West End Cemetery, Berlin Heights

The West End Cemetery, as its name suggests, is located in the western portion of the Village of Berlin Heights, Erie County, Ohio. The cemetery is at the edge of a ravine, and many trees shade the grounds.

An angel is located beside the Austin family monument.

















Several United States Veterans are buried at the West End Cemetery, including Hieronimus Mingos (sometimes spelled Mingus) who served in the Revolutionary War, in the Fourth New York Regiment.

The history of Berlin Heights which appeared on pages 475 through 489 of the book HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO, by W.W.Williams, has been reprinted on a UsGenWeb site.


Visit the website of the Village of Berlin Heights online.

J. R. Walbridge

The tombstone that appears to have a tree beginning to grow around it is the grave marker of J. R. Walbridge located at the West End Cemetery in Berlin Heights, Ohio.

On the microfilmed cemetery records of Erie County cemeteries, the card for J. R. Walbridge has this inscription:


J. R. Walbridge
Died April 3, 18_1
In 36th year of his age
We loved him in his Earthen form,
And love his Spirit still.

Charles Armstrong Steen, a Native of Armagh

According to THE STEEN FAMILY IN EUROPE AND AMERICA,available at the Internet Archive, Charles Armstrong Steen was born in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland on December 25, 1797. He emigrated to the United States about 1831, settling in Berlin Heights, Erie County, Ohio.


A family story that has been passed down through the generations is that Charles Armstrong Steen was from a noble family. When he fell in love with a peasant girl, his parents sent him to the United States to avoid being disgraced.

In 1842, Charles A. Steen married a widow, Lorenda Stevens Sexton, in Berlin Heights. They had four children: Eliza Jane Steen, David Orlando Steen, Mary Olmstead Steen, and Charles Fabine Steen. In 1858, when baby Charles was only an infant, the father of the family was accidentally drowned. THE HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, in a biographical sketch about Benjamin Deeley, reports that Jane/Jennie Steen Deeley's father sold his property in Erie County, and was planning to take the family to Kansas. The story that has been told to the family is that Charles Steen was robbed, after making the sale of his property, and his body was thrown into Sandusky Bay. The Oakland Cemetery interment card states that Charles Steen died of an accidental drowning, and that he was buried on December 6, 1858. However, THE STEEN FAMILY IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, provides the death date as January 12, 1858.



Mrs. Lorenda Steen, now twice widowed, successfully raised her four children in Erie County, Ohio. Eliza Jane (sometimes called Jennie) married a Civil War Veteran, Benjamin Deeley, and they were the parents of six children, including a dentist, a doctor, and two school teachers. David Orlando Steen had a large family also, and his family moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa. Mary O. Steen married George F. Hill, and she served as the postmistress of Berlin Heights for many years. Charles F. Steen married Sarah Nodine Milner. He was a properous farmer in Perkins Township.

While records at Oakland Cemetery state that Charles A. Steen is buried in Block 60, no tombstone remains at Oakland for Mr. Steen. The descendants of Charles Armstrong Steen are numerous, and span from Ohio to Iowa to California.

Charles H. Becker, Newspaper Editor

Charles H. Becker was born on June 20, 1861 to John and Mary Becker of Berlin Heights, Ohio. Charles H. Becker was the city editor of the Sandusky Register for seventeen years. While still in his thirties, Charles H. Becker died on March 15, 1894. At the summer picnic of the Sandusky Register correspondents, Mr. J. F. Greene gave a tribute in memory of the former city newspaper editor, known affectionately as Charley. Mr. Greene said, in part, "It tinges with sadness and sorrow our festivities today: but we love to pause and drop a tear over his untimely grave and in memory's loom weave choicest garlands of flowers in sweet remembrance of his many virtues." The full tribute can be read in the August 15, 1894 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Another article about Charles Becker is found in the November 23, 1897 issue of the Sandusky Register. When Charles Becker died, his first grave was located in the rear portion of the West End Cemetery in Berlin Heights. Charley's mother, Mary Becker, had a lovely monument made in honor of her son. A new lot was donated to Mary Becker by Samuel Reed, the sexton of the West End Cemetery. The new plot was located in a portion of the cemetery which overlooks the ravine. The McKnight and Smith Monumental Works of Norwalk made the monument, which was made of Millstone Point granite. Atop the monument is a carving of a scroll and pen, to signify Mr. Becker's occupation as a newspaper man. The inscription reads:

CHARLES H. BECKER
Born June 20, 1861
Died Mrch 15, 1894
He lived the law of kindness
And never dipped his pen in gall

The 1897 article concludes: "These lines bear fitting memorial to Charley Becker's nobility of soul. The design of the monument is an original one of George H. Smith of this city, who was a warm personal friend of Mr. Becker. It stands four feet and eight inches high and its weight is two tons."