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Historical society plans cemetery tour
The group hopes to do more tours in the future.
GIRARD — Less than a week before Halloween, Girard Historical Society members will be spending a little extra time in the cemetery.
The group’s visit to the Girard Union Cemetery has nothing to do with ghost or goblins and everything to do with history.
The group will take interested individuals on a guided historical tour of the cemetery at 4 p.m. The tour will start a short distance away at the Barnhisel House. The group will carry a coffin from the historical house to the cemetery.
“There are so many historical things here in this cemetery and, as an historical society, we want to really cover those things,” said group Member Collette Chuey.
According to Chuey, the cemetery was started sometime in the 1800s on land surrounding a German-speaking church on U.S. Route 422. The church building was moved in 1899, but the concrete steps remain. It is up those steps that historical society members will carry the coffin to begin Saturday’s tour.
Members of the historical society plan to visit the final resting places of five memorable figures from Girard. At each grave site, society members will give a history of the person’s accomplishments.
The first grave to be visited, that of Hiram Goist who died in 1864, is mere feet away from where the steps to the former church lead into the cemetery. Goist, according to historical society information, was a guard at Johnson Island in Sandusky Bay during the Civil War. The island was used to house captured Confederate soldiers during the war.
The next stop on the walk will be at the grave site of Henry and Susan Barnhisel. The couple, now buried alongside their children and other family members, were wealthy farmers in the area who left many things to future generations including the Barnhisel House and the donated land on which most of the cemetery is located.
Other stops planned on the cemetery walk are at the graves of Elizabeth Hauser, who dedicated much of her life to women’s rights and suffrage; and Anthony Kennedy, who was a longtime superintendent of schools and influential member of the city.
Chuey said the historical society would like to do more cemetery walks in the future, possibly on an annual basis.
“There are just so many more graves here that we can do in the future. We don’t want to do too many at one time,” she said. “We want people to see the history of the people that we are speaking on and the history of the cemetery.”
Admission to the cemetery walk is $5 and includes a tour of the Barnhisel House. There will be a 2 p.m. “fun fest” with games and food at the Barnhisel House before the walk. For additional information, contact Collette Chuey at (330) 545-6162.
jgoodwin@vindy.com