FamilySearch Alerted Me that I Have Many Ancestors Buried at the Perkins Cemetery

Below are screenshots of images of my relatives buried at Perkins Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio.  A total of 25 of my close relatives are buried at Perkins Cemetery, including my 4th great grandfather Julius House, who with his wife and several other friends and family, settled in Perkins Township in 1815, in an oxen train led by John Beatty, an abolitionist and one time Mayor of Sandusky, Ohio. Thank you FamilySearch.org for being so creative in your applications for family history!

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McKenna Monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery

In Section D, Lot 6, at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio is a monument honoring Thomas McKenna and his family. Thomas McKenna was born in Sandusky in 1850, to Thomas McKenna and his wife, the former Mary Ann Rowland. An article which appeared in the December 16, 1893 issue of the Sandusky Register provides  us with details about his life.

Thomas McKenna was a member of the A.O.H., the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which is the oldest Irish Catholic fraternal organization in the United States. The group seeks to aid newly arrived Irish both socially and economically. In 1879, Thomas McKenna married Anna Dullighan. Rev. R.A. Sidley officiated at the marriage ceremony. 

Anna Dullighan McKenna died in 1913, and Thomas McKenna died in 1918. Below is an obituary for Thomas McKenna, from the 1918 Obituary Notebook at Sandusky Library

Thomas and Anna McKenna were buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery. Three of their children were also buried in the family lot with their parents. Clara McKenna died at the age of 10 in 1893. Theodore McKenna died in Toledo, Ohio in 1920. Leo McKenna died in 1940. At Find a Grave, you can see a photograph of the McKenna monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery. In this picture, the names on the tombstone are clearly legible. Over the years, weathering has made the names on the McKenna monument currently difficult to read. Thank you to all the volunteers at Find a Grave for documenting tombstones all over the U.S. and across the world. As time goes by, stones continue to deteriorate, and photographs taken  of tombstones now will be helpful to family researchers in the future.

 

Johanna Willmoth

Johanna Willmoth was the youngest child of Thomas and Bridget Willmoth, who were both natives of Ireland. Johanna was born in 1884, and she died in January of 1901,  at age 16 years and 4 months, from consumption. Funeral services for Johanna were held at Saints Peter and Paul Church, and a beautiful monument honors her memory at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, Rest in peace Johanna!

Tombstone of Margaret Bowen and Her Infant Andrew

At St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, in section D, is a tombstone that honors the memory of Margaret Bowen and her infant son Andrew Bowen. Both died in 1872. 

Margaret was a native of Ireland. She married Andrew Bowen in 1871, and they had a son in 1872, who died in infancy.

Andrew Bowen, the father of the infant of the same name, and spouse of Margaret, was born in County Roscommon, Ireland. He and his family emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, and they settled in Sandusky, Ohio.

The elder Andrew was a Sandusky police officer. He moved up the ranks to captain and city marshall. After his wife and infant son passed away, he never remarried. A lengthy tribute to Andrew Bowen, who died in the summer of 1897,  appeared in the June 14, 1897 issue of the Sandusky Register. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Rest in peace, Bowen family.

 

Grover and Miona Hart

In section E of St. Mary's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio are the tombstones of two young children of William Hart and his wife, the former Amelia Kromer. 

Grover Hart was born in 1893 and died in 1897.

Miona Hart died as an infant in 1899. Though her stone is broken, it is still legible, after all these years.

Sadly, William Hart  and Amelia Hart  both passed away on same day in 1909. May they all rest in peace.

Remembering a Christmas Eve in Bay Bridge

My first cousin Carol Gantz Keller was my next door neighbor in Bay Bridge for over thirty years. We shared stories, laughed and cried together, and very often Carol would bless us with homemade goodies.

One Christmas Eve, after Carol and Gary's big family get together, she called me up, and said "Come on over and get some food."  I told her I was ready for bed, and was in my flannel pajamas, and had curlers in my hair!! She said to come on over anyway!

She had tons of cookies, and meatballs, and shrimp, and the Christmas tree was beautiful. I told her I was embarrased by being in the pjs. She started quoting "Twas the Night Before Christmas." She said well you look like "Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap."

That took away my embarrassment, and soon I filled a plate with delightful goodies! Carol was an original, and we all miss her every day!

Stevenson Mathews Lot at Oakland Cemetery

 

On the North Ridge at Oakland Cemetery is the family lot of the extended Stevenson and Mathews family.

John Wesley Stevenson died in 1910. He was first a dry goods merchant in Sandusky, and later became a produce dealer. His wife, who also passed away in 1910, was Caroline Mathews Stevenson.

The son of John W. and Caroline Stevenson was John Fletcher Stevenson, who died as a child.

Anna Constable Stevenson was the daughter in law of John W. and Caroline Stevenson. She died in 1922. She was married to journalist Frederick Boyd Stevenson, who died in 1938, and was buried in New York.

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The parents of Mary Mathews Stevenson were John Mathews and Mary Converse Mathews, who both died in 1876.

Also buried in the Stevenson Mathews Lot are Mary Mathews Bishop and Willard A. Bishop. Mr. Bishop was well known as a photographer in Sandusky, Ohio for many years. The Stevenson and Mathews families made significant contributions to their church and community. Their names etched in stone are a reminder of lives well lived.