be buried near the mound was Lieutenant Joseph Lincoln, one of the "forty-eight im- mortals." On an old fashioned tomb of sandstone in letters almost illegible can be traced these words :
Here Are interred the remains of Joseph Lincoln A native of Gloucester, Mass. Who departed this life Sept. 21st, 1807 In the 47th year of his age.
In 1811 Major Ezra Putnam, the oldest of the pioneers, passed away. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War and was one
27
of the officers in command of the provincial troops at the taking of Cape Breton in 1758.
A year later, General Joseph Buell, an- other of the Pioneer settlers, found here his last resting place. He was Sergeant in the U. S. Army in 1785, and arrived at Fort Harmar on the eighth of May of the follow- ing year. He took an active part in the affairs of the new territory and was made State Senator in 1803, Associate Judge in 1804 and Major General of Militia in 1805, which position he held until his death.
Not far from the graves of these old soldiers stands a plain granite monument which bears this simple inscription :
Gen. Rufus Putnam, A Revolutionary Officer And the leader of the Colony which made the First settlement in the Territory of the Northwest. Born April 9, 1738 Died May 4, 1824.
General Putnam's whole life is expressed
28
Gen Rufus Putnam
in that one word, "Leader," for he was truly a leader of men. On the battle field, in the arduous enterprise of founding a colony in the wilderness, in the political life of the new state, in the civil aud religious life of the little community where he dwelt, his was the mind that directed, his the hand that led. Well has he been called "The Father of Ohio !" May her sons ever honor his memory.
Not far away from his old comrade-in- arms lies brave Comodore Whipple, to whom the honor is given of firing the first naval gun in the cause of American Independence. Commodore Whipple gave not only his ser- vices to his country, but thousands of dollars which were never repaid. "It is presumed that no other one amongst the military or naval commanders of the Revolution ex- pended as much for the men under their care, with the exception of that extraordinary and good man, the Marquis LaFayette." On the white marble monument erected in his memory by Mr. Nahum Ward can be read these words:
29
Sacred to the memory of COMMODORE ABRAHAM WHIPPLE whose name, skill and courage WILL EVER REMAIN THE PRIDE AND BOAST OF HIS COUNTRY. In the late Revolution he was the FIRST ON THE SEA TO HURL DEFIANCE AT PROUD BRITAIN, gallantly leading the way to arrest from the Mistress of the ocean, her scepter, AND THERE TO WAVE THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. He also conducted to the sea the first square-rigged vessel ever built on the Ohio OPENING TO COMMERCE RESOURCES BEYOND CALCULATION.
Another naval officer who "dared to hurl defiance at proud Britain" is buried in this interesting old place. A brown stone slab which rests about three feet above the ground on six stone pillars bears the following epi- taph, in which an old error is evidently corrected :
In memory of Capt. Nathan Saltanstall 1727-1807 Was first Commandant of Fort Trumble. During the Revolution He commanded the Warren Frigate and ship Putnam; but was not Commodore of the fleet burned at Penobscot,
30
West of Captain Saltanstall lies another soldier of the Revolution, Colonel Ichabod Nye, who cast in his lot with the little colony in the summer of 1788.
The curious observer learns from his tombstone that
He was the head of one of the first families which came from New England to Marietta where he continued to reside until his death, November 27, 1840.
At which time he had been longer resident at the head of a family than any other person in Ohio.
Colonel Nye had ever the good of the town at heart. He was intensely interested in preserving the ancient works and in 1837 called the attention of the citizens to the "Big Mound," which had been badly neg- lected for some years. The sextons had used the grounds as pasture for their sheep and the tracks made had been washed into great holes by the rains. Through Colonel Nye's efforts over $400 was raised and the needed improvements made in the following year. Stone steps were placed on the north
31
side of the Mound, which was restored to its original shape and protected by a railing at the summit.
In 1869 the remains of Captain Josiah Monroe, of the Revolutionary Army, who died in 1801, were removed from the first burial ground to Mound Cemetery. Captain Monroe was a member of the Ohio Company, and Marietta's second Postmaster.
Five other Revolutionary soldiers lie buried around the beautiful Mound, not so noted perhaps as those above mentioned but all worthy of our deepest gratitude. Andrew McCallister is one of these, who died in 1816, in the 75th year of his age. In an unmarked grave lies Ephraim Foster, who came to Marietta in 1800; and died in 1824. His army service began with the battle of Lexington, at which time he was twenty-five years old. He marched to Quebec with Arnold, fought in the famous battle of Brandywine, suf- fered at Valley Forge, and was finally dis- abled at the battle of Monmouth, in 1778.
"A Patriot of the Revolution" and "Soldier of the Revolution" are the simple inscriptions
32
on the stones which mark the graves of Capt. Stanton Prentiss and Nathaniel Dodge, trib- utes to their memory as expressive as a long list of glorious deeds would be. On a quaint little slab erected in memory of John Green, who died in 1832, is this quaint little stanza, which tells of a life well spent :
"A soldier from his youth, first in the cause That freed our country from a tyrant's laws, And then through manhood to his latest breath, In the best cause which triumphs over death."
Here, too, lie soldiers of the War of 1812, for the little town of Marietta though in an isolated position heard her country's call, and sent forth her sons gladly to the conflict. Among them are Colonel John Thorniley, Major William Hart, Major John Clark, Cap- tain Timothy Buell, Jason Curtis, Joseph L. Reckard, Sen., Wyllis Hall, Jasher Taylor, Stephen Daniels. Harry Cogswell, Robert Wells, and Major Alexander Hill, who "re- cruited a company of infantry in Washington County for the U. S. Service and was person- ally in command of the company when actively engaged in repelling the night attack of the British at Fort Erie in August, 1814."
33
His tomb, which contains the above informa- tion, also states that he made the coffin for the first interment in the cemetery in 1801.
Soldiers of the Mexican War sleep in this hallowed spot, and on Decoration Day the ground is dotted with little flags which mark the graves of the brave men who died to pre- serve the Union. Under a tall marble mon- ument with the insignia, a broken sword left in full relief, rests one of these heroes, Col- onel Jesse Hildebrand, who at the beginning of the Civil War was General of the Ohio Militia. Although over sixty years of age he raised the Seventy-seventh Ohio Regiment, of which he was commissioned colonel. He commanded the brigade at Shiloh which re- ceived the first attack of the enemy, and his conduct on this occasion was so gallant that General Sherman declared him to be "the bravest man he ever knew."
In his youth Colonel Hildebrand was a playmate of Governor Jack Brough, whose parents are buried in Mound Cemetery. John Brough, it is said, came to America with Blennerhassett, and was a well known
34
figure in Marietta. He kept a tavern in the old Court House, and there in 1811 Ohio's famous War Governor was born.
Side by side with the defenders of our na- tion lie men who in times of peace gave strength and character not only to their little village but to the great state of Ohio. A large sandstone monument is erected in memory of one of these patriots, Return Jonathan Meigs, third Governor of Ohio. He was a son of Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, a famous officer of the Revolution, who commanded the third division in Ben- edict Arnold's terrible expedition to Quebec. It may not be amiss to give here the history of the name which was made illustrious by father and son. "At Middletown, Conn., just about one hundred and sixty years ago, Jonathan Meigs, a young man, was dismissed by his lady love, and more than once was this done. At last, when he was going away, looking back with the saddest of tears in his eyes, her heart relented, and in a soft voice came, 'Return Jonathan.' Hence their first born, Return Jonathan Meigs."
35
Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., at the age of twenty-three came to Marietta in 1788, and from that time was one of her most honored citizens. He was Governor during the War of 1812 and held more offices than any other man who ever lived in Washington County. On his tomb is the following inscription :
Here lies The body of His Excellency Return Jonathan Meigs, Who was born at Middletown, Conn., Nov. 1765, And died at Marietta, March 29, 1825. For many years his time and talents were Devoted to the services of his country. He successively filled the distinguished places of Judge of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, Senator in the Congress of the United States, Governor of the State of Ohio, and Postmaster General of the United States. To the honored and revered memory of An ardent Patriot, A practical Statesman, An enlightened Scholar A dutiful Son, An indulgent Father, An affectionate Husband, This monument is erected by his mourning widow, Sophia Meigs.
36
RUFUS PUTNAM HOUSE WHICH STCOD WITHIN CAMPUS MARTIUS
This beautiful tribute to Gov. Meigs was written by his friend, Dr. John Cotton, who sleeps near him in this White City of the dead. Dr. Cotton was a worthy descendant of the famous John Cotton, the "Father of Boston." He came to Marietta in 1815 and for more than thirty years was one of her most successful physicians.
He was a man of fine education, having graduated with honor from Harvard College, and he used his knowledge for the benefit of the community, often lecturing in public and ever trying to stimulate the cause of educa- tion. When Marietta College was incorpor- ated, in 1835, he was one of the original trustees, and for many years presiding offi- cer of the board. In 1824 he represented Washington County in the Legislature, and was elected by that body an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which ap- pointment was renewed from time to time until his death in 1847.
Long before Dr. Cotton passed away the town was bereft of its two pioneer physicians, Dr. Jabez True and Dr. Nathan McIntosh,
37
.
who both died of the prevailing epidemic fever of 1823.
Arriving at Marietta early in the summer of 1788, Dr. True built a little log office for his books and medicine a short distance from the bank of the Muskingum, and began his arduous work. It was many years after the settlement of the Ohio Com- pany before roads were opened, but that did not prevent Dr. True from going on his er- rands of mercy. He was always ready to hear the call of the distressed, and would swim his horse across the streams, and fol- low the old Indian trails marked out by blazes on the trees, often at the peril of his life. Gentle, sympathetic, and generous, he was called the "Gaius" of Marietta by his loving friends, who ever cherished his memory.
Dr. McIntosh came West in 1790. He was surgeon at the Waterford garrison during the Indian War, and at its close located in Mari- etta, where his obliging manner and skill as a physician won him a large practice.
Another physician rests in this old ceme- tery to whom we cannot be sufficiently grate-
38
ful. Dr. Samuel Prescot Hildreth came from his home in Massachusetts to Marietta on horseback in 1806. He was a successful physician, an investigator and writer upon scientific subjects, but his fame rests chiefly on the two works entitled "Pioneer History" and "The Lives of the Early Settlers of Ohio." He collected the material for these volumes from old manuscripts and the lips of the few surviving pioneers, and by so do- ing preserved a great deal of important his- tory and many valuable anecdotes, which otherwise would have been lost.
It is impossible to record in this sketch even the names of all the noble men who have passed away after years of usefulness, and are now sleeping in this old burial ground, but a few more of the oldest inhabi- tants must be mentioned because of the prominent part they took in everything which pertained to the welfare of Marieta.
South of the path which leads to the mound from Fifth Street rest three well known ministers of the early days; the Rev. Hiram Gear, of the Baptist denomination,
39
and the Rev. Samuel P. Robbins and Dr. Thomas Wickes, the second and fourth pas- tors of the First Congregational Church. It was during Mr. Robbins' pastorate, in 1809, that the First Religious Society built and dedicated its meeting-house, which soon be- came known as the Two-Horned Church.
In this part of the cemetery may also be found the graves of two representatives of the early press of Marietta, Royal Prentiss and Caleb Emerson. The former began his newspaper career as apprentice in the office of the Ohio Gazette and Virginia Herald, which was published in the Stockade in 1801 by Wyllys Silliman and Elijah Bachus. This paper was purchased in 1810 by Caleb Em- erson, who changed its name to the Western Spectator. Mr. Emerson was an attorney of ability, a profound thinker and a graceful writer. When John Quincy Adams stopped at Marietta in 1843, it is said he found his peer in the Marietta editor.
Somewhere in the shadow of the Great Mound sleeps David Everett, who came to Marietta in 1813 and was editor of The
40
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
American Friend, of which Timothy and Daniel Hand Buell were proprietors. He died in the same year, but the few months passed in the little town gained for him many friends who, we are told, "ever dwelt upon his remembrance with melancholy sensa- tions." Mr. Everett was a man of great lit- erary ability and an author; but while his essays on moral and economical topics have long been forgotten, a few lines of a little poem which he wrote for a small boy to speak at a school exhibition more than one hundred years ago, are often quoted, tho their origin is seldom known.
"You'd scarce expect one of my age
To speak in public on the stage, And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero
Don't view me with a critic's eye,
But pass my imperfections by. Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow."
Mr. Nahum Ward was a gentleman of the old school. All who remember him speak of his polished manners, his generous nature and his great hospitality. He had the honor of entertaining the Marquis de La Fayette
41
in his home when that famous General was traveling down the Ohio in 1825. He added much to the beauty of our town by planting many of the fine shade trees, and in 1857 he built and endowed the Unitarian Church, which still remains from an architectural standpoint one of the finest buildings we possess.
Three generations of the Woodbridge fam- ily are buried here. Judge Woodbridge, the first merchant of the Great Northwest. came to Marietta early in 1789, and was for some time a partner of the ill-starred Blennerhas- sett. His son, Dudley Woodbridge, Jr., who continued his business for more than fifty years, sleeps beside him, and his grand-son, George Morgan Woodbridge, "poet, philoso- pher, statesman, orator, each in all and all in each," passed away a few years ago, after eighty-six years of active life.
A handsome granite monument marks the grave of Colonel John Mills, who was a lead- ing merchant of Marietta for more than half a century. Colonel Mills did much for the development and prosperity of his native
42
city. He was one of the founders of Marietta College, which was ever dear to his heart, and profited largely by his generosity. "His integrity was never questioned. He was a Christian without guile, a citizen without an enemy, a man honored and universally be- loved. He lived to a great old age, a life which like a summer day grew more and more beautiful until it was hid from human sight by the deepening glories of tlie sunset."
Here are the graves of Col. Ichabod Nye's sons, Arius and Anselm Tupper, who were born in Campus Martius in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Growing to man- hood and then to old age in the little town which gave them birth, they were esteemed by all for their strength of character, well stored minds and honest hearts. They were both much interested in religion, and the Episcopal Church of Marietta owes its being to the influence of Mr. Arius Nye.
Of all the men who rest in this old burial ground, no one is more worthy of mention than Israel Ward Andrews who came to Marietta in 1838, and for fifty years gave his
43
life and thought, his work and sympathy to the College. President Andrews possessed a strong personality and left a deep impres- sion upon the character of many generations of Marietta students.
Much that is interesting could be written concerning Deacon Adams, Isaac Berry, Sala Bosworth and his son Daniel, Lucius Brig- ham, Captain Burch, Daniel Hand Buell, Par- don Cooke, Jonathan Cram and his sons, Ol- iver and Jacob, William Curtis, James Dunn, Ephraim Emerson, the Apostle of Temper- ance, Luther Edgerton, William Fay, Owen Franks, Capt. Daniel Greene, Benjamin Guit- teau, J. E. Hall, Deacon Hart, John Lewis, John Marshall, Samuel Maxwell, Dr. Jonas Moore, E. W. Nye who was born in Campus Martius, Daniel Protsman, Deacon Putnam, Theodore Scott, Charles and Samuel Ship- man, David Skinner, Louis Soyez, Col. Au- gustus Stone who when a pioneer lad stood watch on the Mound, Weston Thomas, Thomas Vinton, William Warren, Judge Whittlesey, Noah Wilson and Philip Worth- ington.
44
Their names though now seldom heard, are remembered with reverence by the old citizens of Marietta, who realize how much the present generation owes to their lives of service.
Many quaint old epitaphs can here be found, often faulty in rhyme, but always ex- pressing the sentiments so characteristic of our forefathers,-a realization of the short- ness of life and a firm faith in the Unseen.
Their keen sense of responsibility is shown by the following lines which are inscribed on a number of tombstones.
"Behold and see as you pass by, As you are now so once was I. As I am now so you shall be, Prepare for death and follow me."
"All you that to this stone draw near To be informed who's interred here If rich or poor think soon you must Like us be summoned to the dust."
In its early days Mound Cemetery was far removed from the noise and bustle of the little village, but the years have brought many changes, and the once sequestered spot now lies in the very heart of the city. The
45
hum of the electric car disturbs its calm re- pose, and the merry voices of school children as they pass to and fro echo round the beau- tiful mound. But its gates seldom open to admit the silent procession of mourners, for the streets of this City of the Dead have been thickly settled for many years.
46
NORTH OF MOUND EAST SIDE
1 Colonel Robert Taylor
2 General Joseph Buell
3 Major Ezra Putnam
4 General Rufus Putnam
5 Ephraim Foster*
6 Andrew McAllister
7 Griffin Greene*
8 Rev. Daniel Story
9 Colonel Ebenezer Sproat
10 Commodore Abraham Whipple
11 General Benjamin Tupper
12 Major Anselm Tupper
WEST SIDE
13 Lieutenant Robert Lincoln
14 Major Alexander Hill (1812)
15 Captain Saltanstall
16 Nathaniel Dodge
17 Governor Meigs
18 Colonel Ichabod Nye
SOUTH OF MOUND
19 Captain Stanton Prentiss
20 John Green
21 Captain Josiah Monroe Graves of Colonel Stacey and Captain Rogers unknown
*Not marked
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0 014 751 290 9
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.