Here even the trees tell a story.

Last week we learned about the tree within Silverbrook Cemetery that holds a portion of the wrought iron fence within its trunk. Today we look to where the trunks themselves commemorate the dead.

Come to the grave of our Sovereign,
Sweet emblems upon it we see.
Come to the grave of our Sovereign,
Strew flowers upon it with me.

This chorus, sung to the tune My Bonnie is part of an opening ode sang during a "Woodmen of the World, Ceremony of Introduction to the Protection Degree, promulgated by the Ritual Committee of the Sovereign Camp, 1903," according to the website:  www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/fraternalism/woodmen.htm.

Click here for the full article on the Niles Daily Star website

Published July 23rd, 2007

Speculation concerning the upcoming wedding of President George W. Bush's daughter, Jenna, will soon be answered. Will she become the second person ever to be married in the White House?

While we do not have the answer concerning the wedding of 2008, Niles has a connection to the only wedding held at the White House to date. Benjamin Folsom was not able to attend, however.

He was already at rest in Silverbrook Cemetery. There, the uncle of Grover Cleveland's First Lady lies "a short distance from the northeast entrance to that hallowed ground, shielded by the outstretching arms of native oaks," as an article in the Niles Republican of April 28, 1887 noted.

Less than a year before the article appeared, Benjamin Folsom's niece, Frances Clara, married then President Grover Cleveland on June 2, 1886. Twenty-two years earlier, the future president first held his future wife in his arms; the child of his soon-to-be law partner, Oscar Folsom, Benjamin's brother.

When Oscar died Cleveland became administrator of his estate, a task which included guiding the 11-year-old Frances' education. When she entered Wells College, the future president asked her mother for permission to correspond with her daughter.

Click here for the full article on the Niles Daily Star website

Published February 11th, 2008

We count the cost of wars not only in dollars, but in the loss of human life commonly referred to as casualties. The hidden costs paid by those who stay behind often remain unmeasured.

Those who stop for gas at Shell on South 11th Street often admire the large, but at the same time, simple cross in Silverbrook Cemetery just across the street. It is engraved with the letters "Ihs" that represent the first three letters of Jesus' name in the Greek alphabet and marks the Scorse family plot. Records suggest that the first member of the family buried there was Leah Catlett, wife of John and mother of two daughters and one son.

Alcetas Jerome Scorse would eventually join his mother in the family plot. However, not before he served his country in both the civil and Indian wars.

As his father and sisters waited in Niles, Scorse took the long way home.

Imagine the angst of his parents and sisters as he volunteered with the 10th Ohio Infantry before his 16th birthday. By the time of that milestone birthday in 1862, he was taken prisoner during the Civil War at Winchester.

Reports suggest he was paroled from infamous Libby Prison. Libby Prison was normally reserved for officers, who were routinely exchanged with the north.

Click here for the full article on the Niles Daily Star website

Published February 18th, 2008

The man, who was a plasterer by trade, could not afford his own headstone. His family was needy and unable to defray the expenses of burial.

However, a proper burial was owed to Julius Caesar. Henry C. Beswick, county agent at the time of Caesar's death in 1907, determined that Mr. Caesar had indeed "served the full term of his enlistment in the Eighth Regiment of U.S. colored troops," according to a report of his death in The Niles Daily Star of the day.

According to the history of the Eighth United States Colored Infantry (USCI) Regiment, the company was formed at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia, Pa. from September to December 1863. During the Civil War, Camp William Penn produced 11 regiments of United States Colored Infantry – more than any other single camp.

The Eighth USCI was made up of free black men from Pennsylvania and other northern States and runaway slaves from several border states. In late 1864, the Eighth was assigned to the newly formed 25th Army Corps, Army of the James. The 25th Army Corps was the first and only all Black Army Corps.

Click here for the full article on the Niles Daily Star website

Published August 22nd, 2007