Tag Archives: Spring Grove Cemetery

History in Bloom at Spring Grove

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People I asked while there thought that Spring Grove Cemetery’s History in Bloom was about 15 years old. The earliest reference I’ve found online is from 2012, and it says, “It is one of our most popular events of the year!”, so 2012 wasn’t the first. Apparently, the event I attended for the first time on Sunday, April 19, was at least the sixteenth. My first impulse when something like that happens is to feel embarrassed because it took me so long to discover something so interesting. Of late, though, I’ve taken to being quite happy when it happens since it means there are still cool things to discover even for an old guy like me.

I do, however, regret missing out on previous events for one reason. In the past, I have enjoyed extended walks around Spring Grove Cemetery, and would certainly have enjoyed the guided walking tour available today. But long walks have become problematic for me over the last year or so, and I was happy to take advantage of the horse-drawn carriage rides, which, like the walking tours, were free.

It was nearing 1:00 when I arrived. This was probably near the busiest part of the day, and the line for carriage rides was rather long. My wait was a bit more than an hour, but the weather and surroundings were very pleasant. Neither I nor the others in line were much bothered by the wait. There was a group of five, including an extremely young baby, immediately in front of me. The first of the group had boarded a carriage when it became apparent they could not all be accommodated. When those on board turned to rejoin those on the ground, a couple already seated stepped off — with a smile — so mom and the others didn’t have to wait any longer.

We would get to visit with seven of the cemetery’s residents during the tour. All were important in the development of the city and region, but one was also extremely important in the development of the final home of all seven. Joseph Earnshaw assisted landscape designer Adolph Strauch considerably in creating the parklike layout of Spring Grove Cemetery.

Next up was Susan Pendleton Bowler, who, along with her husband, invited Adolph Strauch to design their gardens, which are now Mount Storm Park. John Robinson spoke to us from in front of the family mausoleum. The Robinson Circus, among the first to own its own railroad cars, wintered in Cincinnati for many years. Clara Dow was the only female in her class at pharmacy school, which she attended in order to take over her father’s drug store. Under her management, the store hired female pharmacists and added a soda fountain to create a place where women and children were welcome—and comfortable.

Thomas Hughes was a successful cobbler who willed his property to the city for the education of poor children. Hughes High School bears his name. Born into slavery, Henry Boyd became a skilled carpenter and was able to buy his freedom. His H. Boyd Company was a respected manufacturer of furniture. When Marianne Kauffman’s husband died, she stepped in to save and operate the John Kauffman Brewing Company. Because of her earlier success in real estate transactions, she was able to bring the company out of the heavy debt her husband had created.

This is Robert, our onboard narrator. He filled the spaces between stops with lots of information and an occasional joke. He also answered a fair number of questions, and it was clear he really knew his history. By tour’s end, we learned he had played several History in Bloom roles over the years. As I mentioned, the earliest History in Bloom references I found online were from 2012, and one of those contained a photo of Robert as Joseph Earnshaw.

There were three teams of horses pulling visitors around the cemetery. They all deserve to be recognized, and, although I did not get any of their names, I did get their pictures. The pictures near the beginning of the article are of the team that pulled me. Here are the other two teams as they approached the pickup point to load up and move on without me.

Memorial Day Eve

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I know the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day and I’ve sometimes been critical of those who don’t. The publication date for this article is the day before Memorial Day which means it’s my official Memorial Weekend post. The article’s primary focus is the funeral of a U.S. Army veteran who died peacefully at the age of ninety. He clearly does not fit the definition of the folks that Memorial Day was created to honor. On one hand, I’m not completely comfortable having the subject of my Memorial Weekend post be someone who should not be connected to the holiday in any way at all. On the other hand, there’s a very good chance that I would not have attended Hezekiah Perkins’ funeral if it did not take place during Memorial Weekend. That statement is quite possibly true of almost everyone who did attend his funeral on Saturday.

I first saw his name on Friday afternoon. I’d been looking for Memorial Day related activities when local news sources posted a story from Spring Grove Cemetery. The Korean War veteran had purchased a plot and paid for his funeral twenty years ago. Arrangements were progressing to assure that the ceremonies included military honors. There was no question about a proper funeral and burial taking place; There was a big question about who would attend. None of Perkins’ family lived close enough or were healthy enough to come. The cemetery was asking people to join their employees and a small detachment of soldiers in saying a final farewell.

The response was impressive and heartwarming. I arrived about fifteen minutes before the scheduled ceremony and had to park roughly half a mile away. Others parked much farther away than that. Not only was the crowd large, it was racially and generationally diverse. As might be expected, the largest single category was definitely military veterans

Many of those veterans arrived on motorcycles in parade formation. My unscientific guess is that somewhere between fifty and a hundred motorcycles rolled by the grave site. The motorcycles were parked and their riders walked back to where the hearse that had followed them now stood. Friday’s announcement had said the Spring Grove employees would act as pallbearers but that was very much unnecessary. That chore was quite willingly handled by a pre-selected group of motorcyclists.

The ceremonies were brief but meaningful. A detail from Fort Knox removed and folded the flag that covered the coffin. Although the word “thousands” has slipped into a headline or two, most references to the crowd say “hundreds”. My own guess as to crowd size, made while I was part of it, is 400-500. A few, such as workers at the nursing home where he lived most recently, actually knew Hezekiah Perkins but the vast majority were complete strangers. There is certainly no reason to get too puffed up about standing in the grass for a few minutes on a nice spring day, but it’s an unquestionably nice thing that so many Cincinnatians did just that and made that final farewell quite a bit louder than it would have been otherwise.

The Spring Grove visit occurred in the afternoon. I started the day with the Butrims and breakfast at the Anchor Grill followed by traipsing around my favorite bridge. A previous visit had left the couple firmly split on Cincinnati chili but I got a 2-0 favorable vote on goetta. We have been digital friends for a while but this was our first meeting in the analog world. The visit came in the middle of a Kentucky focused trip which, like all of their many road trips, is being reported semi-realtime on Facebook. See Anna’s version here and Joe’s here.

Another Sesquicentennial

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The American Civil War began with the shelling of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and for the last several years we have been commemorating the 150th anniversary of events that led up to it, were part of it, and were precipitated by it. There are many theories about the origin of what we now call Memorial Day, and, while specifics vary, almost all place the roots in that devastating conflict. The most recognized story of a formal beginning places that beginning a hundred and fifty years ago on May 30, 1868.

I attended two Memorial Day events this year. The first was a parade in nearby Loveland, and the second a gathering at Ohio’s largest cemetery, Spring Grove.

In Loveland, a police cruiser with flashing lights cleared the way with members of the local American Legion Post leading the actual parade. A group of firefighters, looking exactly like I’d want my fire department to look, was close behind. Love the mustache.

What followed was everything a parade should have: high school marching band, classic cars, and freshly polished fire trucks. The parade ended near Veterans’ Memorial Park where ceremonies were to take place. I was watching the time, however, and left just as they were getting started.

The setting for the Spring Grove ceremonies was the Civil War section where 999 Civil War dead are buried in three circular plots containing 333 graves each. These are not, of course, the only Civil War soldiers buried in the cemetery. There are 41 Civil War generals buried at Spring Grove. For the majority, however, it is an honorary (brevet) title. The cemetery’s website has some words about the war’s impact and a link to a list of those generals here.

Although individual events were certainly held earlier, 1868 is the year that the observation of Decoration Day was wide spread and coordinated. That was when Grand Army of the Republic Commander, John A. Logan, issued an order calling for gatherings on May 30 “…for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades…”. Spring Grove was one of 183 cemeteries participating that first year. There were 336 in 1869. Michigan made Decoration Day a state holiday in 1871 and other states were not far behind. It was made a federal holiday in 1888. I was unable to find a date for an official change from Decoration Day to Memorial Day. It seems to have happened somewhat naturally shortly after the first World War.

The G.A.R.’s successor, The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, played a major role in the day’s activities and the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry helped maintain an awareness of the holiday’s Civil War era roots. They presented the colors at the beginning of the services and fired a twenty-one gun salute near their end.

Spring Grove Cemetery was barely sixteen years old when the Civil War broke out.  An excerpt from Spring Grove: Celebrating 150 Years talks about the war, the cemetery, and those early Decoration Days. In describing the very first, it states that “To end the program the Ladies of the Floral Committee led the crowds around the mounds of graves, strewing them with flowers.” Today, The Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War filled the role of the Floral Committee in helping everyone present reenact that ritual from 150 years ago.