Just when I think I've found all there is to find about the graves of Mary Finley and her six-month-old son, Harry, both of whom died in 1857, something else turns up. So I paid a another visit Wednesday afternoon to the small iron-paled enclosure in the far northwest corner of the Chariton Cemetery that contains their joint tombstone.
Because of the fence, the inscription is difficult to photograph. It reads, "Mary, Wife of Henry Finley & Daughter of J.W. Stanbery of Ohio, Died June 18, 1857, in her 22nd Year" and "Also their son, Harry, Died Aug. 11, 1857, Aged 6 Mo."
I told much of Mary's story in a 2012 post entitled "Mary and Harry Finley --- and their fence" and you're welcome to click on the link and read it. To summarize, Henry Finley, 19, and Mary Stanbery, 20, were married on June 4, 1856, in Morgan County, Ohio. That fall, they came by ox-drawn wagon to the prairie west of where Derby now is located, in Lucas County, and built a cabin. Their son, Harry, was born there during February of 1857.
Four months later, Mary died and little Harry followed her to the grave two months later. It's not clear why they were buried in Chariton, a considerable distance from their prairie home. Perhaps Henry wanted his family to be buried in a settled place --- and there was no Derby then --- or perhaps Mary was receiving medical treatment in Chariton when she died. Whatever the case, she was buried first in the old cemetery west of the square on what now is the site of Columbus School.
Henry, having lost his family, returned to Ohio and eventually remarried, began a new family, relocated during the 1860s to Mills County in far southwest Iowa and survived until 1927, 70 years after Mary's and Harry's death, when he died at the home of a daughter in Washington state.
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During 1864 or soon thereafter the decision was made to close the cemetery just west of the square and everyone buried there was disinterred and reburied in the new Chariton Cemetery, developed by private investors during 1863 and 1864 on what sometimes was called South Hill, overlooking the Chariton River valley. Mary and Harry were reburied in the extreme northwest corner of the new cemetery in a location that was not especially choice --- most likely because no one remained to look after their interests.
They easily could have been forgotten there, but some years later --- the tombstone that marks their graves looks as if it might date from the 1870s or 1880s --- a relative arrived in Chariton from Ohio, asked about the grave, was shown its location and arranged to have the tombstone and its fence put into place. I didn't know until now who that relative was, however.
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Move forward now about 66 years from the time Mary and Harry were buried in Chariton. Ownership of the Chariton Cemetery had passed from the original stockholders into the hand of Dr. James Edington Stanton, then by inheritance to his son, Dr. John H. Stanton, and finally --- in 1922 --- to Gertrude Stanton, widow of Dr. John.
By this time, there was considerable unrest about the condition of the cemetery, maintenance and some of the business practices of the owners. And so, during May of 1924, the city forced purchase of the property --- the cemetery proper and 15 undeveloped acres on the downslope to the river bottom --- from Mrs. Stanton for $10,000.
Enter Oren E. Lamb, then 55, employed by the newly appointed city cemetery board to as manager. Over the next few years and operating with relatively little money, Lamb --- backed by his board and with the services of a landscape architect --- redeveloped the cemetery into something very much like the park-like setting we enjoy now --- an historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At the time, well-managed cemeteries generally had perpetual care endowments --- established by setting aside a percentage of revenue from lot sales and other sources to generate investment income --- but the Chariton Cemetery did not. The Stantons had operated it as a business, pocketing all that remained after expenses had been covered.
Mr. Lamb and the cemetery board set out to develop an endowment by establishing lot maintenance fees and attempting to collect them from lot owners. The annual fee was modest, but perpetual care could be ensured by paying $50 for a whole lot or $25 for a fractional lot. More than a dozen people could be buried on a whole lot, more if a shoehorn were employed. Finding out who owned the old lots and attempting to contact descendants involved a lot of labor.
By 1927, Lamb was able to report to the board that there were 1,245 original and fractional lots in the cemetery, perpetual care had been paid for 260, annual care fees were being paid for 210 and, for 775 lots, no income had been received. As of that year, $10,000 had been collected and invested in bonds and $732.60 in cash was on hand in the perpetual care fund.
Which brings us back to Mary and Harry Finley. Somewhere in the Stanton records, Mr. Lamb discovered who in the Stanbery family had paid for the tombstone and fence on their graves and wrote to McConnelsville, Ohio, the address he had, suggesting that perpetual care contributions would be in order. His letter was forwarded to Dallas, Texas, and during November of 1927 he received the following somewhat cranky letter from Lizzie Aldermann, who had eventually received the bill. The letter was published in The Chariton Leader of Dec. 6, 1927:
By this time, there was considerable unrest about the condition of the cemetery, maintenance and some of the business practices of the owners. And so, during May of 1924, the city forced purchase of the property --- the cemetery proper and 15 undeveloped acres on the downslope to the river bottom --- from Mrs. Stanton for $10,000.
Enter Oren E. Lamb, then 55, employed by the newly appointed city cemetery board to as manager. Over the next few years and operating with relatively little money, Lamb --- backed by his board and with the services of a landscape architect --- redeveloped the cemetery into something very much like the park-like setting we enjoy now --- an historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At the time, well-managed cemeteries generally had perpetual care endowments --- established by setting aside a percentage of revenue from lot sales and other sources to generate investment income --- but the Chariton Cemetery did not. The Stantons had operated it as a business, pocketing all that remained after expenses had been covered.
Mr. Lamb and the cemetery board set out to develop an endowment by establishing lot maintenance fees and attempting to collect them from lot owners. The annual fee was modest, but perpetual care could be ensured by paying $50 for a whole lot or $25 for a fractional lot. More than a dozen people could be buried on a whole lot, more if a shoehorn were employed. Finding out who owned the old lots and attempting to contact descendants involved a lot of labor.
By 1927, Lamb was able to report to the board that there were 1,245 original and fractional lots in the cemetery, perpetual care had been paid for 260, annual care fees were being paid for 210 and, for 775 lots, no income had been received. As of that year, $10,000 had been collected and invested in bonds and $732.60 in cash was on hand in the perpetual care fund.
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Which brings us back to Mary and Harry Finley. Somewhere in the Stanton records, Mr. Lamb discovered who in the Stanbery family had paid for the tombstone and fence on their graves and wrote to McConnelsville, Ohio, the address he had, suggesting that perpetual care contributions would be in order. His letter was forwarded to Dallas, Texas, and during November of 1927 he received the following somewhat cranky letter from Lizzie Aldermann, who had eventually received the bill. The letter was published in The Chariton Leader of Dec. 6, 1927:
Dallas, Texas
Nov. 2, 1927
Mr. O.E. Lamb
Chariton, Iowa
Dear Sir,
Your letter was forwarded to me from McConnelsville, Ohio. We have been living in Dallas for five years.
This lady, Mary Finley, was a sister to my father. While he lived I suppose he kept up the payments for care (he passed away in 1922) of her family. None are living and as far as I know none of her husband's family.
Henry Finley I never saw. I do not know of anyone who would be interested in keeping up the lot; however, for my father's sake, I am going to send you a check for years 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1927 and suggest that as she died before I was born, and I am 66, you do as they are doing here. Where there are lots or part of lots on which the graves are as old as hers must be, you remove the stone, sell it to the monument works of your town. They polish them down and use to an advantage.
Sell the lot. There is nothing in the grave as new graves can be dug beside it. Put the money in your fund, cancel the names on your plat, resell it the same as though there had never been a grave on the lot. There is absolutely no one to take a particle of interest in the lot. I have some cousins scattered around. They are not able to keep up the payments.
As to Henry Finley, I never knew whether he remarried or what became of him except I heard years ago that he was dead. My father put the stone up at Chariton and you have my consent to do what you please with either lot or stone, as I do not intend to pay any thing more on it.
Yours,
Mrs. Lizzie Aldermann
So now we know that it was the crotchety Mrs. Aldermann's father, Elias Millen Stanbery (1833-1922), who marked the graves in Chariton of his sister, Mary, and nephew, Harry.
Elias was three years older than Mary and, by profession, a lawyer. He also during his later years generally was recognized as the richest man in Morgan County, Ohio, having amassed a considerable fortune in real estate, banking, business investment and railroading.
And he obviously remembered his younger sister fondly and went to considerable trouble to ensure that her grave was marked and that she would be remembered.
Mrs. Aldermann's advice to the contrary, the Chariton Cemetery management had no intention of disturbing the graves of her aunt and cousin. So Mary and her infant son continue to rest in peace --- and spark the curiosity of passersby --- in their somewhat remote corner of the old burying ground.
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Elias was three years older than Mary and, by profession, a lawyer. He also during his later years generally was recognized as the richest man in Morgan County, Ohio, having amassed a considerable fortune in real estate, banking, business investment and railroading.
And he obviously remembered his younger sister fondly and went to considerable trouble to ensure that her grave was marked and that she would be remembered.
Mrs. Aldermann's advice to the contrary, the Chariton Cemetery management had no intention of disturbing the graves of her aunt and cousin. So Mary and her infant son continue to rest in peace --- and spark the curiosity of passersby --- in their somewhat remote corner of the old burying ground.
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