Tombstone Tuesday: M. F. Cowdery, Educator

Marcellus F. Cowdery was born in Rutland County, Vermont in 1815. He was the first superintendent of Sandusky City Schools, and he was a leader in education throughout the state of Ohio, participating in many Teachers' Institutes in the 1840's. M.F. Cowdery wrote a collection of MORAL LESSONS, which were widely used in public schools.

Oliver Cowdery, the brother of M.F. Cowdery, was an early leader in the Mormon Churuch, and he served as a scribe to Joseph Smith at one time.

M. F. Cowdery died on September 26, 1885, and he is buried in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. To read more about him, see the EDUCATIONAL HISTORY OF OHIO, accessible through Google Books. Cowdery Street in Sandusky was named for early Ohio educator M. F. Cowdery.

Alonzo Camp Scranton

According to the GENEALOGICAL REGISTER, DESCENDANTS OF JOHN SCRANTON OF GUILFORD, CONN., Alonzo Camp Scranton was the son of Israel Scranton. He was born on November 29, 1814 in Rochester, New York. While living in Erie County, Alonzo C. Scranton was an employee of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. In 1844, Alonzo Scranton married Jane Elizabeth McDowell. The 1860 U.S. Census shows Alonzo and Jane living in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, with sons Alonzo C. Scranton, Jr., John M. Scranton, and William Scranton.

Alonzo C. Scranton died on April 27, 1878 in Sandusky, Ohio. He is buried in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Jane Scranton married Oliver P. Cowdery after the death of her first husband. The obituary index of the Hayes Presidential Center indicates that Jane Scranton Cowdery died in Thornville, Ohio in 1918, at the age of 91.

A genealogical website from Michigan hosts a photograph of the tombstone of Alonzo C. Scranton, Jr. He died on March 18, 1927, and his tombstone shows that he served in Company A of the 4th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War.