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| This information is excerpted from a article written by the late Glenn H. Waight. It was titled Tri-State Cemeteries, A Compilation. It was among his papers which were donated to the E.L Historical Society upon his death |
A Cemetery Responsiblity
Introductory Remarks
in early Locust Hill Cemetery Association by-laws:
The appropriate interment of the dead and the proper care to be exercised over the last resting place of those who have gone before, are matters of concern to every human being.
The perpetual protection from neglect, decay and the encroachment of municipal growth, of the graves of ourselves and of those who are near and dear to us, is a necessity which impresses itself upon every one of us.
It is only the modern rural cemetery that secures this result Time and the elements have laid waste the most sacred soil of the earth.
In every land and in every clime the places consecrated to the burial of the dead have fall into ruin and decay; they appeal no longer to any sense of reverence or respect, but are a constant invitation to the trespasser and his destroying hand.
The stone that gives the name and recites the virtues and life of him whose mortal remains lie beneath, leans, breaks, falls, is trampled on and mingled with the dust from which it came. Time speeds along; friends die, and interest with them.
When the last vestige of public interest and public reverence die away, the grasping hand of growth, of progress and the demands of civilization, dead to the affections of the forefathers lay hold upon the sacred spot, consecrated and hallowed by all that is left of mortality, and cover it with the habitation of man. It was the system, not the people, who were to blame for this.
The Cemetery Association, itself, will take care of the grounds, including the lots of ? o private individuals, so that all will be beautiful and all will be preserved.
In order to do this, the old-fashioned mode of laying out and caring for cemeteries is utterly impracticable. It can be only be done by a strict observance of the rules herein set forth; rules which every great cemetery in the country has adopted and to which they owe their beauty.
Last Resting Places
By Glenn H. Waight
Weathering headstones, fading flowers and spreading trees mark forgotten successes and ignored disappointments of thousands of departed residents of our district.
Scattered along the river valley and across the hills of Columbiana, Hancock and Beaver Counties are the graves of men and women who first settled here along with later generations who raised families, built communities, then passed into history.
Some are remembered in our history books and old newspapers; others remain virtually lost in the mists of time; a few unknown even to those who buried them.
Life was harder then, medical and surgical relief uncertain, grief common and kept brief by stern daily pressures on the farms and in the growing towns.
Burials took place on family homesteads or in tiny church plots after sad visitations and services in the home. Arrangements were made with carpenters and livery stables for coffins and transportation; only later did funeral parlor businesses develop
Modern embalming methods were not extensive in the United States until the Civil War, so disposition of the dead prior to that time required burial in shorter time than permitted in later years. And ceremonies along the frontier and primitive villages were simple and unpretentious.
In earlier 19th Century funerals, the dead were carried in a procession to cemeteries by pall bearers, with friends and relatives following. A lengthy journey required relays, with the bearers changing after short distances.
Hearses were not used locally until late in the 1870s. John Mast introduced the first hearse in the city, drawn by a single horse.
Prior to use of motorized vehicles, funeral trips up the long and steep St. Clair Ave. hill required frequent stops to rest the horses.
One of the largest early funerals in East Liverpool was that of William Hill, brother of Sanford C. Hill, in September 1887. Michael Whitaker, Riverview Cemetery super-intendent for many years, recalled a long line of horse-drawn rigs lined up on the grounds. "All the funeral rigs in East Liverpool and Wellsville had been engaged, and the farm folks came in their own conveyances," he said.
Old Fifth St. Cemetery
East Liverpool's earliest burial site was the former 19th Century cemetery at the far end of West Fifth Street near present City Hospital, but other graveyards had been established elsewhere in the area.
What came to be known as the Fifth St. cemetery was used as early as 1800, with many early settlers laid to rest there.
Originally about an acre in size, the site was enlarged as burials increased. Known as a Union cemetery, it served all sects and creeds for more than eight decades.
The area extended west from Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Streets, overlooking the West End hollow, and was designated for a "burying ground" when that area of town was platted in 1816 by John Fawcett - son of Thomas Fawcett, the town's founder - and his Wheeling partner, James Pemberton.
The first burial, according to some sources, was "Granny" Snodgrass who died
shortly after the grounds were laid out. Graves of two of her children, names not recorded, went beside her. Later James Kelly and "Granny" Taggart were buried there.
A double gate entrance off Fifth St. served the cemetery in later years.
Among first settlers laid to rest were Margaret Dillow McKinnon, great-grandmother of Eugene B. Bradshaw. She died March 30,1830. Her husband, Joseph McKinnon, who came from England, was buried in 1809 at Georgetown because of his friendship with the Poe family of Beaver County, famed Indian fighters.
McKinnon's widow wished to be buried with him, but it was impossible to cross the Ohio River in a skiff at the time of her death, so she was placed in a grave here.
After other cemeteries were available, families of the dead at Fifth St. were requested to relocate the remains, but many descendants no longer resided here, and removal of some bodies was not undertaken. Weathering and erosion occasionally exposed bones, found by passersby or crews excavating for additions to City Hospital, and the site was popularly called "Skeleton Park."
In 1903 a section of the old cemetery was purchased for the site of a new City Hospital. The remainder was designated as a city park.
Brady Cemetery
East Liverpool-Wellsville Rd.
Many of the early families were also buried at Long's Run and United Presbyterian Church cemeteries at Calcutta, the Jackman Cemetery on Fredericktown Rd. and the Brady Cemetery on the East Liverpool-Wellsville Rd.
The last vestiges of the Brady tract disappeared in the 1920s when the roadway was straightened at a point just west of the former Walker's sewer pipe plant.
Known buried there were "Captain" Thomas Brady and his daughter, Jane, early settlers at Wellsville. The small tract lay halfway up a hillside on the south side of the S-shaped roadway at "Brady's Bend."
The Bradys were Quakers. Thomas Brady, who had come from Pennsylvania, died March 21, 1886, aged 82, and was married to Margaret Koontz in 1833. Daughter Jane died and her will, filed April 7, 1899, stated her father, mother and sister were buried there.
When the remains were transferred to Riverview Cemetery, authorities listed the dead as Thomas D., Margaret, Jane, John, Ha and Hannah.
Riverview Cemetery
2026 St. Clair Ave., East Liverpool
The old Fifth St. cemetery began reaching its capacity in the 1870s, and became a serious concern for City Council by 1882.
A non-profit corporation was organized in 1883 by influential citizens to establish a non-denominational cemetery, and the new association sold bonds to buy 40 hilltop acres on the east side of Calcutta Road, later St. Clair Ave. The grounds were part of the old George (?) Anderson and Josiah (?) Thompson farms.
This Riverview Cemetery was originally laid out with 344 lots for new graves, and the first person interred was Mrs. George (Elizabeth) Sweinhart in July 1883.
A soldier's memorial honoring Grand Army of the Republic veterans was erected at Riverview Cemetery 1897 at a cost of about $18,000. On the walls of the GAR chapel are engraved the names of East Liverpool and Liverpool Township Civil War veterans, and surrounding the memorial are graves of many of those veterans plus men in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean and Vietnam wars.
The statue of a Union soldier stands near the chapel overlooking the graves. The figure first stood on The Diamond from 1890 to 1909, then was moved to the old City Park, former Fifth St. Cemetery next to City Hospital. In 1916 it was relocated to the front of Carnegie Library, and finally in 1942 it was transported to Riverview.
A section is provided for those of the Jewish faith.
Riverview, with a commanding view of the river valley and roads winding through the various sections now spreads over 106 acres, and contains nearly 18,000 graves.
Large double iron gates between two round stone columns guard the entrance of the grounds, near the office and residence of the superintendent.
Mrs. Helen Stenger has been in charge of the cemetery since the death of her husband, Roy, in 1985. He had succeeded his grandfather, Malcom, who died in 1959.
Riverview probably holds the most veterans of the county's 118 cemeteries containing graves of some 4,200? veterans of Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict and Vietnam.
Riverview has 650?, including the grave of Women's Army Corps veteran, Ruth D, Friedsan who died in 1954.?
A stone monument to city founder Thomas Fawcett and his wife, Isabel!, reportedly stands over his remains transferred from the old W. Fifth St. burial ground. Other notables in Riverview include mathematician and early Mayor Sanford Hill, composer Will Thompson, George Grader who fought under Napoleon at Waterloo, and Capt. John Cartwright, killed in the Battle of Petersburg in 1864.
Wollam Cemetery
Old Fredericktown Rd.
Columbiana County's first cemetery was believed sited on James McLaughlin's farm, later of A. R. Hickman, and known as the "Wollam Cemetery," in Section 15 of St. Clair Township.
It's located a half mile north and east of the junction of present Route 170 and Old Fredericktown Rd.
Interred there first in 1799 was the daughter of John McLaughlin. Among the graves (few of which have stones) is that of Lewis Cameron, who served as a Ranger in the American Revolution. Another early cemetery was the Blackmore Cemetery near Campground Rd. in Liverpool Township Section 31 between East Liverpool and Wellsville. Originally part of the large Blackmore farm, it contains the graves of early settlers of that section buried before the War of 1812. Among those interred are Robert Boyce and his wife, Sarah, who with the Hickman family came here from Pennsylvania in the late 1790s with city founder Thomas Fawcett. One of the early graves is that of William Blackmore who died in 1813 when 21. Another headstone is Algimous Reed, claimed at 24 in 1864 in "sacrifice to his country Oct. 14, 1864," probably in the Civil War. Continued in Part 2
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Blackmore Cemetery
Off Campground Rd.
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