Unknown Plot - Grandview Cemetery

Grandview

Grandview Cemetery

GAR Monument

GAR Monument - Grandview Cemetery

High Above

You don't run across too many old shots like this of Grandview Cemetery from the air.

Unknown Plot

Actual photographic look of the Unknown Plot at Grandview from the 1920's.

Note couple of the people standing around. 

Grandview Cemetery

 

An early look at Grandview Cemetery

Grandview Cemetery

This picture which I just got has made my day - so I hurried up and scanned it in for today's post. Very early shot of the old entrance to Grandview Cemetery - when it used Millcreek Road. Knowing that the cemetery opened in 1885 and had their first burial in 1887 and judging the landscape and clothing styles - I would date this between 1887 and no later than the mid 1890's. Bucknell Avenue became the official entrance in 1904. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Top of the gate.

This picture is mounted on very thick cardboard and looks like it hung on a wall. I think either the two men or the young boy were related to people that had it on their wall.

This looks like some type of inscription on the stone of the doorway of the arch - but it's too hard to make out - along with a creepy looking image most likely caused by the weather. At least I hope that is the case....because it kind of reminds me of the Virgin Mary.

This picture was taken in the Spring which helps to really show off some of the features that are long gone - like the fences - which I have never seen pictures of before. All in all - a pretty cool look at this age-old landmark. For a picture of the old Chapin Arch - CLICK HERE.

1889 Flood Memorial - Grandview Cemetery

Spending the evening walking around Grandview Cemetery taking pictures. I saw something on the 1889 Flood Memorial I never noticed before - you can just barely see them on the bottom and middle of the statue - little rocks honoring the graves. Double click on the pictures to enlarge them.

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Someone even took the time to mark all the unknown graves.

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I just think that this is so cool that someone took the time and effort to honor the Unknown Plot.

Chapel at Grandview Cemetery

I think this old picture postcard is so lovely - the Chapel at Grandview Cemetery. 

Soldiers of the Revolution - Johnstown

Old Union Cemetery monument up at Grandview Cemetery.

In memory of our early citizens - buried in this graveyard - whose monuments were destroyed by the flood - May 31, 1889. Erected in Union Cemetery 1898 - moved to present site 1949.

This stone a relic of the old Portage railroad marks the grave of Samuel Cole - a soldier of the Revolutionary War.

He is listed in an 1840 Pension Roll - which says he was born around 1761.

This stone a relic of the old Portage railroad marks the grave of George Lucas - a soldier of the Revolutionary War.

George is listed in the same 1840 Pension Roll - he was born around 1750 and another source I found states that he lived to be 115 years old. Which means he died in 1865 - and lived to see some of his grandsons come back from the Civil War. Pretty cool - if you ask me.

Pvt. Gerald Horner - Killed in Action - WWI

On this day - 98 years ago - a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, setting off a chain of events that would culminate in a world war by August. Some sources list the total number of military and civilian casualties in The Great War at over 35 million - either wounded or killed. Pvt. Gerald Horner of Johnstown is but one of the many soldiers that died - In the War to End All Wars.

The war and it's effects are never very far from my thoughts. I think about it all the time. Some of you will understand completely what I am getting at and others of you will think I'm nuts - but that's ok. The war to me - is both in the present and the past tense. It's almost like there is an invisible line - that every once in a while - you can cross and not realize you are over there - that is until you think about what year it really is - and zap - you get sucked back into the present and the moment is gone and you can't get it back and you can't remember how you got there in the first place.

This post honors a Johnstown boy Gerald Horner who died in France at 23 years old - while serving his country and is buried at Grandview Cemetery. CLICK HERE to see where he is buried. It isn't too often that I doctor pictures up. I think a picture should stand on its own merit. But I think this one just works better in black and white to help you get a better feel of the era.
The following article is courtesy of Cambria County Rootsweb -  http://www.camgenpa.com/news/1922UNK.html:

"A marble statue of Private Gerald Horner, killed overseas on August 9, 1918, which has been placed over his grave in Grandview Cemetery, has attracted great numbers of people to the spot. The statue was erected about the first week in May, and cemetery attendants estimated that since that time over a thousand people have inquired their way to the grave.

Mrs. Elda Sann, of 924 Lemon street, Dale Borough, sister of the deceased soldier, ordered the statue, which was made in Italy, the sculptor using a photograph as a model for his work. The likeness of the statue to Private Horner has been commented upon by many of the people who knew him.
The statue is made of Corio marble, and is spotless white. It is located in the recently added part of the cemetery and it is visible from a great distance. It is the work of a skilled sculptor, and a wonderful piece of art.

Gerald Horner was the son of Nathaniel and Mary Horner, both deceased. He was born December 27, 1895 and he was 23 years old when he was killed. He was drafted into the army February 26, 1918, was sent to Camp Lee, and later transferred to Camp Hancock and Camp Upton before he sailed overseas on May 5, 1918, with Company I, 111th Infantry, which was known as the "Keystone Division." He was in seven battles before he was struck by a six-inch shell at Fismes. Several others were killed by the same shell, and a number wounded. Private Horner was rushed to the hospital, but he died about 20 minutes after he was struck. He was the first Dale boy reported killed in action."

History of Grandview Cemetery

Double click on picture to read a brief history of Grandview Cemetery.

Unknown Plot - Grandview - 1889

Nice vintage postcard sent in by reader Kathy P. of the Plot of the Unknown Dead up at Grandview Cemetery. I am planning a different kind of look back in May on the 1889 Flood. So if any of you readers had ancestors in the flood  - please let me know. What you have to realize is that the so called 'Official' list of the dead - is far from complete - and as I am a kind of rogue historian (anyone that knows me knows why I say that) - I am working getting those not on the list on. My own family had members that died in the Flood (and I have proof) and they are not on the list. Which upsets me. So if you have any stories passed down thru your family - please let me know - those stories are worth more than gold to me. And they are a living link to history.

Chapin Arch

The old Chapin Arch at Grandview Cemetery.