more from Columbus' Green Lawn

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary sits in high grass.

Behind on groundskeeping, June 29th the day of this foto, a local teevee station ran a story about complaints.

In the last few years, some notable people interred have been commemorated by signage.

Washington Gladden was a leader in the Social Gospel Movement, something very different than to-day's Evangelicals.

Not often are swinging saloon doors cut for a gravestone.

A wife remembers her husband.

Columbus Confederates

Camp Chase was named after Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, and former Ohio governor Salmon Chase. It was on the National Road (Route 40, Broad Street). It was first used to train Ohio volunteers, and as a muster station. It became a prison for civilians thought to be engaging with the secessionist forces, and government; and then captured confederate soldiers. Many of the deaths came from small pox. The Us government bought the remaining two acres to use as the present cemetery.

Jeff Davis Day is remembered on an American government sign?

The stone arch replaced a wooden one in 1902. A bronze confederate stands on top.

WSYX ABC 6  tweeted this foto 22 August 2017. The statue was thrown down, and its head was gone. The hat remained. It is believed this was done in response to Unite the Right "rally" on the campus of the University of Virginia, and the city of Charlottesville, which included a homicide by an Ohio trumpster who drove into a crowd of people.  A varied assortment of Nazis, neo-Confederates, klansmen, white supremacists, and other deplorables, and supporters of Trump, came to protest the removal of confederate statues. In May 2019, the repaired Ohio statue was placed atop the arch again. When i photographed on 29 June of this year, a security guard was walking he inside perimeter.

Official estimate is 2,168 buried in 2,122 spots. The boulder has been there since 1897.

Confederate cannonball from Vicksburg

stone difference

Confederate stones are pointy. Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery Columbus Ohio.

United States servicemen's stones are rounded. Green Lawn Cemetery Columbus Ohio.

This was a new stone at Green Lawn. The newness begs a question. Was this a replacement? since he has been dead for a long time, or was he transferred here recently? Well i read in 2019, they replaced stones that were incorrect. Notice this is a Union stone, with a soldier in a Tennessee unit. This may be one of the four that had a pointy stone, and the unit was thought a confederate one; but after Union victories, the Union recruited units from former rebellious parts of the nation. Also, 62 is old for a soldier.

interesting people and monuments

Emil Ambos *1844, 1898†

Emil enjoyed life. His parents were from German lands. His father became Columbus' first candy maker, and later a banker. Emil went to Center College Pennsylvania, and Ohio's Kenyon college. He retired at 39, after being a saloon keeper and alcohol wholesaler. He kept a stable of horses, lived luxuriously, and really enjoyed fishing. He was generous towards poor children, especially around Christmas. Ambos was recognised as a philanthropist.

Ambos had a 17 page will, the longest in county's history at that date. He set aside five thousand dollars for a bronze statue of himself in his fishing clothes. The sculptor, John Francis Brines cast the bronze in 1901. In 2019, the Smithsonian thought the statue important, and it needed restoration. There was a bullet hole in Emil's head, his trout were taken, and the bronze had gone green, and in bad shape. That year the statue was restored by Michael Major. In the last few years a few major restorations are taking place at Green Lawn. The Schumacher sarcophagus was cleaned, and restored that same summer. Those two monuments are near each other in Section M.

During my two visits, the sun was behind Emil, and very strong. It was not easy to get a clear foto.

Samuel "Chief" Gabriel  *1912, 1980†

_____________________________________________________________________

(DO NOT GIVE OUT LOCATION)

This is a fotocopy of a portion of a page of notable burials in Green Lawn Cemetery.  There were too many undertakers listed, several Ohio governors, Columbus businessmen, speculators, and capitalists; but the only one with a stage direction was Snook.

There turns out to be a tawdry, salacious tale of murder involved in keeping the spot a secret. James Howard Snook was a professor of veterinary surgery at the land grant school in the state's capital. He won two gold medals in team pistol at the Antwerp 1920 Olympics. Snook killed his student mistress in 1929, outside a firing range, near campus. He used a ball peen hammer, and a pocket knife.

Theora Hix was working as a school stenographer at the veterinary college to pay for her education there. For three years the two had a wild affair. Snook was married, and she was very sexually active. Theora wanted Snook divorce, and threatened to kill members of Snook's family.

Snook gave a forced confession. He was checked for syphilis by a botched spinal tap, that caused enduring pain. That doctor was not as adept with the tools of trade. Snook had given himself a vasectomy, so that Theora would not have a child by him. Later, the final cut he made was a precision slice of Hix's throat. 

The trial was a national incident. Snook sat in a beach chair for the trial. The jury took 28 minutes to find him guilty, although she was reaching for a derringer in her purse. I read, a short article that stated laws were changed because of the irregularities in his prosecution. Trial testimony was published, with some of the sex details omitted.

Later, the warden of the prison made up a story of Snook's confession. Snook was executed early in 1930. He was buried under a small grass hugging stone with the name James Howard. His wife, and daughter took a new surname. Ohio Exploration Society says that for 75 years his grave site was a secret.

The snook hook is used in the spaying and neutering of dogs and cats. James Snook created the first one.

2nd visit to 2nd biggest

graveyard in Ohio

Eddie Rickenbacker *1890, 1973☨

Green Lawn's most illustrious burial is Fast Eddie, Columbus' favorite son. He was a successful race car driver. Before America's entry into the World War, he changed his name from Reichenbacher to Rickenbacker. He became a fighter pilot in France. It was unusual for a non-college man to be accepted.  He was the most successful American ace with 26 confirmed take downs. After the war he designed Rickenbacker car, after a few years, it went bankrupt. From 1927 t0 1945, he owned the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He had several automobile, and aviation connections, management, and ownerships. He owned, and ran Eastern Airlines. He wrote the comic strip Ace Drummond.

Rickenbacker was a foe of Franklin Roosevelt, and the New Deal. In 1940, he was a member of America First. He came to respect, and support the British war effort. He worked with the Royal Air Force, and the American Army Air Corps.

Fire Captain Daniel S. Lewis 

A beautiful monument for a fireman. The bas relief iconography pictures the tools of the trade. He died in service fighting a downtown Columbus fire in 1903. A wall collapsed on top of him, and his body was consumed.

Prophet Micah 

He hath told thee oh man, what the Lord doth desire of thee "To do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God"  

This window is within the mausoleum of Fred Lazarus and family.

The door handles to mausoleum are knockers. Who is going to answer the knock?

1890 monument 

A Union soldier with a musket stands guard over a chalk holding teacher and a student.

The War of the Rebellion 

The war fought from 1861 to 1865 has been called by many names.