Montgomery Memories
Montgomery Memories is a storytelling podcast that explores the history of Montgomery, Ohio, highlighting the lives and experiences of its first settlers to the present. The podcast is hosted by Tracy Henao, Assistant City Manager, and Kevin Chesar, Community Development Director.
Montgomery Memories
Hopewell Cemetery
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Hopewell Cemetery is more than a final resting place, it’s a history book written in stone. In this episode of Montgomery Memories Podcast, Hosts Kevin Chesar and Tracy Henao, joined by Connie Gaylor, explore the pioneers and veterans who shaped Montgomery and reveal why each tombstone holds a story waiting to be remembered.
Hopewell Cemetery is historically significant, serving as the burial location of many of the City’s first settlers, Revolutionary War Veterans, and Civil War Veterans. The cemetery was created by the early settlers in the area as a place of respect, a means of honoring their triumphs and perpetuating the memory of loved ones. Join Tracy, Kevin, and Connie as they explore the Pioneer Section and why each tombstone tells a story.
Welcome back to Montgomery Memories, the podcast where we uncover the stories that shaped our city. I'm Tracy Andow.
SPEAKER_01And I'm Kevin Chezar. Today we're taking you to one of Montgomery's most historic places, the Pioneer section of Hopewell Cemetery.
SPEAKER_02The Pioneer section holds the earliest section the settlers of Montgomery, and their stories tell us about courage, hardship, and community. Joining us today is a very special guest, Connie Gaylor. She's our executive assistant and clerk of council. So you've probably seen her around. Connie also serves as a sexton for the Hopewell Cemetery. She does want you to know that technically Brian Riblett, our city manager, serves as a sexton and she is the designee. But Connie, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for inviting me.
SPEAKER_01Great. Well, let's start just with the basics. Hopewell Cemetery is located at the intersection of Montgomery and Deerfield Roads. Can you tell us a little more about the cemetery, Connie?
SPEAKER_00Sure can. So Hopewell Cemetery dates back to the early 1800s when the settlers moved to this location and built the first church. The cemetery kind of naturally sprung up around the church, which is kind of common during that time, you know, for when cemeteries were developed. They were developed on church land. But the cemeteries really give, especially during that time, they gave a sense of community. This is where a lot of your community members would come, you know, weekly to gather at the church. And then seeing their loved ones there kind of created that sense of permanence and belonging. The pioneer section is where the first families in Montgomery were laid to rest, and it's actually designated as a local landmark.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Connie. Like you were talking about in the pioneer days, the cemeteries were really some of the very first archives with the stones laying out all of the history of who was there, who lived in the community. Um, before we had those, and they were gathering places for families. They would come even every Sunday, have picnics with their loved ones, and hang out in the community. So a little different than how we treat cemeteries today, but um it was a way to keep keep stories alive and memories alive and honor your loved ones. Um tell us a little bit about what visitors see when they walk through the pioneer section.
SPEAKER_00Um, well, in many instances, you see very small stones. Um, because you got to remember back in those times, they didn't have the materials that we have now when we create headstones. So you're gonna see a lot, a lot of weathered stones, stones that you can't see the inscriptions. Um, sometimes you'll only see what remains of a stone, which is the footer. And a lot of times we leave that there because it helps us to locate what grave is in the pioneer section. So a grave that's been there since the 1800s. Um, you know, we need something to kind of help us mark that. So you'll see that. Um, but more especially, you see inscriptions, and the inscriptions tell a story. They um will sometimes tell a very sad story of struggles, of loss. Sometimes they are a great tribute, a loving tribute to that family member. Um, and then other times you'll see something that kind of shows what that generation hoped would be to come. And um, you know, there's a few where you'll see symbols. There's one in particular which we'll talk about, which has a weeping willow tree on it. Um, you'll see others that have like clasped hands in prayer. You'll see some that have angels, you know. So those images create a story that is very special to the pioneer section.
SPEAKER_02So, Connie, when you were talking about that, it just um reminded me to ask you this because I'm sure people don't know this. Is do we have a lot of records of those early days? How do you go back on some of these areas where there aren't headstones anymore and track who might be there?
SPEAKER_00And and that's a challenge. I'm sure. Um we do have very, very old ledgers where a grave was purchased all the way back, you know, into the the 1800s. Uh I don't have any deeds that back, you know, go back that far, but we do have the ledgers, and you can tell they're old because they're written in calligraphy, very hard to read. Um, but it's interesting because it tells us who bought it, um, how little they paid for a grave at that time, um, when they were buried, different things like that. So that's what those early records were created from, and that's kind of what we have to fall back on now.
SPEAKER_02And we purchased, well, we didn't purchase, we got the cemetery, inherited the cemetery from Sycamore Township, right?
SPEAKER_00We did in 1990.
SPEAKER_021990. So I'm sure that's even a bigger challenge because now you're dealing with another jurisdiction's record keeping as well as the time passing. So very challenging. So let's talk a little bit about some of the individuals that are buried there. I mean, we we know there's a lot of our founding fathers there, but are there any in particular that stand out to you?
SPEAKER_00Well, the first one that I think especially most of our listeners that are in the Montgomery community would recognize would be Nathaniel Twilliger. Um, he was a Revolutionary War veteran and one of the first families to make their way here to Montgomery. And in fact, he filed the original town plat in 1802 and helped to establish the Hope Presbyterian Church that was there on the property.
SPEAKER_01So that's why we have subdivisions and lodges named after the Twiligers.
SPEAKER_00That is correct. Twiliger Lodge up off of Deerfield Road. Um and then, yeah, a lot of the subdivisions have our founding fathers' names that that you'll see. Um also you'll recognize our listeners will recognize names like Snyder, Rusa, Weller from Weller Park, Radaball, those are names of streets, you know. So that all rec, they may not realize that those are people buried in the pioneer section, but those are our founding fathers that we memorialize on a street name or on a building.
SPEAKER_02I really think that's cool that we do that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um for our listeners too, if you're ever interested to see what what that original plat that Nathali Nortwilliger looked like, um, all you have to do is take a walk down Cooper Road. So all of those homes on Cooper, kind of east of Maine, are part of the original subdivision. You can really get a sense of how small the lots were when he laid it out. Um, and so that whole entire downtown Maine, Montgomery was Maine and Cooper, I'm sorry, was really the original intersection. Um, and that was where most of the commerce sprung up before we kind of moved over to Montgomery and Cooper. What is Montgomery and Cooper today? So um, Connie, let's show in this section, I know we have a lot of veterans buried in the cemetery, um, but what about this section in particular? I know you mentioned Nathaniel as a revolutionary war hero. Um, do we have other um revolutionary war heroes or any other veterans buried in the pioneer section?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, we have quite a few. Um, several who fought in the War of 1812. We have six specific to the Revolutionary War that are buried there. Um and you know, when you go back to that section and you look at it, you realize that, you know, Montgomery started out as a small frontier town. It's not the thriving Montgomery Road that you see now. It was very much just a part of our national history that was beginning to unfold here in Montgomery.
SPEAKER_02I think one of the most interesting things about the cemetery is it can really tell us the stories about what it was like here. Um, we didn't have shipped and Uber and all these fun things. It was hard. It was hard. Life was hard here in Montgomery. There were harsh winters, they lost children at a young age, uh, disease and other threats. But are there any stories in this section that uh kind of stand out to you?
SPEAKER_00Or well, I there's a lot of stories in the pioneer section that when you go and and you can really read the inscriptions that are left on the stones that are there, that you pick up on a lot of the things that the people had to face. But I think one in particular, and you tell a story of this when we do the the cemetery tour um too, is Sarah McKinney. And Sarah tragically lost three children in one year due to illness. Oh. And I can't imagine that at all. I can't imagine being able to live through that, but that's telling of the time they lived in. They, you know, they didn't have, you know, the medicine and all of the treatments and things. So, you know, when something started in a community, it spread through the community and there was a lot of loss. And so Sarah Stone is the one that I talked about before that has the weeping willow tree. And a weeping willow is a sign of mourning. And I don't, I can't imagine her ever coming out of that state of mourning after losing, you know, those kids. But in and it's heartbreaking, but it shows that that type of a pioneer generation had to have the resilience of of just living on, which you know, we all have to live on after loss, but that was tremendous. And so when you see stones that have those images, just don't think of them as a nice image, it is a story behind it, and that's why they wanted it on that stone, especially a stone that old, you know. So um, I think those type of things speak volumes when you're in a section of a cemetery that's that old. It takes you back, you know, to that. Right.
SPEAKER_01I guess that really puts the fragility of life into perspective um back then, but they were still able to come together and build a successful and thriving community.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, how do some of the, I believe some of these stones are 200 years old or so?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01How do we still try to preserve them or keep them intact?
SPEAKER_00Well, it's it's kind of tough. Um, but luckily we've had um some great partnerships with some volunteers who have a real passion for this. And some of it um kind of relates to our veterans, not just the ones in the pioneer section. The American Legion Post 630, which is kind of a blue ash, but is kind of headed up by Montgomery residents, Dave and Pat Bushman, they have been huge proponents of not only inventorying all of our veterans and recognizing them, but of trying to do something to bring their stories back by making sure their headstones are easy to read. Um, Pat's brother Mike Downey, who lives in Michigan actually, has traveled down a couple times and he has a method of pressure washing without damaging the stones that will take that mold and that residue that gets on them off, and then you're able to read it. So he's done over 103 at this point. He's coming back this September. Um, he's a veteran, he served in the Coast Guard. So this is his passion project of honoring veterans. He doesn't charge us anything, he travels down his own expense, and he goes section by section. Um, so they have done some in Pioneer where they felt comfortable, you know, with this with the stones to be able to do that. And, you know, so that's one of the ways that we kind of clean, clean them. Our own public works guys will do their best to kind of reset them when they can. Um, they found a specific kind of epoxy that kind of works on that own that old stone and will try to set it up. Um, we take great care around that. Um, sometimes we just can't do a lot with it, you know. But that's kind of how we we go around trying to clean them and stabilize them. I think one of the most important things is education. And so throughout some of our programs and um partnerships with the Cincinnati chapter of the Sons of American Revolution, they came a few years ago and they did a living history demonstration at the cemetery, which at that time dedicated the plaque we have for the six Revolutionary War Heroes. And we had a decent-sized crowd, and that helps to educate our residents that you know, we have a nice, serene cemetery, but it has a lot of history that backs up Montgomery. And so having those partnerships with those type of people helps to do things with that cemetery that we as a staff may not be able to do on our own.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Connie, I'm really glad you pointed that out because we're so we're so blessed here in Montgomery to have so many amazing volunteers. And and these folks really have a passion for this, which I greatly admire. And they they're not just preserving the stones, they're preserving our history and preserving the history for future generations so we can continue telling these stories. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And you know, I think it's important to when you're recognizing those stories that you do so respectfully and take the time to read. Just look at the stones. I've done that and we've gone through in preparations for the tours that we give there sometimes. I mean, that the cemetery is still used as a recreational park space. A lot of people walk through there. So absolutely I would encourage anyone just to take your time and it's a little bit rockier through that section of the cemetery. It's not as flat and smooth as some of the other sections.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no asphalt walking paths through that section.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but you know, it's not disrespectful. Right. I want to say that for people to walk through and read. Right. Um, don't feel like you can't walk off the paved path. You can. Um, like Kevin says, be careful though, because some of those stones are really little, but you'll you'll really get a bigger education about what Montgomery's all about when you do that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we've talked a little bit about tours uh that we have at this section. So we do have a tour. Um, we call it, we call it lanterns and legends, um, because we walk around the the cemetery um during the evening with lanterns, but we we've been partnering with some fantastically talented actors. Uh Kevin uh was able to arrange that for us, so good work there, Kay. Um, but they will play the part of some of these founding fathers. So we've done a lot of research, a lot of digging on ancestry and through our records and files to really recreate the story of some of these pioneers. Um, and so if you are interested in that, stay tuned for that. We do, I have to warn you, we do alternate this tour, Legends and Lanterns, with our other successful tour um called Lanterns and Landmarks. And so we, as you can tell, play on the lanterns theme. But um so if you're interested in that, please pay attention to all the regular social media, bulletin website, et cetera, um, and come check that out.
SPEAKER_01So just to switch gears a little bit, Connie, I know that for over the last few years there's been some discussions and planning in place for a columbarium. Um, can you tell us about what opportunities that may um present just to add to our history as well as just tell us about the project? And then initially, just for everyone's benefit, tell us what a columbarium is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, yeah. And so a columbarium is a wall that's constructed above ground and it holds cremation niches, which are usually anywhere from like 12 to 24 inches square. And they are a niche in the fact that when they open, you can put an urn inside that holds cremates. So they're strictly four cremates, whereas a mausoleum is a building that's large enough to hold a casket or a full burial. So that's kind of the difference between a columbarium wall, a cremation niche, and a mausoleum. Um, we do not have a mausoleum. I just want to make that clear. Um, we do have, so just to kind of let the listeners know, so the Hopewell Cemetery, believe it or not, encompasses 11 acres. It may not seem it because it's there on the corner of Montgomery and and Deerfield. And to the rear, um, kind of somewhat adjoining, is the Jewish cemetery, not part of Hopewell Cemetery. So that kind of rectangular area you see is Hopewell Cemetery. Uh, we have over 6,000 graves, they're all sold.
SPEAKER_02You just sold the last two graves.
SPEAKER_00I just sold the last two. I think I may be buying one back today, but I'll sell it today as well because I have somebody waiting. But um, so we have six, you know, right around the 6,000, not all of those are filled, but they're sold. So that creates a challenge for the city because now we don't have a solid revenue stream coming in to support the maintenance of the cemetery. So I'm just saying that to so people understand why there may be a columbarium project. Um, if we only operate on open and closings uh funerals, we will deplete our funds in that cemetery or in that cemetery fund by 2032, which is only six years. So that's where the columbarium project kind of started getting discussed back in 2019. And what that would entail is the deconstruction of the stone storage building. And in that circular area, we would put curved columbarium walls. And we also in our design came up with a water feature, some seating, some landscaping, um, a shelter, like a structure that would kind of shade the sun, all to be very serene, but it would create 936 niches, which then pulls us into the future of being able to maintain the cemetery, you know, in per you know in perpetuity. Um, but one thing that's interesting about that is it, you know, yeah, it will solve the purpose of that if that's the way city council wants to go. But we have opportunities on these walls to add epitats and images and um, you know, honoring. So if we wanted to honor our veterans, if we wanted to put something about our history on those walls, we have the opportunity to do that. And that circular area is like phase one. Phase two would be in front of that area and it's part of the paved pathway, but we're looking that we could do alternating columbarium walls and make that driveway more a footpath. It doesn't have to, we don't have to have it for vehicular travel, and we could even do like a timeline of our history of all our veterans. And on those walls, again, we could we could honor just different portions of our history so that this cemetery, which is already kind of Kevin kind of alluded to, people kind of see it as an additional park or a place that they can ride their bikes, walk their dogs, walk. Um, now we can even highlight more of the history of Montgomery on the in those areas if if that's the way the council chooses to go. So it's just one other opportunity, you know, to really bring about the significance of Montgomery.
SPEAKER_02That sounds like a really cool project. And I've I've seen some of the renderings, and it's just um it's gorgeously done, but it's and it's also just would be able to not only highlight our history and who are there, but provide that respite that you talked about. People could visit with their loved ones and have a place to sit and uh and reflect. So I think it it's pretty neat. Um another minor part of this project, but it would be replacement of that fence all the way around the yes. Well, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, and that's I'm glad you said that because with the the deconstruction of the building, we're going to repurpose all the stone. Yeah. And to make a really nice front entrance off of Montgomery Road, um, where it's easy to identify that it's Hopewell Cemetery because right now it's not as easy to be identified. Um, but it's we're not going to um dispose of anything that we feel adds and retains the history and the historic look of the cemetery. Um, replacing the split iron, split wood fencing with wrought iron, yeah. Um kind of leaning back to the character of the history of the cemetery as well. Um, so I think um, and and the fencing is something that we would probably look to do even if we don't move forward with the column bearing project, you know. But um hopefully we'll do that and and be able to capture all of that.
SPEAKER_02So where should people keep informed about this project if they are interested about it?
SPEAKER_00Um well, definitely anything that we'll be doing when we move forward will be in the bulletin. Um, you know, we did hold a couple of public open houses last year to to just get feedback. Um, only got a handful of people, you know. But if if this is something that comes back around, then we'll definitely um be working with with Amy Frederick to put things in the bulletin or even some social media presence and um and and share, you know, the those final designs and drawings and everything if if that's what council decides to do to move forward.
SPEAKER_01So, Tracy, I do have a question for you. I I didn't know what an angel garden was before I came to Montgomery. Can you help explain that? Because there is a section of the cemetery that is considered an angel garden, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a great question. So um If you're visiting the pioneer section, you're going to see this kind of empty space over there where there's no tombstones or headstones. Um, primarily that's the area where the first church was. So it was a log cabin church and it wouldn't have, you know, been around for a very long time. And once they moved down further south and built the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, there was no need for this church anymore. So it became kind of just this open area in the cemetery. But what they did end up using this section for was an angel garden. So for those who don't know what that is, it really is an area where children who passed away, like that were stillborn or passed away very, very early in life after a few days, um, that they would have buried them there. They would not necessarily have placed a headstone because, again, still birth, et cetera, they didn't, they didn't treat it the same way that we kind of do today. Um, so yes, there are there are remains in that area of of infants. And then that's why you refer to it as an angel garden. And one of the things that we've talked about in this project that Connie mentioned is do we pay tribute to that um somehow? And whether that be a little, you know, a little plaque or a little respite area where people can sit and reflect. Typically you'll see like little statues of like little cherubs in an angel garden so that people are aware of that. That's what is before you, and you can kind of pay your respects to those children who didn't really make it very long in life. So it's it's very sad. Um, but it's it's you know part of our our history and part of the story of the pioneers. So something to definitely pay respect to and for us to acknowledge when we when we do any upgrades to the cemetery. So great questions. Thank you for asking.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Thanks for uh giving some information about that area of the cemetery.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Connie. I think sharing your knowledge and passion about the cemetery is, I mean, it's evident how much you care about this and how I mean, the amount of care you give our residents when they come in is something to be admired. You're very empathetic and treat them so kindly at their darkest times. So we appreciate you immensely. Um, and I hope that this helps people look at the cemetery a little bit differently and gets people interested in learning about the history uh just by taking a walk through through the cemetery. So thank you. You're quite welcome. It's been my pleasure.
SPEAKER_01Well, Connie, thank you again. And I want to thank our listeners for joining us from Montgomery Memories. If you have stories or questions, we'd love to hear from you. You can email us at memories at Montgomeryohio.gov or connect on social media. And until next time, keep celebrating history.
