Mt Hope Civil War Stones - 2

I find when I drive now I am always 'scouting' out those tucked away cemeteries. Today I found a rather small cemetery along Route 21 between Canandaigua and Manchester, it is a candidate for some snapshots and postings. The stones look rather tilted so I will have to see if it is a cared for cemetery. Also, a work friend told me about a small cemetery down the way from me that might be interesting as well. I was at the Ontario County Historical Society the other night and there on a shelf in their research room was book upon book of cemeteries. So, plenty of resources are at my fingertips.

This post is two more stones from Mt Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York:

Fredrick Berghaus

Co M
4 NY Cal
Died Apr 22 1894
Aged 80 YRS

Wm H Hampton
Co E
58th NY Vol
Died June 22 1894
Aged 50 YRS

Yowza, is it cold!

As my daughter told her boyfriend yesterday, "I am spending quality time with my mother, I am going through a graveyard taking pictures". That made us laugh in the car and she is a good sport about these journeys, I wonder what her boyfriend must think of me! Last August we went to Virginia for a week to go to the State Library in Richmond and stayed in Williamsburg to do all of the historic museums. We had a lot of fun but it was a hot hot August, temps at 100 and daring to creep higher. It was only fitting that I dragged her out on a zero degree day! The weather was 2 degrees and -10 wind chill but I didn't feel it really, for the most part I was very warm but stomping through deep snow does aggravate and already touchy sciatica.

We brought the camera, paper and the voice recorder and listened to our voice recordings from the August trip and laughed at how silly we can be at times. We drove to Mount Hope Cemetery and made our way back to the Civil War section to take snap shots of the stones there. There are 18 rows, we braved the cold through 13 rows so I think we did pretty good. A lot of stones are weather worn and will require rubbing's but that will have to wait for warmer weather. On our way there, those small things came to mind.. we should have brought.. *fill in the blank*, broom was one item to brush off the stones but my snow brush stepped right up to the task once I thought about it at row 10!.

A view from the street, the Civil War section has two canon's, one at each end and that large monument in the center:


See how blue the sky is??? This is a treat for Rochester, we don't get a lot of sun.

The monument, full shot, the plaque shot and the sculpture shot. I can not ever promise that I will be a good photographer.



Even in the dead of winter, this cemetery is still breathtaking. On a two degree day we passed a funeral, two people buried a loved one. Even this cold, this cemetery is populated. A car went zipping by with two dogs chasing it.. an odd way to exercise your dogs!

Across the street is a section for firemen. I am very partial to firemen, they are heroes in my mind, every last one of them. They risk all for us no matter what. My dad was a volunteer fireman for over 30 years. When he died in May of 2007 he was escorted to his final resting spot by one of the departments engines. I still get misty whenever I remember watching the engine pull out, the men in their dress blues, to escort the hearse. I believe this section is reserved for those that died in the line of duty but maybe I shouldn't be quoted on that. I will have to look that up again but think that is correct. Those are stones I will document as well.



The Soldiers:

Wm H DeHart
Co D
28 Penn Vol
Died Jan 19 1894
Aged 55 YRS

Peter Coor
Co K
100 NY Vol
Died Apr 7 1894
Aged 67 YRS

Rummaging

I keep trying to get myself reorganized to get this family research under way again. I moved, that seemed to just put my focus doing other things than research. I am not knitting very much either so clearly my hobbies are being neglected. Anyway.. I was looking for one thing, then started cleaning out the computer then started on another project but within that I found pictures I took early fall. This is where part of this blog will be focusing. That is the Civil War monument at Mount Hope cemetery and I will be getting over there to take better pictures as soon as the snow cover allows. We have had a lot of snow this winter! The monument is beautiful and I will do it better justice in future posts.

Introduction

So today we are having this weather event of sorts. An ice storm overnight and today it is just slushy/rainy/icy and a weather warning is in effect until tomorrow at some point. While it messy out now we are supposed to get more snow tonight and more snow tomorrow. Welcome to the area of Rochester, New York on the south shore of Lake Ontario, a very large snow maker when it wants to be. Tromping around cemeteries is not the thing to do on a day like this so I will introduce myself.

My name is Sharon and I have been plugging away at my family history for about twenty five years (off and on) all because my mothers cousin Patsy Louisa Crox Underhill infected me with enthusiasm. Listening to her talk about her research hooked me and I have always been in love with history. I am not great at history but I love it.

I have been living in this area since I was 5 years old when my family moved here from Akron, Ohio. Monroe County is where Rochester sits and for the last 16 years I lived in Wayne County which is directly east and the town I lived in was a 20 minute drive to Rochester. Two months ago I moved to Canandaigua, New York, a very cute and small City and the County seat of Ontario County. I have beeboped through these three counties for much of my life.

I feel that cemeteries are a huge resource and should be preserved in any way possible and so the reason for my addition to The Graveyard Rabbit Association is simply that, cemeteries are a great resource and history.

This past fall I spent a lot of time in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester because a friend and I were doing a letter box scavenger hunt. I fell in love with this cemetery. It is old, beautiful and I had not realized that before as I was always there for the purpose to bury someone and was rather focused on the loss, not the beauty of this resting place. This cemetery has famous people like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas buried there and Nathaniel Rochester, Rochester's founder is there too.

The history of Mount Home Cemetery from here The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery. :

"America's First Municipal Victorian CemeteryFormed by glaciers, this cemetery has high hills and deep valleys, winding eskers and almost bottomless kettles. The whole place is a forest of trees, many of them rare and specimen. Since 1838, a third of a million people have taken permanent residence in the cemetery's 197 acres. There are mausoleums dug deep into hillsides and everywhere myriad symbols of Victorian funerary art. In stone and bronze are soaring Egyptian obelisks, miniature Greek temples (one sleeps 20 with a lot of dancing room left over), winged angels of mercy, draped urns and broken columns, Gothic towers, and sculptures of everything from Christian saints to favorite pet dogs. They all gloriously decorate more than 350,000 graves that through the sea of vertical monuments, send a mighty chorus of hope heavenward. In fall and winter, Mount Hope becomes a rookery, and the trees appear to be fully leafed with the black bodies of crows. In summer, a high 1875 Florentine fountain cascades water from lions' mouths down through three basins held up by cast-iron caryatids."

There is a Civil War section of this cemetery and my plan is to
photgraph each stone and post it here. That is a start.

Ontario County has over 200 cemeteries so I think I will be very busy getting out there and bringing these three counties to life by way of tombstones and more.

Let the graveyard hopping begin.

Under Construction

Soon at a Graveyard near you! One more busy rabbit!