It’s been a stressful week with real estate doings so I took Thursday off and headed to Woodward Hill Cemetery. The weather was in the 60’s and a perfect fall day!
The first thing I noticed was somebody with a weedeater going around the monuments and headstones. See him at the top of the hill? Tiny little figure in front of the red tree? That is something not usually seen there ~ a lone figure working! Usually there are groups of them, kinda working, talking and not paying attention. 
The next thing I noticed was all the grass was cut! Not just cut in certain areas, but cut throughout the entire Cemetery! The Cemetery looked clean and groomed with just this one little (or probably BIG) thing!
The third thing I noticed, and this to me was the most impressive, is that somebody is trying to upright the fallen headstones and place them in the spots they belong in! The Snyder stones are evidence of this. I noticed this throughout the Cemetery! My heart started singing!
I am writing this blog because I have written so many criticizing this Cemetery. The neglience of the Board and/or staff in maintaining such a historic site in Lancaster has been a thorn in my side. After all, our 16th President, James Buchanan, is buried there. Whether you think he was a great President or a mediocre President, he was stilll the President of our Great Nation and his resting place attracts a lot of visitors.
It is time I write a blog praising somebody’s efforts! Kudos to the responsible party(s)! I realize you cannot stop vandalism, tipping over headstones and people walking through and throwing their trash as they walk. This is a fact of life in this particular cemetery. You can, however, make an effort, such as they are doing, to straighten up the mess. 
The only disappointment of the day, and it was a personal disappointment was Mary Auxer’s headstone. Remember my blog, “Putting Mary in Her Place,” on our efforts to upright it? It stayed up for 5 months before temptation got the best of somebody, and it’s tipped over again! Sad, isn’t it? I realize the maintenance staff and/or the Board has little control over this sort of thing and it’s going to continue, but never-the-less it is a sad commentary on our society today!
Overall, I was so tickled to see the improvements in Woodward Hill Cemetery!
If I can criticize, I can praise. I owe Woodward Hill Cemetery this blog!!
The bank with red window awnings and the planter of flowers in front is also on the main street leading up to Kings Square, a virtual hub of activity! While we were there school children were passing through, elderly were sitting on benches watching and people were going through on their way to wherever it was they were going! We were told by a gentleman we met that the paths were laid out in the shape of a Union Jack by the Loyalists that settled in this area.
Walking directly through the park takes you right into the Old Loyalist Burial Ground. What a treasure they have here! The Burial Ground fell into disrepair in the early 1900’s and through the efforts of the K.C. Irving family, it was restored into the beautiful serene, sanctuary it is today. For more information and exactly what was involved check out the website that the city of 
Dividing the old burial areas there are paved walks taking you through the park in whatever direction you are going. Each one is meticously crafted and all meet in the center, close to a beautiful fountain and benches. 
The first headstone we stopped to read belonged to Samuel Osborne who departed this life June 19th 1835 at the age of 42. The stone goes on to say that it commemorates the death of his wife and son Samuel. Notice the wife doesn’t have a name! The stone says either Samuel, the son, was drowned or both his wife and son were drowned. What impressed us was the care they had taken with this stone (and many others we were to discover) by bracing each side with steel bars, as shown in the picture below.
While we were sitting on the bench watching people go from here to there, a man walked up to us and started telling us about his city. He wanted to make sure we saw the sights in his city that he thought were important. He was right. We followed his agenda and went off the beaten path. But I digress, back to the cemetery. One of the things he pointed out was this headstone. He thought it was unusual in the fact that it gave their biographies and told how they died. This was another stone that was braced with steel on either side. It is remarkable how well the stones have stood the test of time and are still so readable.
This stone was braced by a newer and larger stone and some of it still remains. I could not tell who it belonged to, but probably at some time, not too long ago, it was still readable. I couldn’t help but take a picture of it. I was fascinated.
We knew that Princess had a tour that “stopped” at the cemetery, but since I wanted to take pictures, lots of pictures, we decided to go it on our own. We were glad we did! Canadians are a very friendly and helpful lot and we got instructions on how to get to a bus stop and what bus to catch to the cemetery. We chatted with people at the bus stop in a light drizzle and got on the bus. As Jim handed our $5 fare to the bus driver, he refused to take it since we were “guests in his city!” He did hand us a transfer to return for free and told us when to get off and where to stand to catch a returning bus!
Once there we hung around a tour group and listened to their guide. The first thing we learned was the headstones were placed in such a way as to form a hull of a ship. If you look at the picture above you can see the three rows converging at the top with the bottom of the hull being the row to your left and the deck being the third row at the top right of the picture. They converge where the couple is standing at the top of the picture. Impressive is the term that comes to mind.
The next thing we learned was the numbering system assigned to each grave. As each body was recovered they were assigned a number. Every item that was on that body, from a ring to their shoes was put together and assigned the same number. As family began to look to inquire about their loved ones they’d be asked questions like “Did they have a ring they always wore? Could you describe it?” or something of that nature. When they had that type of information they would start searching the bags. Once they found a match, the headstones could then be labeled with the victims names. Those bodies that were never claimed or their possessions identified were marked with headstones like the one above.
When the bodies were identified the name could be placed on the headstone, as it is in J. Dawson’s above. J. Dawson? as in Jack Dawson played by Leonardo diCaprio in the movie?? Sorry, no. Jack Dawson was a fictional character. This was Joseph Dawson, a 23 year old Coal Trimmer on the Titanic. He was identified by a dues book for N.S. & Fireman Union No. 35638 and his home address.
You can feel the agony and hurt of the parents of George H. Dean, a 2nd class steward aboard the Titanic. He had on a blue suit. In the bag were keys and a 2nd class steward badge # 35. His parents paid for a more personalized and larger stone. He was so young and probably left for sea, thrilled to start his life! I can feel his parents grief. 
This picture is a slight bit blurred, but I couldn’t do a Titanic post without commenting on this particular family. Nils Palsson had emigrated to Chicago in 1910 and had saved enough money to send for his wife, Alma Cornelia and their four children in 1912. Although the headstone says Paulson, the name is Palsson. Perhaps Nils tried to Americanize his name. The letter with Alma came from Neil, not Nils.
Buried across from Alma is an unidentified baby. This particular monument touches people and has drawn a lot of attention, as evidenced by the amount of things placed near to, on and around it. For years it was assumed that the body was that of Gosta Leonard, Alma’s youngest son. It was assumed, rightfully, that the bodies of the three oldest children were never recovered. In the summer of 1998 a DNA project was begun by Genesis Genomics Inc. and 3 bodies were exhumed. The Palsson family from Sweden had requested the exhumation, to verify if the remains of the “Unknown Child” were actually that of Gosta Leonard. Due to the decomposition of the body, a tiny part of a tooth was recovered and the test was performed on it. It was determined that the unknown child was actually 13 month old Eino Viljam Panula from Finland. It turns out that none of Alma’s children made it to land for a burial. They are all resting together at the bottom of the sea.
This headstone caught my attention because of the inscription. I didn’t quite understand it until I read about it. Everett Edward Elliott was a Coal Trimmer and evidently there had stories in English newspapers that many crewmen had survived while women and children had died in the Titanic disaster. The inscription had been written by his family to let the world know that their son was not one of those, but rather a hero who lost his life on that fateful night in 1912. 
Behind glass are many artifacts that either were recovered by the rescuers or donated by various people over the years. These baby shoes were part of the bagged articles and were, of course, behind glass. They are remarkably well preserved, in my humble opinion.
This is the card that accompanied the shoes in the bag. These belonged to the “unidentified child,” now identified as Eino Viljam Panula. The card is an example of what they did for each article as the cataloged and filed each thing.
This cribbage board was carved from a piece of wood one of the rescuers found floating in the sea. According to the accompanying card it was an old tradition of seamen to carve various items from wood found drifting at sea. This particular board was donated by a descendant of the carver. 
Also behind glass was this Oak and wicker deck chair. It was found floating at sea by one of the ships that went to recover bodies. It too, is in remarkable condition.
Lancaster Pennsylvania's Graveyard Rabbit 