Meeting Held in Mound Cemetery

 Marietta Daily Leader, September 28, 1898

Tuesday afternoon at 3:30, under the rays of a setting sun and in the shadow of the famous Mound and surrounded by the graves of the historic men who planned and laid the foundation of our beautiful city in the years long since gone by, the Village Improvement Association held a meeting to protect the fast decaying and down-trodden graves of those to whom we owe our present homes. The graves of those who made it possible for the Mound Cemetery to be in existence. Could a more appropriate place have been chosen?

About fifty members of the association and a few of those interested in the work which they have taken up, that of advancing and beautifying the city's parks and cemeteries, gathered to do what they could to further the ends of the association.

Promptly at 3:30, Chairman Dan Buell called the meeting to order and in a few chosen words stated the object of the meeting. The meeting was called for the purpose of devising the ways and means whereby the cemetery should and could be beautiful.

Mr. W. T. Westgate was called upon to state the present condition of the cemetery fund. He stated that the funds of the Mound Cemetery were far from being enough to do any work at all in this graveyard and that the trustees were forced to take money from the Oak Grove fund to pay the actual running expenses.

Councilman B. F. Wood was called upon to give his views as to what he thought the City Council would do to help the matter along. He stated that he was not certain whether the Council had any legal right to pay for any improvement of this sort, but he for one was heartily in favor of the work and if he had the legal right would vote for it.

Rev. George R. Gear spoke on the matter and stated that he was enthusiastic in the matter and thought the matter should be attended to at once.

A question arose as to the deed and title of the land on which the cemetery was, and Mr. R. D. Cook read the following paper.

It may be a matter of interest to the lot holders in this cemetery to know that most of them have nothing but a sexton's receipt for money paid for a certain amount of ground, or perhaps nothing at all to show that they are owners of lots. The record of the trustees which dates back only to 1858, is for most lot holders the only foundation for a claim to ownership. If any lot holder under such circumstances should move from Marietta, leaving no representative, the unoccupied space in his lot would be at the disposal of the trustees to sell or keep vacant. That such forfeited space will be sold is unlikely now that we have Oak Grove Cemetery. But such a possibility can be avoided and the lot assured to the owner or his heirs forever by his having a deed recorded by the trustees, the entire cost of which is but $2.50.

It is also interesting to know that the Mound Cemetery is not town property. It is in reality state property and stands in the same relation to the town as did the Ice Harbor Lot before it was given up by the state. To give the town absolute control over this cemetery the legislature would have to act as it did in the case of the Ice Harbor Lot.

Mr. George M. Woodbridge told of the early history of the "City of the Dead" in this city and was of the opinion that something should be done at once. He did not think that the paper read by Mr. Cooper was exactly correct, but stated that the exact data could be found at the proper place of recording such papers.

Mr. S. J. Hathaway spoke of the early history of the cemetery and of the transfer of the Oak Grove property for that of Mound Cemetery. He spoke of several instances which came to his notice as City Solicitor, at which time the question was gone over. He was in favor of improvement. Rev. Mr. Coil spoke of the improvement of the grounds and said that he thought it was a duty we owed to the dead and the living to give the ground immediate attention.

Mr. Westgate was called on several times to give certain facts pertaining to the grounds and he stated, among other things, that the people that were making the greatest fuss about the bad condition of the grounds were those who had the worst looking lots. He said that the trustees had no funds to better the condition and that they were powerless to do anymore work than was at present being done.

A committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. Hathaway and Judge Rood, to look into the deed and title of the land and suggest proper steps to have it put in proper form. A committee on ways and means was appointed and Rev. George R. Gear, Hon. B. F. Wood, and Mr. R. D. Cooke were named to serve. The meeting then adjourned to meet at the call of Rev. Gear. Where with all, the meeting was a success and the scene an inspiring one. Much enthusiasm was shown and the work will be pushed forward at once.