A big thank you to the over sixty volunteers who turned out on Saturday, March 26 for our spring Community Clean-up of the cemetery grounds. The very large city-owned trailer was filled to the brim in an hour followed by approximately 250 bags of other debris. It was a great day with so much accomplished by our amazing volunteers.

Thank you to Adopt-A-Block volunteer, Laura Barlow, and cemetery restoration volunteer, John McGlothlin, for helping solve a mystery. Laura cleaned up the block in the IOOF section where Mary Ann Roseberry is buried and came across a piece of a metal rod with a small piece of metal attached to it. It looked liked it might have been from a flag holder with some sort of insignia, similar to ones that can be found on Veterans’ grave sites. Laura set it aside for safekeeping and that is where John took over. He thought it might be related to a Veteran and one that we did not have on our list. Mary’s husband was a Civil War Veteran and died in 1896 and is not buried in the Jacksonville Cemetery.

In addition to repairing and restoring headstones and monuments, John loves to do historical research. John soon found out that the piece of metal was a fragment of a medallion placed on the grave site in honor of Mary Ann Roseberry. Mary Ann was a member of the Chester Arthur Women’s Relief Corps, of the Ruth Rebekah lodge in Jacksonville, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. After some further research and phone calls, John was able to purchase a replacement insignia which has now been placed on her headstone. Mary Ann passed away on October 16, 1918 at the age of 68. Services at her home were conducted by the Women’s Relief Corps and by the Ruth Rebekah lodge in the Jacksonville Cemetery.

History Saturday in the CemeteryTalk & Tour, Saturday, May 14, 10am-noon—Our first History Saturday program in 2022 will be on “Changing Burial Practices Over the Years.” As part of the program and in honor of May’s National Historic Preservation Month, there will be a walking tour to several restoration projects completed by the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery. The program is free and no advance reservations are required. Meet your docents at the top of the Cemetery Road where parking is available. We suggest comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and a hat. Programs will be presented on the second Saturday of each month through September 10. Donations are always appreciated and help support our work.

Community Clean-up Day, Friday, May 20, 9am-noon—Volunteers are needed to help clean-up and prepare the cemetery grounds for the Memorial Day holiday. Bring leaf rakes, battery or gas-operated weed eaters, lawn mowers and blowers. Be sure to bring along gloves to wear, eye and ear protection. Brooms to sweep off the headstones after clearing grave sites are also helpful.

Marker Cleaning Work Shop, Saturday, May 21, 9am-noon—Want to learn something new, fun and rewarding? Join us and learn the proper cleaning techniques and tools to use to clean and preserve our cemetery’s monuments. Meet at the Sexton’s Tool House at the top of the Cemetery Road. Dress for the project as you may get a little wet and we suggest a hat, sunscreen, and perhaps a stool to sit on. (DATE CORRECTED TO 05/21/22 on 05/24/22.)