Remembering Those Who Paved The Way

Alexandria
St. Albans Twp.
Licking County, Ohio

7 September, 2004
On many occasions I have spent hours transcribing and photo documenting our local cemeteries. The Old Pioneer Cemetery located in Alexandria, Ohio, behind the newer Maple Grove Cemetery, separated by only a driveway is a quiet peaceful place, where you can hear the birds chirping their songs from the branches of trees lining the northern parameter of the burial ground. The reason I choose to spend time documenting cemeteries like this is to honor all our ancestors who paved the way before us. Often receive emails and letters from folks all over the country expressing their delight in finding their long lost loved ones. This in it's self is very rewarding, but recently, I received an email from the McBride family of Layton, Utah. They had found the USGenweb Ohio Cemetery Photo Project online site, which shows the name of each burial in selected local cemeteries with links to allow viewing of tombstone images. Have had the honor of being the project manager for this site for the last few years. Mary McBride found the site on the internet, noticed that the memorial of her 2nd great grandfather was broken and wanted to update the deteriorated stone with a new one. They contacted me, expressing a desire to bring and set a new memorial to honor her ancestral loved one. Jim & Mary McBride asked if I could convey their plans to the trustees of St. Albans Township, which I did at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Mr. & Mrs, McBride also contacted Cathy Ferguson & Charles Reeves about their desire to gain permission to visit the cemetery and replace the broken fragments that stood for well over 150 years. The township trustees gave their approval for the descendants to replace the original stone with a new one. They sent an email on Aug. 6, 2004, letting me know they were leaving that day and planned to arrive at 6pm on Aug. 10. They had also contracted with Mr. Piper, to place a new cement base to properly support the new stone. At about a quarter till 6, I drove back to the Old Pioneer Cemetery where I met the Piper bothers, who were also waiting for the arrival of the family. They were bringing a new memorial stone all the way from Utah. The McBride family consisting of James, his wife Mary, with their two sons Jared & Jonathan arrived at about 6:45. The Piper brothers immediately began their task of carefully setting the newly engraved stone in place. This wonderful, thoughtful act of kindness and love for their ancestral loved one took place almost unnoticed by the folks of this village, save the trustees and few others who knew about the effort. At the conclusion of setting the stone, one could tell they were very pleased to see the new stone set in place. This new stone reminds anyone passing by, that Varnam Jaques, born April 2, 1796, an early settler who came here, lived a life full of hardships, accomplishments, and died in Alexandria, Ohio, December 2, 1852. Thanks to the effort of Jim & Mary, a stone will once again mark the location of the remains & insure that this ancestor is not forgotten. When the family prepared to leave, I asked their permission to create a record of their act of kindness, which they didn't expect, but were very gracious to allow me to do. The family is not aware of what I have written, and hope they will forgive me for my unstructured accumulation of thoughts, expressed here. I found their effort heartwarming and wanted to share it with all who care about such things. An act that renews our faith in honoring our ancestors.
On September 8, I submitted this story to a reporter for consideration to be published in Licking County Booster Newspaper. The story did get published on September 19, 2004, in an article titled Reaching across the centuries.
Robert M. Sizelove, Sr. © 11 July, 2007-2020

 

 

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