By: 1812Blockhouse
You may have heard of the old riddle, “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” The correct response, of course, is that there are two people who are entombed there — President Grant and his wife Julia.
The local equivalent might be this — Who’s buried in Mansfield Cemetery? Thousands, of course. As it turns out, a number of people are buried there who have some claim to fame, at least locally. Those certainly include business leaders, prominent educators, and the like — but so are some names with regional or national significance.
Mansfield Cemetery sits in the city of Mansfield a bit south and east of downtown. Established in 1845, it sits on land (the first 20 acres) Benjamin Johns. Its articles of association date from 1847, which as also the date of the first internment there.
The 380 acres of its present size includes the Hebrew Cemetery, Potter’s Field, and the Old County Burial Ground. The grounds are home to the True Meridian Marker dating from 1866. Since 1900, there has been water at the Cemetery — the Mansfield News Journal reported that “The water has been piped to all parts of the city of the dead.”
Well-known internments (among others) – click on any for biographical information on 1812Blockhouse or elsewhere:
- Harold Arlin, Sportscaster/Educator
- Modecai Bartley, Governor of Ohio
- Thomas Bartley, Governor of Ohio
- Robert Henry Bentley, Brevet Brigadeer General
- Jacob Brinkerhoff, US Congressman
- Roeliff Brinkerhoff, Brevet Brigadeer General
- George Washington Geddes, US Congreessmet
- Michael Daniel Harter, US Congressman
- Joseph Snively Hedges, Civil War US Medal of Honor Recipient
- Wilbur “Pete” Henry, Professional football player
- William Johnston, US Congressman
- Winfield Scott Kerr. US Congressman
- Mary Alice Norton, Science Fiction Author
- William Patterson, US Congressman
- John Sherman, US Senator, Presidential Cabinet Secretary. Sherman’s monument, the largest in the cemetery as of that date, was chosen through a competition with submissions from firms in Washington, D.C., Detroit, New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Cleveland — and a Mansfield firm, which was selected for the project. The stone sits on a 12 ton base, weighs 30 tons, and is of granite from Westerly, Rhode Island.
