Effort to re-mark graves progresses

All markers on graves that could be identified were in place for the Memorial Day weekend.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Boardman Cemetery dates to the earliest days of the 1800s with several hundred graves holding the remains of some of the township's earliest settlers.
The cemetery is on Tanglewood Drive, about a half-mile east of the center of the township on land donated by Elijah Boardman, founder of the township.
Before the cemetery was created, residents here were buried on a farm in the northern part of the township.
Situated on a one-acre parcel of land near U.S. Route 224, the cemetery is a quiet resting place for those buried there amid the busy Boardman shopping district.
The land is well manicured with wooden benches, trimmed trees and large headstones designating where some of the deceased are buried.
Here's the problem: But, not every grave in the cemetery is marked by large marble or concrete headstones. Some have no markings to identify the occupant. Other headstones have become so worn with time that the writing is no longer legible -- leaving only the plain gray or white surface.
Years ago, before the township swelled to such a large population, residents were able to simply select any unused lot. This combined with the fact that few records were kept of those resting in the cemetery poses a problem for history buffs and the curious looking to identify who's in the unmarked graves.
William Leicht, township clerk, said the condition of the headstones and lack of markings on some of the graves are what prompted officials to find some way to preserve the memory of and pay proper respect to those buried in the cemetery.
"Those individuals buried in the cemetery deserved better," said Leicht. "We have been on a quest for two years to find markers for the graves that do not have headstones or those that were badly damaged."
ID'ing the dead: The first step, said Leicht, was to identify the people resting in the various graves. Fortunately, the township has kept detailed records of who purchased each plot. Those records make it possible to identify most of the deceased.
In the early years, however, records of the actual deceased were not kept, only the purchaser of the plot, so identifying some of the individuals is impossible. Leicht said the township will not place markers on any grave where the person cannot be correctly identified.
Thus far there have been about 134 bronze, 6-inch markers placed on the graves. Each marker, put in place by road department employees, tells the individual's name, birth date and date of death. All the markers were installed in time for the Memorial Day weekend.
Leicht said officials considered installing headstones, but the cost was too high. The lowest estimate for installing headstones was about $20,000. The 134 bronze markers cost about $8,000.
jgoodwin@vindy.com