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DEMOCRATIC PAPERS.
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KENTON HERALD REVIVED.
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INDEPENDENT PAPERS.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF
KENTON.
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C. A. GUIDER
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SECRET SOCIETIES.
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M. Ellis, A. M.; W. W. Stevenson, Chaplain; J.
V. B. Maine, O. of G. The post embraces a membership
of sixty-eighty, and bids fair to preserve a useful existence as
a reminder of the greatest war in modern history.
CITY OFFICIALS.
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CITY OFFICIALS.
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R. D. MILLAR
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FIRE PROTECTION AND CITY
BUILDINGS.
The earliest record
we find of any movement toward providing fire pro-
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CEMETERIES.
At the time that
Kenton was laid out, a small lot was reserved in the northeast
corner of the original plat, now occupied by the residences of
Metellus Thomson and George R. Moore.
It was, however, never used for burial purposes, but a
subscription was taken up, soon after the location of the county
seat, and 192-100 acres purchased of Jacob H. Houser,
located on
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East Franklin street, near the suburbs of the town. The land was
partly donated by Mr. Houser, he receiving $20
subscribed by those then residing here. When the ground was
selected and surveyed, in which work Daniel Barron
assisted, a contention arose as to whose name the deed should be
made out in; the Methodists claiming that their church, being
the only one then organized, ought to have the title in the name
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Others objected to
this, and the ground was deeded to the County Commissioners, who
subsequently deeded it back to the Trustees of Pleasant
Township. On the 20th of July, 1834, the first interment
was made here, viz., Maria, the infant daughter of
Robert McCloud, whose headstone may yet be seen in
the northeast corner of the ground. The cemetery was then
covered with the primitive forest; a rude wagon track wound
through the timber, and so little was known of its exact
location, that Mr. Houser had to go with Mr.
McCloud for the purpose of pointing it out. This
graveyard was used until the purchase of the present cemetery,
in 1854, though many interments have occurred there since that
date. It now presents a neglected appearance, weed-covered
graves and broken headstones denoting little thought of the
silent sleepers beneath, who are, seemingly, forgotten in the
strife and turmoil of life.
Soon after the old graveyard was platted, the Methodist
Episcopal Church bought the point of land between Columbus and
Carroll streets, at the eastern terminus of the latter, and laid
it out for a cemetery. This was used for several years,
when it was abandoned and the Methodists buried their dead in
the public ground. Most, if not all, of the bodies were
subsequently removed, the land sold, and it is now covered with
private residences.
Grove Cemetery
Association. - Association - On the 17th of August, 1854,
Hugh Letson, Daniel Barron, Samuel
Smith, Samuel Campbell, David
Snodgrass, David Thomson, George Fry,
William Cary, Day Pugh, James S.
Robinson, James Bain, William L. Walker, C. H. Gatch and
others met at the court house for the purpose of forming a
cemetery association, with Hugh Letson in the
chair, and Samuel Smith, Secretary. The
persons present formed themselves into a corporate body, to be
known as “Grove Cemetery Association,” and elected the following
Board of Trustees: David Thomson, Day Pugh,
Luther Damon, William Cary and James Bain, with C.
H. Gatch as Clerk of the Board. On the 24th of August,
1854, William Cary and David Thomson
were appointed a committee to purchase of William Dodds
ten acres of land located one mile east of Kenton, between the
Marion and Marseilles pikes, at a price not exceeding $50 per
acre. The committee bought the ground, and the Board
ratified said purchase, Sept. 12, 1854. Edward T.
Bogardus drew a plan of the cemetery, which was adopted Oct.
2, 1854, and the first sale of lots took place on the 12th of
the same month. By-laws, for the government of the
association, previously drafted by Col. A. Root,
Samuel Smith and C. H. Gatch, were adopted
Dec. 2, 1854, and, on the 4th of January following, William
Cary was chosen Treasurer.
There now occurs a break in the records from Feb. 1,
1855, to Apr. 4, 1864. We understand that the association
elected its Trustees regularly, and that it was in active
existence during this time, but as there were no minutes kept of
its transactions, we are unable to tell who these Trustees were.
On the latter date, a meeting was held, with James Bain in the
chair, and G. A. Stewart, Secretary. Three Trustees
were elected, viz., B. R. Brunson, W. F. Damon and
Lazarus Zugschwert; William Cary, Treas-
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urer; William C. Ross, Clerk and Superintendent of
Cemetery. In the fall of 1864, land was purchased for a
roadway, on the west line of the cemetery, running from the
Marion to the Marseilles pike; and Charles Kaufman, by
order of the board, made a new plat of the cemetery. In
April, 1865, Lazarus Zugschwert succeeded himself as
Trustee; W. F. Damon was his own successor in April,
1866; B. R. Brunson was again chosen in 1867; Lazarus
Zugschwert in 1868; W. F. Damon in 1869; B. R.
Brunson in 1870; William C. Ross in 1871; D. J.
Mentzer in 1872. William C. Ross served as
Clerk of the Board from April, 1864, up to July, 1872, while
William Cary was Treasurer of the association from its
organization until its transfer to the corporation of Kenton in
1874. From the 4th of April, 1864, up to the time of said
transfer - excepting from April until October, 1872, when D.
J. Mentzer was President - B. R. Brunson held the
Presidency of the board, and was the leading spirit in
beautifying and enlarging the cemetery. The association
was re-organized Oct. 17, 1872, and B. R. Brunson, D. J.
Mentzer and J. A. Rogers were elected Trustees, and
re-elected Oct. 18, 1873. Upon re-organization, Thomas
Espy was chosen Clerk of the Board, and served in that
capacity until the town took control of the cemetery. On
the 16th of April, 1873, twenty-five acres of land lying east of
the graveyard were purchased of Misses Martha and
Sarah Glenn, for the sum of $3,600. It extended from
the north line of the old ground south to the Marion Pike.
Early in 1874, Grove Cemetery was transferred to the
Corporation of Kenton, the association again re-organized, and,
in April of that year, the following Trustees were elected for
three, two and one years respectively: D. J. Mentzer,
J. A. Rogers and B. R. Brunson. The latter The
latter succeeded himself in April, 1875, but soon afterward
removed to Indianapolis, and William Gillmore was
appointed to fill vacancy until thenext election. From
that time up to the present, the following Trustees have been
chosen: April, 1876, J. A. Rogers and William
Gillmore; April, 1877, D. J. Mentzer; April, 1878,
William Gillmore; April, 1879, Dorr White;
April, 1880, D. J. Mentzer; April, 1881, Asher Letson;
April, 1882, Joseph Ichler; April, 1883, D. J.
Mentzer. The term of service being three years, and
the office rotary, but one Trustee is chosen each year, unless a
vacancy should occur, through death, resignation or removal.
Dr. J. A. Rogers was Clerk of the board from April, 1874,
until April, 1879, when he was succeeded by Dorr White,
the present incumbent. In February, 1879, the Trustees
bought five acres of William Schrader, lying
immediately south of the Catholic Cemetery, which was purchased
by that church in 1872. In September, 1882, another lot of
five acres was added, thus making forty-five acres in one body,
besides St. Mary’s Cemetery, which is located between the north
and south portions of Grove Cemetery. Twelve acres and a
half were sold off the eastern part in February, 1883, leaving
Grove Cemetery with thirty-two and one-half acres, mostly laid
out in handsome lots, many of which contain beautiful monuments,
marking the last resting-place of those who sleep in this “city
of the dead.”
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