Jurij

He had his name written in Cyrillic characters in Ukranian, Jurij O. Likholit. Jurij is George. The family name was changed to something similar in spelling. He was born in one country, died in another, and buried in a third.

Forethought

This fellow had this stone placed while alive, not knowing the century he would die in. If he is still alive, he has passed the century mark. He only wanted else known of his military service.[Riverside]
Fred bought the stone after his wife died. They both belonged to masonic organisations. He is dead now, and he expected to die after 1927, but before 2000. No one has cut the two digits. No family survived him? Apparently no provision was made for the inscription update.[Maple Grove]

Tas kungs ir mans Gans

Tas kungs ir mans Gans = The Lord is my Shepherd

Cleveland Riverside has a Latvian section, and a Belarus section. Cleveland has had a long standing population originating in the nations of eastern Europe.

Latvians are a Baltic people. Most of the Letts came under Swedish rule and Lutheranism in the 17th Century. The stone, supra, has folk designs and a Protestant cross.

White Russians

Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in Cleveland has a section at Riverside Cleveland. In the background is the Jennings Freeway, steel mill, and a shopping center carved from the steel mills.

The current Latin spelling is 'Belarus', White Russia. There are four eastern Slavonic nations, each sometimes having a variation of 'Russian', although Ukraine isn't currently favoring the identification. Great Russia=Red Russia (this is a pre-communist era term)=the Russia everyone thinks about. Little Russia=Black Russia=Ukraine. White Russia=Belarus. Carpatho-Russia=Ruthenia.

The centerpiece is a monument recalling the discovery of a small Marian icon of stone at Zyrovicy (Жыро́вічы, Zhirovichi) in 1470. Shepherd boys found a pear tree glowing, and the glow was from the oval icon.

"More honorable than the cherubim, And more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim, In virginity you bore God the Word; True Mother of God, we magnify you."

Mutter und Vater

Mother and Father and a rolling stone

three on top at Monroe street;

pair of Pelz at Erie Street Cemetery

In Cleveland, there had been many people German born. German is a nationality, not a state; for depending on the time there were several German states. In the United States, the most common ethnic heritage is German. Now, for some people these German immigrants arrived in America long enough ago, that there is little self-identification with that past to-day. But, at one time it was the most taught and spoken non-English language in the United States. There were neighborhoods in many cities, and also farming communities which were mono-lingual teutonic. Pennsylvania Dutch was a misunderstanding of 'Deutsch', what the Germans call German.

at Riverside

The Germans came from eastern France, from Austria, several states (Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hanover, Hesse and others) that were incorporated into Prussian Germany, and elsewhere. On some stones these birth lands are listed.

A mile south of Monroe Street Cemetery is Riverside Cemetery. It was opened some years after the War for the Union. The west side robber barons were buried there. At that point, the clientele at Monroe skewed poorer. Riverside has many impressive monuments.

The inscription, supra, is in Riverside. This couple was born in the, then, independent Hessen-Darmstadt, he from Bingen-am-Rhein. Caroline Norton wrote a poem, "Bingen on the Rhein", published in 1847. It was set to music, a few times. It was rewritten a few times. One short rewrite is the 'Legend of the Rebel Soldier', where the hero dies in a "dreary Yankee prison". It was a rewrite of an Irish version, to the tune of "Rolling Home to Dear Old Ireland".

In a dreary British prison where an Irish rebel lay,
By his side a priest was standing ere his soul should pass away,
And he faintly murmured "Father" as he clasped him by the hand,
"Tell me this before I die: shall my soul pass through Ireland?

The original Norton ballade had seven stanzas of eight lines, each one ending "...Bingen on the Rhein".

A SOLDIER of the Legion lay dying in Algiers,
There was a lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears;
But a comrade stood beside him, while his lifeblood ebbed away,
And bent with pitying glances, to hear what he might say.
The dying soldier faltered, and he took that comrade's hand,
And he said, "I nevermore shall see my own, my native land:
Take a message, and a token, to some distant friends of mine,
For I was born at Bingen, -- at Bingen on the Rhine. ...

in Monroe Street Cemetery

Some stones say 'Mutter' (Mother) und 'Vater' (Father). Here there are two pair. A double pedestal with bolster stones, and a twin pair (one knocked off). They were laid out almost as pillows upon beds. The first pair is of Muellers, (Miller in English, very common Surname in both languages). Other common markings on these stones are the abbreviations 'geb.' and 'gest.' for geboren (born) and gestorben for died. They also say 'ruhe sanft' (rest gently).
After 1918 (WWI) the German inscriptions become rare. In this pair at Monroe Street, die Mutter war im Jahre 1960 geboren und gestorben im Jahre 1916; the Father was born in 1844 and died in 1928.

Riverside Cemetery

Cleveland's Riverside Cemetery (1876) wanted to be the West Side's Lake View. It has some pleasant landscaping, and two beautiful 19th century buildings, and some fine monuments. It has suffered some vandalism, some missing digits on statues.

Part of it was taken for freeways. From the Belarussian section one can look over the highway, and see downtown, and immediately next to the Jennings Freeway is where the Otis Steel Riverside works had been, which Jones-Laughlin bought in 1942, and eventually became a shopping centre.

It is in the most part a lovely park and resting grounds. What i could not stomach was 'Babyland': the graves of children festooned with toys, and enough junk to fill a squadron of Christmas trees. It was gruesome, and kitsch, and sad in a sick way. Don't go down that drive, if you don't have to.

1896-97 Gatehouse and office, outside walls of Massachusetts brownstone

This was on a large block monument. In English, this is just a surname; but this a German name, it translates as 'Devil'. When they were handing out names, who really wanted this one? The plant in the 'U' is a thistle, an emblem of the Scots.
Daykin Lion. I wonder how many kids got a kick out of this one, or were afeared of it? John Daykin was a Yorkshireman, who became a railroader. He was a conductor on Lincoln's funeral train. A canny man, he used his travel to scout for real estate opportunities.
Leonard Schlather was one of the many beer barons buried in this boneyard. He was brewing in Cleveland before the War for Union. His brewery was once the largest in Cleveland. From brewing he went on to make money in salooning, and banking. He sold out to the Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing (which was a merger of 11 brewers in 1897) in 1902, and which lasted into the 1960s. He †1918, just before Prohibition. His brewery building is now owned by a very successful, former microbrewery.

He has the most impressive mausoleum in the park. Here you can see three fine medallions, and stone scroll carving.

There are eight brewers (including: Leisy, Gehring, Hoffman, Mueller, Muth) buried in Riverside. Some were born in Germany. It was another German brewer, from Iowa, who the Republicans, and millionaires ran to beat Tom Johnson in 1910. Hermann Baehr stayed for one two year term. He was secretary-treasurer of Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing, a bank executive, a high ranking mason, and a close friend of Mark Hanna (the Karl Rove of his day). He went on to Los Angeles.