New Woodland Cemetery Monument to Honor Black CW Veterans

I learned some Civil War history this morning (14 Jun 2011) while reading an article on the front page of the Metro section of The Plain Dealer.


First of all, I learned that many African-Americans from Cleveland served in the Union Army during the Civil War. And that most had to go to Massachusetts to volunteer, because Ohio didn't have any black regiments until later in the war.


I also learned that a total of 86 black Civil War veterans are buried in Cleveland's Woodland Cemetery, and that even more are buried in various cemeteries throughout the area. These CW vets are largely unrecognized--even in the  Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Cleveland's Public Square. But that is about to change. The volunteer Woodland Cemetery  Foundation is working to erect a monument recognizing their service. And the Soldiers & Sailors Monument is studying how to honor many of them as well.


The Johns-Carabelli Co., a local monument maker, is donating the stone and will inscribe it with  the names of the vets buried in Woodland Cemetery. That's worth about $5,000. The Woodland Cemetery Foundation is raising the remaining few hundred dollars to pay for the monument's foundation.


The cemetery also has monuments honoring two Ohio regiments from Cleveland: the 7th and the 23rd, as well as a third monument dedicated to all Union soldiers.


For more information about the Woodland Cemetery Foundation and its work, go to www.wcfcle.org.

Historical Marker for Erie Street Cemetery, Cleveland

The Ohio Cemetery Alliance is holding a dedication of the Eire Street Cemetery Ohio Historical Marker on Saturday, October 3rd at 1 P.M. OCA members and guests are invited.

Dr. John Grabowski, Case Western Reserve University history professor and Western Reserve Historical Society vice president-collections will offer historic commentary. Following the formal dedication, brief tours of the cemetery will be led by OCA members..

Erie Street Cemetery is at 2254 East 9th Street Cleveland, OH (across from Progressive Field, between East 9th and East 14th Streets). About nine acres were acquired in Sep 1825, by Leonard Case and on 29 Mar, 1826, he and his wife, Elizabeth, conveyed the land by quit-claim to the then-village of Cleveland. The cemetery currently is considered "inactive" but it has 17,935 interments, records for which are housed at Cleveland's Highland Cemetery.

For photos and more background on the cemetery, go to http://www.deadohio.com/eriestreet.htm

Here's hoping that the weather is nice for this event.