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Union Cemetery Tour, Saturday

By JULIE STENGER 5 min read

STEUBENVILLE -- Members of the Friends of Beatty Park have announced the third-annual Union Cemetery Tour and More event, scheduled to take place Saturday on the cemetery grounds.

This year's informational tour is being co-hosted by the Jefferson County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

Those planning to attend are asked to bring a lawn chair or blanket, as the audience will be seated during the presentations. The program will begin at 10 a.m. at the historical stone bridge.

Drivers are asked to park their vehicles on the right side of the road, past the bridge.

At the conclusion of the presentations, at approximately noon, guests will have the option of taking a short walk with presenter Jeff Evans to the courthouse bell, housed in the original cemetery office.

"This will be a worthwhile walk for those interested," exclaimed Flora VerStraten-Merrin, founder and chair of the Friends of Beatty Park. She stated the genealogical society will have a table set up near the bridge. A drawing will be held to receive a tombstone inscription book, organizers stated.

The society will be offering light snacks and water for a donation. Additional historical books will be for sale, as well. Chapter officers from the genealogical society will be on hand to answer questions about cemetery records, city or county history and various types of other family history.

"The musical portion of the presentation will be an exciting addition to the program this year," VerStraten-Merrin said. Wheeling bagpiper Zac Gordon is a member of the folk band Faire May and will play a variety of Celtic folk instruments, as he does at festivals and events throughout the Ohio Valley.

Follansbee trumpeter Roy James will share special musical selections which invite somber feelings and are suitable for the program's audience, organizers commented, adding there will be a few other planned surprises during the musical portion of the day.

Saturday's presenters will be VerStraten-Merrin, Evans and Paul Zuros. The trio spoke during the previous tours and those attending the event were impressed by their knowledge of the history of the city and those buried at the cemetery.

VerStraten-Merrin will speak on the topic of cemetery iconography -- the use of symbols and words to convey religious beliefs, professions, societies, philosophy and fashion of the time period. Symbols can be found on tombstones throughout the cemetery. She will share some of the more-interesting and often-misunderstood symbols found on tombstones and will include photos of examples. VerStraten-Merrin will note where some of the most unique and unusual tombstones can be found there as well.

Zuros will share some interesting facts and stories about the following citizens buried in the cemetery: Eliphalet Andrews, Dohrman Sinclair, Cyrus Ferguson, John C. Williams and David Weir. He selected these individuals because they were such important figures in the area.

Evans will discuss Civil War veterans, including Col. George P. Webster; Lafeyette Van Horne, who was involved with Morgan's Raid; and the Carter Brothers, one of whom was Sgt. William Carter, the regimental color bearer for the 30th Ohio Infantry who was killed at Antietam. Evans will share poignant verses from poems or songs having historical connections to the original bell from the Jefferson County courthouse, now housed at the cemetery.

About the presenters: VerStraten-Merrin founded the group known as Friends of Beatty Park five years ago. This volunteer-based group works to revitalize Historic Beatty Park and obtains funding for its projects. She has served as president of the Ohio Genealogical Society's Jefferson County Chapter for more than 20 years and is in the process of writing a book which speaks to the history of the park, the history of the cemetery, the South End and the city of Steubenville.

Evans is a longtime senior staff writer for the Battlefield Journal. A sought-after lecturer, he developed programs for a variety of organizations, served as a seasonal ranger at Fort Necessity and Petersburg National Battlefields, spent a semester working at Colonial Williamsburg, was an interpretive ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for a decade and serves as secretary of the board for the Harpers Ferry Park Association. Evans is a teacher in Raleigh, W.Va.

Zuros began volunteering with the Hancock County Museum in New Cumberland and later with the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center. He worked for the National Park Service in Richmond, Va., at the city's Civil War sites. Throughout the years, he has worked with the John Heinz History Center, the Fort Pitt Museum and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. He served as the executive director of the Historic Craik Patton House and director of Historic Fort Steuben.

Zuros has been writing a bi-weekly local history column in the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times entitled "History in the Hills." He authors a book from those compiled stories and resides in Weirton.

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