The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Vandals hit historic Charleston Cemetery
Police are investigating vandalism to headstones at Lorain’s historic Charleston Cemetery, which sits in the 1100 block of West Sixth Street.
About 1 a.m., May 3, a neighbor called police to report two people in the cemetery breaking the grave markers there, said Lorain police Detective Sgt. Buddy Sivert.
Officers found at least one smashed on the concrete sidewalk that runs through the cemetery, which sits between West Sixth and Seventh streets.
“It’s hard to tell what all is new damage and what is old damage and what is natural damage,” Sivert said. “Especially at night, it’s hard to tell what’s fresh and what’s not.”
Police are seeking information on two suspects; additional details or descriptions were not available.
Anyone with information should call Lorain police at 440-204-2105.
On May 4, news about the conditions there began to spread via social media.
A $500 reward is being offered for information on the case by Loraine Ritchey, a local historian who publishes an online blog about Lorain history and politics.
At least one headstone clearly had fresh damage to it; Ritchey believes at least one more was broken at the same time.
The freshly damaged headstone marked the final resting place of Marion V. Meeker, who died at age 14.
It appeared she died Dec. 22, 1850, based on her grave marker, but the headstone was cracked in the area where the year was carved.
Marion was the daughter of Barna and Ann Meeker, who were among the founding families of Lorain.
“They took it out of its concrete base — you can see where it was — and smashed it here,” Ritchey said.
She credited the work of historian Diane Wargo-Medina, who researched the lives of those buried there.
The cemetery, established Sept. 15, 1828, has about 40 to 45 occupants from the earliest days of Lorain, which as a village had the name Charleston.
Now it sits among houses, but when it was first platted, the cemetery marked the edge of town, Ritchey said.
“You figure this is probably the oldest tangible history that Lorain has left,” Ritchey said. “Everything else is in a box, in a filing cabinet.”
Some of the headstones are original sandstone that has weathered over time.
A few of the originals have cracked and were repaired, but the stone markers will be weaker at the seams where they were mended.
And, some of the markers are replacement headstones that cost $1,500 a piece, Ritchey said, so it takes time and effort to raise the money for the stone monuments to Lorain’s earliest residents.
“It’s not just like throwing a stone through a window where it’s fifty bucks, a hundred bucks,” Ritchey said.
The graveyard needs additional maintenance, Sivert said, and Ritchey agreed.
Neighbors claimed strong winds could blow over the stones, Sivert said, although Ritchey argued the wind alone likely was not strong enough to damage the markers.
As a city cemetery, Lorain’s Public Property Department is responsible for maintaining the space.
But the city does not have money to cover costs of new headstones, Ritchey said.
Some people suggest having flat markers for the graves, she said.
But those also may be damaged when lawn mowers run over them, Ritchey said.