Caldwell County MO Archives History .....COMMENTARY OF THE OLD OR ROHRBAUGH CEMETERY IN HAMILTON, MO. 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Karen Walker khw4@yahoo.com September 4, 2008, 12:48 pm

COMMENTARY OF THE OLD OR ROHRBAUGH CEMETERY IN HAMILTON, MO.
	Narrators:  Miss Emma Brown and Mrs. H. Eldredge

     With these narrators, the interviewer walked thru the old cemetery at the 
edge of Hamilton, and while walking over sunken graves and holes which once 
held graves, she absorbed much early Hamilton history.  The old cemetery dates 
back to 1868 and is now in very bad shape.  It contains many graves not 
marked, some of which never were marked, some marked with a wood slab, long 
since decayed.  In some cases, the stones have been taken off by pillagers.
     Here lies Wm. Elliott, a blacksmith of the 60s and later his first wife 
Athalinda who died 1877.  The Elliot family lived in what is now one of the 
town's oldest homes, the Marion Ridings' house.  Bertha Evans died 1860, by 
falling into a tub of boiling suds.  She was a child of Ad Evans, who later 
kept hotel at Kidder and later yet was a commission merchant in Chicago.  
Daniel Gage, whose stone shows a Bible, was a missionary in foreign fields and 
died here while on a visit to relatives of Pickells.  James A. Hill a young 
man has the only stone in the Hill lot, altho his Hill grandparents also lie 
there.  They lived east of town in the so-called Prouty farms.  Casper 
Kauffman of Nettleton has wife Henrietta there, unmarked, and his brother has 
two babes, unmarked.  Nettleton then had no burial place.
     Here is the Arms lot where three soldiers of the war of 1812 are buried, 
Phineas Arms, and Wm. and Asa Page.  See the paper on the Arms family.  
     The Frank, Sarah, George Putnam monument is one of the most pretentious 
monuments, but it is down and no one of the family is near or even left on 
earth to see about putting it up.  George S. Putnam was the owner of the 
stockyards scales for many years.  It is down toward the south end, and is 
badly overgrown by undergrowth and young trees.  Both his first wife and his 
son died in 1875.
     The Niles family buried there, Henrietta wife of John dying 1878 and John 
having died earlier.  They are grandparents of ex-mayor Clarence Greene of 
Hamilton.
     The earlier Van Slyke family lie there .  Bertha, daughter of P.J. Van 
Slyke (who came here 1868) died 1870.  Two wives of E.E. Van Slyke are here.  
The early Walker family lie here.  Vic was the first grain elevator man here.  
His father, Jas. O. Walker died 1871 aged 52.
     Rebecca Sell daughter of Geo. Witwer lies here.  The Witwer family were 
important here in the 60s and 70s.  He had a wagon-shop on south Main.  
Another of his daughters, Dora died 1868 and was among the first buried in 
this ground.  The Sell family came from Daviess county and lie in the Sell 
graveyard.
     The best kept lot in the old cemetery is the Gee lot where lie Chas. son 
of Israel Gee died 1870 and Israel's wife Deborah Covert Gee died 1878.  
Israel Gee himself did not die till 1887 and he was the last of the Gee family 
to be buried there, but Mrs. Belle Anderson and Henry Gee family see that the 
place is kept up being grandchildren of old Israel, one of the early mayors of 
Hamilton.
     Other graves which these women recognized as of old friends were Harriet 
Barker died 1869 and her brother Simeon, whose stones are badly shattered.  
Mattie Bryant died 1887 aged ten and her parents Henry Bryant and wife Mary 
Bryant who died 1876.  The Bryants were pioneers here before the Civil war in 
Gomer township, but they have no stones.  The Burton children (death dates 
1869, 1869, 1874) were grandchildren of the pioneer James McClelland who came 
about 1863.  The same relationship holds for the Anderson children buried 
near, who died 1871 and 1873.
     The Aikens lot contains Leila who died 1874 aged 14 and her parents 
Austin Aiken and his wife Lavilla, who died much later and have no stones.  
They were in humble circumstances, and the mother after the death of Aiken, a 
carpenter, took in washings to support herself.  Leila was quite a popular 
girl.  
       
     The last burial there was of Thomas H. Hare who was buried 1916 long 
after any one else.  The Hare lot was started 1873 when the son Ora aged 2 
died of diphtheria, and the funeral was private and held at night, to prevent 
spread of disease.  Mrs. Hare died about 1900 having been insane for many 
years.  Mr. Hare was one of the town's peculiar characters.  He was a 
photographer here since 1868 
and finally had his gallery on south Main.  He was quite a deep reader and was 
said to be an agnostic; at any rate he could argue for Ingersoll.
     Interviews  1922-4.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/caldwell/history/other/commenta166gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/

File size: 5.1 Kb