| June 30, 2004
These cemetery photos belonged to my father, George R. Steinmetz,
who was a Seneca County Commissioner at the time. A man by the
name of Ernie Miller became Superintendent of the home in 1953, and it
was then that he brought the deplorable condition of this cemetery to
the attention of the County Commissioners.
I can remember my dad saying that no one, not even the poorest,
should have their grave and those of many others run down and
abandoned. He and the other Commissioners decided to clean up
the mess.
He said that attempts to mow it were frustrated because so many
graves had sunken in. (Very early burials used rough wood boxes and
they eventually rotted and collapsed the graves.) Mr. Miller turned
sheep loose and they pretty much cleared the area. Then graves
were leveled up, the area reseeded and gravestones straightened.
This was accomplished in 1953-54. The photos and years involved
in restoring this cemetery were confirmed by his son, Don. Miller.
Dick Steinmetz
das7z@bright.net
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