When I mentioned to a group of church friends this past
weekend that I was writing a blog post on cemeteries, with the thought that
some parents might want to take their children to these special spots to study
history, one of my friends asked, “You’d take a child to a cemetery?”
Well, yes, I would-- because when I was growing up, taking
wreaths to my father’s parents’ graves on Memorial Day was an important part of
family life. And it usually got him talking about his mother, whom I never met
because she died in 1940. It was one way I learned about my paternal
grandmother’s life.
My husband and I both enjoy studying history via headstones.
We found this out on our first date. He had officiated at a funeral that day
and somehow we got to talking about cemeteries and we ended up at the main
cemetery in Fort Collins, CO walking around. We discovered that there had been
a smallpox epidemic in the city in the early 1900s, that those who had died of
the disease were buried in a far corner of the cemetery, and in 1980 there was
still a wide berth around those graves before any others were laid to rest near
them.
My maternal grandmother always called Memorial Day
“Decoration Day”, its original name, because this was a time to honor those who
died in service to their country.
According to www.usmemorialday.org:
“There are many
stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns
laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence
that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the
end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, ‘Kneel Where Our Loves are
Sleeping’ by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication ‘To The Ladies of the South
who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead’ (Source: Duke
University's
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared
the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's
difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that
it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or
spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into
the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the
growing movement that culminated in Gen. Logan giving his official proclamation
in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that
Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about
reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
“Memorial Day was
officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander
of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his
General
Order No. 11, and was first
observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and
Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to
officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was
recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the
day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the
holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to
honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in
almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the
National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for
Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate
day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June
3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.”
Now, if you don’t
plan to put wreaths on graves this year, you’re not alone because Memorial Day
has drastically changed in focus from what it once was. But that doesn’t mean
that at some point this summer or fall you can’t take in a few of the
cemeteries around here and see an interesting look at the past.
There is a small
cemetery—Oak Cemetery-- just off South Bend and Jefferson, behind the Subway/DQ
and the strip mall, that has been around a long time. You can find more
information about this cemetery and the people buried there at
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inallcem/aboite/bullard.html. Father William Karber, whose headstone is
pictured here, has one of the older headstones that have remained in good
condition.
Further south,
along Engle Road, is St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, established in 1853, but not
at this location. When this Evangelical Lutheran Church was established by
German Lutheran immigrants, they also felt it important to establish both a
school and a cemetery. Their first five acre cemetery was adjacent to the Fort
Wayne City Cemetery at the location of what is now McCollough Park on Broadway
near the GE Plant.
Around 1864, the
city moved their cemetery to its current location on West Main and it was
renamed Lindenwood. St. John’s moved their cemetery also to Maple and Park
Avenue. But neighbors at the original spot and the newer one were
“uncomfortable” with having a cemetery in their neighborhood and so the third
cemetery for St. John’s was dedicated in August, 1872 on Engle Road. With every
move, all of those buried in the cemeteries were also moved. According to the
web site
http://www.stjohnluth.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Cemetery-Brochure.pdf, of the original “Founding Fathers”, only
Michael Mueller is not buried at this cemetery.
The headstones in
the St. John’s cemetery reflect the German heritage of those buried there. A
number of graves have stones carved with German words. And the artwork of the
monuments is spectacular.
If you go further
into Waynedale, down Old Trail Road, you will come to Prairie Grove Cemetery,
established in June 1874. Burials at this site, donated by Joseph and Catherine
Mason, actually occurred as early as 1834. The chapel on the ground was built
by the United Brethren Church in the 1850s and was served by circuit riders
until 1901.
Have you ever
been to the Little Turtle Memorial on Lawton Park Place? Signs direct you to
the site from Spy Run and once you’re parked you venture back between two
houses to a small wooded area. Tucked into the space are various stones with
carvings about one of our area’s more famous Native Americans.
There are a
number of large cemeteries in Fort Wayne but the most “famous” is undoubtedly
Lindenwood. Many of Fort Wayne’s founders are buried here and we have a couple
of good pamphlets in our gift shop to guide you on a walk through this
beautiful place in the heart of our city. “Eternal Landscapes: A Historical and
Natural Guide to Lindenwood Cemetery” provides a map of different kinds of
trees and birds you’ll find there and “Pioneers Resting in Historic Lindenwood”
gives a brief guide to some of our town fathers and mothers and their
contributions to our city.
History is more
than dates, wars and presidents. It’s people. And with the resources we have in
this city to study the people of the past, it’s a shame not to take advantage
of them. Take some time this year to get to know your city and come visit the
History Center. You’ll be glad you did.
