The entrance to Glendale Cemetery, as it looked
in 1890
SWANS IN GLENDALE CEMETERY
"My earliest recollection is about swans. When I was five years old, in 1890, my
mother took me to Glendale Cemetery where her first two babies are buried.
As we walked through the valley where the brook flows, I saw two swans on one of
the pools. Boy-like, I ran to its edge. The swans promptly moved across the pool
as far from me as they could get. How did they propel themselves? To me, there
was no visible effort on their part.
I ran around the pool to the other side. The swans soon moved back again. This
time I could see their webbed feet paddle, because the sunlight through the
trees was at a different angle. A small boy learned how swans move over the
water.
There were two pools in the cemetery brook, forming a sort of hourglass. The
pools were perhaps forty feet across, and between them there was a narrow place
with stones, so that it was easy to cross. Those pools disappeared many years
ago."
LONG SKIRTS
"When my mother took me to
Glendale Cemetery, she wore her best black dress. The skirt was so long it
dragged on the ground. I remember seeing the small pebbles and lumps of
dirt rolling along as the dragging skirt moved them. Mother left a
distinct trail after her as she walked. It was the style at the time:
women wore skirts that were long enough to drag behind them."
Blower, Arthur H. Akron at the Turn of the Century 1890-1913,
Recollections of Arthur Blower. 1955.
Digital Rpt in
History of Akron & Summit County. Ed. Michael
Cohill and Jeri Holland.
Mar. 2006. <http://akronhistory.org>.
Path: Research & Documents. |
This 85-acre
cemetery, opened in 1839, is the final resting place for
some of Akron's most famous citizens -- Seiberling, Perkins,
Buchtel, Schumacher, Barber, Bierce. The Cemetery boasts of
a Civil War Memorial Chapel, mausoleums and monuments, all
of great interest.
Immediately after the Akron Rural Cemetery Association received
a charter from the state, on March 18, 1839, a 20-acre tract
between W. Center and S. Maple, east of the city burial ground,
was purchased from General Perkins and Judge King and platted
for graves. The town land was acquired in 1850. Later, other
tracts were bought and by 1890 the association owned 57 acres.
The main entrance to the grounds was made on Glendale Avenue.
Little was done to improve the natural beauty of Glendale until
after the end of Civil War. Then, largely at the insistence of
the Ladies' Cemetery Association, organized by Mrs. Mary
Ingersoll Tod Evans, an experienced gardener of Cuyahoga Falls,
Thomas Wills, was employed as superintendent and an extensive
beautification program was started. The association held
picnics, lawn fetes, concerts, amateur theatrical performances
and even a male beauty contest and raised $20,000 by 1869 to
build the Cemetery Lodge. Incidentally, the prize for being the
"handsomest man in town" was awarded to John R. Buchtel.
Memorial Chapel, near the Glendale entrance, was built in
1875-76 from funds raised in a successful drive for $25,000 made
by members of the Buckley Post, G.A.R. The chapel was dedicated
on Memorial Day, May 30, 1876. For many years Glendale Cemetery
was one of the show places of Akron.
Akron had one prominent visitor, however, who had no desire to
include Glendale on a sightseeing tour. He was a candidate for
governor and arrived during a heated primary campaign. His
supporters mapped out a trip around the city. Included among the
places which he was scheduled to se were the Empire Works, the
Buckeye Works, the Iron Works, the Knife Works, the Goodrich
factory and Glendale.
The politician scanned the list of scheduled stops. Then he
dryly remarked: "If its's all the same to you, gentlemen, lets
skip Glendale. I'm positive that's one place where I won't get
any votes."
Grismer, Karl H. Akron and Summit
County. Akron, OH: Summit County Historical
Society, n.d. pgs 263-264
Courtesy
of
Sharon Weaver.
Taken by George J. Snook who had a Gallery opposite the
P. O. Akron, Ohio
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