Memorial Day 2010

Headstone of an unknown soldier's grave,  Washington Cemetery.

Photo by: Senath Rankin

Honoring the Fayette County Revolutionary Soldiers (Part 1)

I recently came across two scripts that my grandmother, Maude Rankin, wrote for a weekly radio talk. One was about the First Families of Fayette County (more about that script in a future post) and this one:

“I have been given the radio time allotted to the Sesqui-Centennial Committee today to discuss with you a project that has been more or less a dream of ours for a good many years. The project of honoring the Revolutionary Soldiers who lived in Fayette County and are buried here by either marking their graves or erecting a plaque in a suitable place, whereon their names would appear.”

This script is significant because it gives some insight into the planning and goals of a number of people who were anxious to ensure that this part of Fayette County and national history was preserved.

But, since the script is not dated, two questions came immediately to mind.

First, the Ohio Sesquicentennial was 1953 and there was a local committee working on various projects for that event both for the state and local level. Maude was the chair of a sub-committee on the Pioneer Families of Fayette County. Then, Fayette County celebrated its own Sesquicentennial in 1960, where she served as an historian on the planning committee.

When I read the script and it mentions the Chairman of the Sesquicentennial, Mr. Ralph Penn, I verified in the booklet of Fayette County history that was published for that event, that this radio address was written for the 1953 Ohio Sesquicentennial. The impetus to commemorate the Revolutionary soldiers began in earnest in 1952-53 but had been considered well before.

I quote other excerpts from her script (typos, grammatical errors and commentary in tact):

“These men who fought in the War of Independence came into Ohio and it is surprising how many of them came into Fayette County, helped to clear the land, build roads and carve out the farms.

Did you know that there are more Soldiers of the Revolution buried in Ohio than in any other state?

... Now, the Sesqui-Centennial Committee, through its Chairman, Mr. Ralph Penn, has suggested that we undertake the project of providing a suitable memorial for these men, and our enthusiasm has risen again. This would be a visible and permanent result of our efforts in celebrating our Sesqui-Centennial.”

She goes into detail about the efforts of the local D.A.R. chapter, under the leadership of its Regent, Mrs. Hynes, to obtain markers for each grave. But while the cost would have been minimal because the Veterans Administration would have provided them for free, there were several reasons why the D.A.R. concluded they could not undertake the project:

1. The physical work of setting concrete bases and the markers.

2. The location of some gravesites on private land (“Many of these old soldiers are buried in the little abandoned cemeteries on a knoll on someone’s farm, and it is extremely difficult to get into many of them”);

3. The fear that the markers or even the graves would not be maintained (“Every so often one of them is plowed up and farmed over; although how anyone can commit such a sacrilege is beyond us.”).

4. Not the least of all, “We simply do not know where all of these men are buried. So, at best, only part of the graves could be marked.”

"So, a bronze plaque with the names of all of these for whom we have proof of service and proof that they are buried in Fayette County, was the solution. We’ve seen some of these plaques on stones out of doors. You may have seen the one on the Court House lawn at Waverly. It is our desire that this plaque be placed in the lobby of the Court House. That is a point to be decided by the County Commissioners and the Centennial Committee."

I will continue with more from her script in a future post.

Please leave your comments or questions.

Signposts For The Future

Sometimes there comes a pause in life when the familiar forward motion no longer serves, when new direction must be sought. In such a pause I came into possession of chests and boxes of old papers, letters, scrapbooks, diaries. I went back then to my roots. Reading, I recalled my family in every sense of that good word, and found my signposts for the future.

My mother, Jane Thompson Rankin, used this excerpt from the book, Legacy of Love: A Memoir of Two American Families by Julia Davis, as her opening remarks before the Fayette County Genealogical Society for a December meeting sometime in the mid 1980's when she was the Society's president.

When I discovered Mom's notes on a yellow legal pad, the kind she used for so much of her writing, I knew exactly why she chose it. During her 89-year life she had inherited many chests and boxes from grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. She also collected other pieces of history and genealogy from friends. At auctions she sought out family Bibles; sometimes retrieving them from the trash heap. When Mom died in January 2006, I inherited it all from her.

Then I came into my own 'pause in life.'

I was down-sized and right-sized out of several jobs. I mourned the loss of mother, brother Tom and great-nephew Austin. During those subsequent times of unemployment and grieving, I took refuge in my family's mementos: books, photos, news clippings, souvenirs; those items big and small that held significance for them. During those moments when I wasn't sure what to do next, their struggles and triumphs and everyday life gave me focus, fresh perspectives on my family, and who I am because of them.

My inheritance also inspired me to research the missing pieces and to write. And it's inspired me to start this blog about Fayette County, the place where I grew up, and where my family has lived since the founding of the county in 1810.

In sharing my stories I hope to learn from others who also have a love of history.

I welcome your questions or comments.