Wordless Wednesday: Carl E. Stonerook Jr. at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio

 

John Gordon, Irish Immigrant to Sandusky

John Gordon was born in Ireland. His wife was the former Catherine Grinley. In 1855, the Sandusky City Directory listed John Gordon as a watchman for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. Later he held the same position for the Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland Railroad (a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad.) 

John and Catherine were members of Holy Angels Church. Their many children were christened there, according to Diocese records. Two of the sons, John J. Gordon, and George H. Gordon became well known reporters for New York newspapers. Their youngest daughter, Mary Louise Gordon, was a suffragist and she served as the Women's Page editor of the New York Herald Tribune in the 1930s and 1940s.

Sadly, in August of 1883, John Gordon's body was found at the foot of Columbus Avenue. He had suffered a serious head injury. At first it was thought they he may have been murdered, but Erie County Coroner. Dr. Elwood Stanley, determined that he died from an accidental drowning.

John Gordon was laid to rest in the family lot at St. Joseph's Cemetery. His wife moved to the east to reside with her daughter. She died in 1916, and her remains were brought back to Sandusky for burial at St. Joseph's Cemetery. 

The Gordon family hoped for a better life in America, and sadly John Gordon's life was cut short. The names of the Gordon family are carved in stone at St. Joseph's, and their obituaries appeared in Sandusky newspapers. The Gordon family was indeed a part of the "melting pot" of America.

Remembering Ajaish and Mary Alice Rather

Ajaish and Mary Alice Rather are buried in Section S in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. They raised seven children together and were both active in community and church activities.

In 1967, the baseball diamond at Jaycee Park was renamed "Rather Field" in honor of Ajaish "Butch" Rather. An article in the August 14, 1967 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Mr. Rather had been a member of the Board of Recreation for several years, and he helped hundreds of area youngsters in youth baseball programs. Ajaish Rather passed away in 1967, before his son David Elmer "Bo" Rather began to play college football at the University of Michigan. Later Bo played in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears.

Mrs. Mary Alice Rather was active in Ebenezer Baptist Church. She was past president of the Sandusky Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. She was a member of the the Board of the Erie Metro Housing Agency, Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, and the Human Relations Commission of Sandusky. For several years she was the executive director of the CAC in Sandusky. She worked tirelessly for the civil rights of the residents of Sandusky and Erie County. Mrs. Rather died on June 6, 2006. An obituary for Mrs. Mary Alice Rather appeared in the June , 2006 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Rather for your many years of service to your community!

 

Two Young Men from Romania who Died in a Quarry Accident in 1915

At the St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio are two tombstones honoring the memory of Jon G. Morariu and John Alecsa Galario. The men died in a mining accident in a quarry in Margaretta Township in Erie County, Ohio on September 16, 1915. They were both natives of Romania. 

Dr. Fred Schoepfle, Coroner, signed the death records of these men. John G. Morariu was about age 45 at the time of his death. His cause of death was a fractured skull, after a dynamite explosion.

John Alecsa Galario was age 22 when he was also killed in the explosion. He died when he suffered internal injuries, concussion, and shock when the explosion occurred.

The spellings of the names of these two men vary widely in records,  which is not uncommon for individuals of foreign birth who died in the United States in the early twentieth century. The death records of these two men are in chronological order in the Bureau of Vital Statistics for the State of Ohio, and their tombstones are side by side at St. Joseph's Cemetery. They probably came to America for a better life than they had in Romania, but tragically their lives were cut short. Rest in Peace!

Getting to Know Myers, Uhl & Company

 From about 1846 to 1881, the steam marble works company of Myers, Uhl & Company was in business in Cleveland, Ohio. The company made monuments, mantles, and cabinet slabs. According to a Guidebook from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the company was located along the old Ohio & Erie Canal in Cleveland, where the Flats are now located. (See page 13 in the guidebook entitled "Geology along the Towpath.") 

The two partners were George A. Myers and Charles F. Uhl. When I was walking through Oakland Cemetery several years ago, I ran into a monument made by Myers, Uhl & Co. It was a grave marker for Lydia Pero.

Along the bottom of the stone are the words Myers, Uhl and Co., though they are very weathered.

A Civil War monument at the Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland, which honors the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

was designed by sculptor C.H. Brown, and was manufactured by Myers, Uhl & Co.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Myers, Uhl & Co. made hundreds of monuments and household items in their over 30 year history. An article in an 1881 issue of Bradstreet's reported that the company had gone into receivership.

Senior partner George A. Myers died in 1887. He was buried in the family lot at Lake View Cemetery. Charles F. Uhl passed away in 1891. He was buried far from Cleveland in the Uhl Family Cemetery in Holmes County, Ohio. Thank you to Myers, Uhl & C. for their many contributions to honoring the memory of former Ohioans!

Note: I apologize for inconsistent font formatting. After many tries, it was not able to be corrected.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Muenchow

 

The final resting place of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Muenchow is Oakland Cemetery, in Section K. On the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Frank Muenchow suffered a fatal heart attack, as he was driving the city bus. The bus crashed at the corner of West Monroe Street and Clinton Street in Sandusky, Ohio. Mrs. Muenchow, the former Annettie/Nettie Galloway lived until 1963.

A lovely picture of the couple is featured on the Muenchow stone at Oakland.

Rest in peace.

Ellen May

 

Ellen May was born in Ireland in 1866. She passed away in 1920 in Erie County, Ohio. An article in the December 1, 1900 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Ellen May was the first female to become a naturalized citizen in Erie County, Ohio. The final resting place of Ellen May is Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.