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Tour speaks well of the dead
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HISTORIC EVENT: GThe Mahoning and Shenango Valley Historical Club gave a presentation Saturday at the South Side cemetery. Steffon Wydell Jones is dressed as a Civil War soldier as he talks about the life of Thomas W. Sanderson, a former Youngstown mayor who is buried in this mausoleum. Listening are Virginia and Ed Mannion of Columbiana and Alma Gabriel of Warren.
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HISTORIC EVENT: Greg Ricker, points as he explains the life of J. Smith Cowden, who was buried in 1902 at Oak Hill Cemetery, near downtown Youngstown. Cowden was the third firefighter to die in the line of duty for the Youngstown Fire Department. Ricker, who is dressed as a firefighter, is part of the Mahoning and Shenango Valley Historical Club, which gave a presentation Saturday at the South Side cemetery.
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Judy Foster of Enon Valley, Pa., above right, wears a period costume as she talks to Sandy and Patrick Gatta of Poland about the life of Frederick Workman, a Gettysburg veteran who died in 1888. The Gattas said they are considering joining the historical club.
Visitors learned about Youngstown’s past on a tour through a South Side cemetery.
By Don Shilling
YOUNGSTOWN — Colorful characters from Youngstown’s past sprang up Saturday at Oak Hill Cemetery.
“This cemetery just oozes life,” Patty Gallo, 54, of Struthers said Saturday during a tour sponsored by the newly formed Mahoning and Shenango Valley Historical Club.
Gallo had just listened to a presentation by club member Judy Williams, who explained that Col. James Hillman was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, a Youngstown Township constable, justice of the peace, Trumbull County sheriff and member of the state legislature.
A street near the South Side cemetery is named after him. He died in 1848.
Gallo and her friend, Alma Gabriel, 68, of Warren, often walk through cemeteries to try to learn something of the past.
They were excited to have the chance for a presentation inside the cemetery with many notable names from Youngstown’s past, including Pollock, Arms, Borts, Powers, Wick and Rayen.
“You walk around, and all you see are department-store names and street names. Everyone who is famous is buried here,” Gabriel said.
The members of the historical club were hoping for that reaction for their first public event after organizing in August.
“We’re telling the public what a rich historical area this is,” said Williams, who is a retired case manager for the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Steffon Wydell Jones of Youngstown, one of the club organizers, said the members come from many walks of life. Some are pursuing advanced degrees in history, while others just love doing historical research.
“You don’t need a degree as long as you have a love for digging up things in the community,” Jones said.
Jones is a security guard who also is a Civil War buff. On Saturday, he stood near the mausoleum of Thomas W. Sanderson and talked about the life of the man who was mayor of Youngstown as well as a bank president, lawyer, Army colonel and author. He died in 1908.
Ron Johnson of Boardman, another club member who is commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans post in Boardman, was dressed as a Confederate general from the Civil War. He talked about the four men buried in Oak Hill who were Confederate soldiers, including Christian Weick, a Youngstown baker who fought for the South and was buried in Oak Hill in 1914.
Many people in Ohio were sympathetic to the Southern states during the Civil War, said Johnson, who teaches history at Austintown Middle School. The issue driving most of the rebels wasn’t slavery, Johnson said, but tax increases and dislike of increasing power in the federal government.
Greg Ricker of Youngstown was telling visitors about the Youngstown firefighters who have died in the line of duty. He was standing at the grave of J. Smith Cowden, who died in 1902 after a wall fell on him and two other firefighters as they were putting out a fire in the horse stable at the Stambaugh property on Belmont Avenue.
Ricker is a librarian for the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library who has been motivated to do historical research on local firefighters because his grandfather and two other relatives were firefighters in Austintown.
Ricker said Saturday’s event was a success. Not only did it educate people about Youngstown history, but it also informed people about the new historical club.
Visitors approached him during the day and wanted to network with club members because they also were doing research on people who are buried in Oak Hill.
“I think this is going to be phenomenal,” Ricker said.
shilling@vindy.com