The reverent
affection for the dead which is shown by the human race in all
stages of its development, is a striking characteristic of the
species, and one of the landmarks of that impassable chasm which
separates man from the lower animals. It is, undoubtedly,
an outgrowth of the lower animals. It is, undoubtedly, an
outgrowth of the spiritual nature with which the race was
endowed at the beginning, and is a proof of its immorality.
Hardly any sentiment has left a deeper impress upon the
literature of the world than this. It is this sentiment
which has made Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" (although
the production of a minor poet) one of the most widely-read of
all the efforts of the muse, having been translated into every
cultivated language of christendom. And it is this which
made Hervey's "Meditations among the Tombs," in spite of its
glaring defects of style, one of the most popular books in the
most prolific period of English letters. Strike from the
world's literature all that has been written in obedience to
this sentiment, and what would be left would be but the dry and
useless comb after the honey is extracted. It is this
sentiment, also, which has led to the setting apart of places
for the burial of the dead, and to the decoration of such places
with all the attractions which wealth and taste can supply -
filling them with the best achievements of artistic skill in
sculpture, architecture, and landscape adornment, thus making
them places of the most irresistible attraction to the
intelligent and the thoughtful, to the lovers of beauty in
nature and art. The man of health and leisure, who should
spend even a week's time in one of the great cities - New York,
Boston, London, or Paris - without visiting Greenwood cemetery,
Mount Auburn, Westminster Abbey, or Pere la Chaise, would stand
self-convicted of a strange insensibility of soul; and a history
of one of those cities which should make no mention of its
celebrated burial place, would be indeed "like the play of
Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet omitted."
And so, in our humbler history - even in writing
sketches of rural townships and unincorporated village - we are
expected, in each instance, to devote a chapter to its burying
ground, where
"The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,"
and doubtless many an eye will be attracted to these
chapters, unpretending through they be, which will find very
little attraction in any others.
There are four public burial places in the township of
Circleville - two within the limits of the city, and two just
beyond those limits, on the north; but they are all, as will be
seen, proper outgrowths of the city, established, at the first,
to meet the city's wants, though at all times largely used by
those outside of it.
Aside from these four there are, in different parts of
the township, several family and neighborhood burying grounds,
some of which have gone into disuse, and in others interments
are still made. We have been able to visit but two of
these outlying burying places, one on the Crouse farm, just out
of the city, on the northwest, near the river. It has long
been disused, unfenced, and neglected. It occupies the top
of a high knoll, which is covered with trees, and the field
about it is cultivated but does not seem to be very fertile,
while here and there a patriarchal apple-tree shows that the
ground was once covered by an orchard. Near by are some
ice houses, that have been filled from the river on whose bank
they stand. At several of the graves slabs, of a kind of
sandstone, are still standing; at others, they have been broken
off and are ling on the ground. The stone being soft and
flakey, several of the inscriptions have become quite illegible.
The oldest that can still be made out is as follows: "In
memory of Margaret, wife of Aquilla
Justus [the name is
elsewhere spelled Justice],
who died Nov. 9, 1813, aged 47 years." An advertisement in
an old number of the Circleville Herald shows that this same
Mr.
Justice had a mortgage on this same ground in
1830. Another inscription reads as follows: "In memory of
John
Justice, who departed this life Oct. 8, 1821, in
the 73d year of his age." In the chapter on settlements it
will be seen that this Mr. Justice
entered the southwest quarter
of section five, which occupies the northeast corner of the
township, a little over two miles from the place where he was
buried.
The other outlying burying-ground, which we visited, is on
the farm of Jacob Ludwig, in the southeast corner of the
township. It contains several new graves, the oldest being
that of Thomas Ludwig, a young man of twenty-one, who died in
1810. Mr. Jacob Hitler, who lives near by, thinks that it
began to be used in 1807. It covers about half an acre of
ground, is securely fenced, and contains several very tasteful
family monuments - that of Hosler, gray granite; those of
Hitler
and Lutz, white and clouded marble; those of Seall and
Rudy, red
granite. It was a great pleasure to find this little
village of the dead so well cared for.
Of the four cemeteries properly belonging to the city,
the first established is on east Mound street, adjoining Trinity
Lutheran church. It consists of lots number one hundred
and fifteen and one hundred and sixteen, of the original town
plat, and was set apart by order of the court of common pleas,
for the use of the German Lutheran and Calvanistic
congregations, in 1811. We have not been able to ascertain
the date of the first interment, nor the name of the first
person buried in this ground. No costly monuments were
erected there, and no interments have been made since 1850.
The oldest inscriptions are in German, and many have become
illegible from the friable nature of the stone employed.
The first interment of which we found any record, was that of a
child named William Betzer, who died in 1812, aged about six
years. A blunder of the stone-cutter (leaving out a
cipher) makes this child born in 186. This blunder,
however, seems to be corrected, after a fashion, on another
stone, which gravely informs us that Jacob (surname not
legible) was born in 17093. If this statement were
correct, and Jacob were now living, he would be just fifteen
thousand, two hundred and fifteen years less than one year old.
It will take an algebraist, however, to cipher it out. One
of the German inscriptions is as follows, verbatim et
literatim: "Heir ruhet andreas foltz, gebohren in Strasburg,
Euroba den 9 Oct., 1756, gestorben den 23 dag Sept. 1813.
Alt worden 57 Jahr, 11 monet, 2 wochen, 2 tag. Gezengt 11
kinder, 8 sene und 3 Dechter." Some of the words may be
Pennsylvania German, they certainly are not the German of
Germany. A literal translation is as follows: "Here
rests Andrew Foltz, born in Strasburg, Europe, the 9th of Oct.,
1756; died the 23ed day of Sept., 1813. Was aged 57 years,
11 months, 2 weeks and 2 days. Begot 11 children - 8 sons
and 3 daughters." Comparatively few of the present
descendants of the New England fathers will leave so worthy a
record as that.
The two lots adjoining this cemetery on the east,
(numbered one hundred and thirteen and one hundred and fourteen)
were, at a very early day set apart for a similar purpose; but
we have not been able to ascertain either the date or the manner
of doing it. The two grounds were kept separate by a
fence, and the one of the east was called, sometimes the public,
sometimes the English, and sometimes the city burying-ground.
In the year 1863, a decree of the court of common pleas having
been obtained for that purpose, the most of the bodies were
removed from this part, and the Trinity Lutheran church and
parsonage which now occupy the ground, were erected there.
The burying grounds just described soon become
insufficient for the accommodation of the public, and therefore,
on the nineteenth of March, 1831, the town council purchased of
Samuel Watt and wife, a piece of land containing nearly five
aces of East High street, along the border of Hargus creek.
It is a part of original section nineteen, and the price paid
was one hundred and twenty-five dollars. This the council
laid out as a burying ground, and called it the Circleville
cemetery. In common parlance, however, it was for a long
time called the "new," as it is now called the "old" cemetery.
Prominent in the council which purchased this ground,
and the chief mower in the enterprise was Mr. George
Crook, an
influential merchant of the city at that time. He probably
little thought that the ground he was so active in securing for
the public convenience, would so soon become his own last
resting place; that he would, in fact, be the first to be
deposited there, amid the tears of sorrowing friends.
Such, however, was the case. A plain marble slab near the
entrance to the ground, bears this inscription: "Sacred to the
memory of George Crook, who departed this life Jan. 1, 1832, in
the 33d year of his age, leaving a widow with four small
children to mourn their irreparable loss. But they mourn
not as those without hope." Then follows an epitaph which,
although rather commonplace as a whole, contains two lines (the
ones printed below in italics) that strike us as being equal to
anything we have ever met with in elegiac poetry:
"Wond'ring I ask, where is the breast
Struggling so late and racked with pain;
The eyes that upward looked for rest,
And dropt their weary lids again.
Peace, fluttered soul, the storm is o'er,
Ended at last the doubtful strife,
He flies to Heaven, returns no more;
A widow thou, no more a wife."
The monuments, here also, are mostly plain and unpretentious.
The same friable sandstone, heretofore mentioned, has been too
largely employed, and many of the inscriptions, in consequence,
can no longer be deciphered. The grounds are not as well
kept as they out to be; but it is a pleasant, though melancholy,
place to stay and meditate in the cool of a summer evening.
A little beyond the limits of the city, about a mile
north of its center, on the west side of the Columbus turnpike,
lie the beautiful grounds of the Forest cemetery.
They comprise about fifty-one acres of land, purchased
by the cemetery corporation in 1857, mostly of Mrs. Agnes
McCrea, but partly of Jacob Mader, for one hundred dollars per
acre. They were laid out, the same year, under the
direction of William Renick, and exhibit great taste and skill
in the fine art of landscape gardening.
The following pledge and subscription will show how and
by whom the money was raised for the purchase of these grounds.
We, the undersigned, being desirous of providing
suitably for the burial of the dead, do hereby subscribe the
several sums annexed to our names respectively, for the purpose
of buying and embellishing grounds, to be used forever for a
rural cemetery, near the city of Circleville. The premises
to be bought for this purpose shall contain not less than forty
acres. These subscriptions to be binding whenever ratified
by the subscribers, or a majority, in amount. This
association to be organized under the law of Ohio passed Feb.
24, 1848. The sums hereto subscribed shall be in the
nature of a loan to the association, subject to be repaid out of
the proceeds of sales of burial lots, under such rules and
regulations as the association may prescribe.
Signed:
|
Circleville, Ohio, June 10, 1857. |
| William Renick |
$200 |
.. |
W. M. Triplett |
$100 |
| W. W. Bierce |
200 |
|
W. Baker |
100 |
| John Groce |
200 |
|
C. Olds |
100 |
| S. H. Moore |
200 |
|
Einsel, Wagner & Co. |
100 |
| S. A. Ruggles |
200 |
|
N. S. & G. W. Gregg |
200 |
| Nelson Franklin |
200 |
|
Harness Renick |
200 |
| S. Marfield |
200 |
|
W. Wolfley & E. G. Shultze |
100 |
| Josiah Renick |
200 |
|
Israel Gregg |
100 |
| E. C. Clarke |
200 |
|
D. Pierce & R. H. Wilson |
100 |
| William Bauder |
200 |
|
W. Griswold |
100 |
| Samuel Rogers |
200 |
|
C. A. & A. King |
100 |
| A. McCrea |
200 |
|
Jonathan Renick |
100 |
| S. M. Baker |
200 |
|
J. A. Hawkes |
100 |
| William L. Peck |
200 |
|
George Hammel |
100 |
| H. N. Hedges, sr. |
200 |
|
William VanHeyde |
100 |
| R. A. Foresman |
200 |
|
G. E. Wolfley |
100 |
| O. Ballard, jr. |
100 |
|
William Donne |
100 |
| M. Brown |
100 |
|
M. Kellstadt |
100 |
| W. E. Delaplane |
100 |
|
Philip Glick |
100 |
| J. S. Wilkes |
100 |
|
A. J. Haswell |
100 |
| J. V. Duncan |
100 |
|
William Hughes |
100 |
| John Boyer |
100 |
|
Peter Wefter, jr. |
100 |
| George H. Fickardt |
100 |
|
David Snider |
100 |
| L. N. Olds |
100 |
|
H. N. Hedges, jr. |
100 |
| G. F. Wittich |
100 |
|
P. C. Smith |
100 |
| N. T. Bradford |
100 |
|
J. Solliday |
100 |
The association which
bought the grounds was incorporated the same year, as shown by
the following articles of incorporation, recorded Sept. 8,
1857:
On the thirteenth day of July, A. D. 1857, William Renick, Samuel Marfield, Samuel Rogers, Wayne Griswold, Adam
McCrea, John Groce, William Doane, W. W. Bierce, Jonathan
Renick, George H. Fickhardt, and twenty-two other citizens of
Circleville, assembled at the court house, in the city of
Circleville, for the purpose of forming themselves into a
cemetery association under an act of the legislature, passed
Feb. 24, 1848; notices of said meeting having been published
in the Circileville Herald and Watchman twenty days
before said meeting.
On motion, Adam McCea, esq., was elected chairman of
the meeting, and George H. Fickardt clerk.
A majority of the members of the association being
present, on motion it was resolved that the said persons
present form themselves into a cemetery association by the
election of seven trustees and one clerk.
The meeting then proceeded to the election of trustees
and clerk, when the following gentlemen were elected trustees,
viz.: William Renick, president; William Doane, Wayne
Griswold, John Groce, W. W. Bierce, Jonathan Renick, E. C.
Clarke - three to serve for three years, two serve for two
years, and two to serve for one year.
George H. Fickardt was elected clerk, to serve for
three years.
On motion, it was resolved that the name of the
association shall be "The Forest Cemetery of Circleville."
I, George H. Fickardt, clerk of the Forest Cemetery of
Circleville, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true
record of the proceedings of the meeting held at the court
house, in the city of Circleville, on the thirtieth day of
July, A. D. 1857, for the purpose herein before mentioned.
Signed:
GEORGE H. FICKARDT, Clerk of Forest Cemetery, of
Circleville, Ohio
July 31, 1857.
The following are the names of the present officers:
Dr. Marcus Brown, president; Geo. H. Fickardt, treasurer
and clerk. Trustees: John Groce, E. C. Clarke, S. A. Moore,
M. Brown, John Boyer, S. Marfield, sr., and William Doane.
The grounds of Forest cemetery were, July 28, 1858,
solemnly dedicated for the uses and purposes as specified in
article seven of the constitution, by an oration by the Rev.
Joel Swartz, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran church in this
city, and by other appropriate exercises.
The following were the order of exercises:
1st, Anthem, by the Circleville Musical Association
2d, Invocation, by Rev. Mr. Swartz.
3d, Ode.
4th, Prayer, by Rev. Mr. Felton
5th, Hymn, to Old Hundred
6th, Address, by Rev. Mr. Swartz.
7th, Ode.
8th, Benediction, by Rev. Mr. Felton.
We regret we have not space to publish the beautiful
oration of Rev. Mr. Swartz.
The first body laid at rest in these beautiful grounds
was that of Mrs. William P. Darst, Oct. 12, 1858.
There are many fine and costly monuments erected here,
the three most noticeable being that of Dr. Chas. H. Hawkes,
consisting of a marble statue of hope, larger than life, on a
lofty pedestal of gray granite; that of Wm. Renick, entirely
of red granite (except the base, which is gray) - the pedestal
being surmounted by a tall pyramidal shaft; and that of Col.
John Cradlebaugh, of a grayish marble, distinguished from all
the rest by its beautiful, life-size statue of Christ in
benediction, the work of an Italian sculptor, which would be
justly regarded as an attraction, in any cemetery in the word.
On one of the tablets of the last named monument, is
told a sad story of domestic bereavement, viz: That Mrs. Cradlebaugh, and a son aged over two months, both died on the
same day, June 19, 1852. Twenty-one years later, in
1873, the colonel himself, having cherished in the loneliness
of widowhood, and amid many-strange vicissitudes of fortune,
the memory of his youthful companion, died in the midst of
great reverses at Eureka, Nevada; and six years after his
death, on decoration day, May 30, 1879, his remains were
brought back and deposited by the side of his loved ones,
under the sacred benediction of those marble hands.
Nearly opposite to the Forest cemetery, but a little
nearer the city, is the newly opened cemetery of St. Joseph's
(Roman Catholic) church. It consists of six acres,
purchased in August, 1877, of Caspar McCabe, for one thousand
dollars. Two avenues only have been laid out through the
grounds at right angles, in the form of a Roman cross.
It was consecrated July 4, 1878, and the first interment took
place on the same day - that of Miss Mary Roach, a young lady,
about eighteen years old. Only six or seven graves have
been added since that time. The most of the ground has
been cultivated in wheat during the present season.
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