Plan will restore dignity to city’s forgotten cemetery

Thanks to the speedy and compassionate action by the Tod Homestead Cemetery Association, 1,800 people buried in a forgotten 2-acre graveyard on Youngstown’s North Side will soon have something that has eluded them for many decades: dignity in death.

That graveyard, known as a potter’s field, served as the final resting place for hundreds of poor and unidentifiable city residents who died between 1911 and 1933. It lies adjacent to the stately Tod Homestead Cemetery off Belmont Avenue.

Over the past eight decades, however, abandonment and decay took their toll on the property. As The Vindicator reported in a front-page story last month, chunks of pavement and overgrown brush obscure and sully the site. In a word, the cemetery for the city’s most vulnerable population simply was forgotten.

As a result, we had argued in this space that allowing that once hallowed ground for thousands of Youngstown families to rot into oblivion would have been shameful and unacceptable.

Many others agreed. The new public spotlight on the aging burial ground sparked serious discussion and concrete action.

The cemetery association’s board members met with Youngstown city officials to discuss responsibilities and solutions. To their credit, they crafted a fitting and honorable solution in precious little time.

SIGN, CLEANUP PLANNED

Sallie Tod Dutton, association president and descendent of Tod Homestead’s namesake family that included Civil War-era Ohio Gov. David Tod, announced earlier this month that a large sign to honor those buried in the potter’s field will be erected. It also will include information about a website that lists all names of those buried there.

In addition, Paul Dutton, cemetery association attorney and husband of Sallie, said the restoration plan also includes clearing pathways of overgrown brush to ensure visitors can enjoy easy entry and passage through the potter’s field in order to pay respects to their ancestors or loved ones.

Financing for the sign and cleanup will be absorbed by Tod Cemetery, Mrs. Tod Dutton said.

“We are glad to do it, and we will do it right,” she added.

The Duttons, the cemetery association and others working on the project deserve communitywide commendations for acting seriously and expeditiously to restore honor, respect and reverence to the 1,800 souls whose legacies will at last be lost no more.