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Sons of the American Revolution Mahoning Valley Chapter performs an ongoing special mission, led by the local chapter President Jonathan Guerrier --Making sure the Valley's oldest heroes don't fade away with time.
Guerrier said his organization began to locate and restore grave sites a few years ago. They started at the Old Burnsetter Cemetery on Wilcox Road in Austintown.
"There are six Revolutionary War soldiers buried there," Guerrier said. "They are buried in that cemetery. They fought and died for this country. We need to honor them in some way."
One of the big concerns is locating the graves. In many cases, the type of stones used in that era were porous, although easy to engrave. Over time, these grave markers, referred to as tablet stones, became worn and moss covered. Many fell and broke into pieces.
Guerrier said of the stones he's located, many had fallen and the names were barely legible. The descendants had moved out of the area and even the state, leaving no one to care for the individual family grave site. Township maintenance crews kept the grass mowed and tried to keep the cemetery clean, but no stone restoration efforts were undertaken.
This provided an opening for Guerrier to take on the monumental task of recognizing America's heroes.
GETTING STARTED
"We started in the Old Burnstetter Cemetery in Austintown," he said. "About a year ago we began work in Cornersburg Cemetery."
Guerrier said he is looking to choose one cemetery at a time, making sure it has been covered before moving on to another. The Old Burnstetter Cemetery is finished, and the nine Revolutionary War soldiers graves are marked properly and honored.
As the work at Burnstetter wrapped up, Guerrier moved over to the Cornersburg Cemetery off Tippecanoe Road. The cemetery was being cared for by Austintown for many years.
The Cornersburg Baptist Church that sits north of the cemetery actually is on the border of Austintown and Canfield, according to Canfield sexton Bob Burkett.
"I have heard the pastor there say he would stand in Canfield and preach to the people in Austintown," he said.
Burkett said it is his understanding that years ago, Canfield Township had a minimal crew to work in the cemeteries. At that time, Canfield Township paid a small amount to Austintown to let it care for the cemetery. Last year, Austintown turned it back over to Canfield. Burkett took over the cemetery at the beginning of this year.
"We've fixed close to 20 headstones so far," he said. "Since the ground was hard during the drought, we were able to get our equipment into the cemetery to lift the heavy stones that have fallen and fix the ones that were leaning."
Burkett added that he has a fellow come in who does headstone repair using a special glue.
"The only problem is, we have other work to do in the township," he said. "We can only dedicate so much time. It will take a few years to get the cemetery to where it should be."
He said several trees need to come down and these have been marked. He hopes that will protect future gravestone damage.
"It was refreshing to see Canfield Township doing all this," Guerrier said.
UNMARKED GRAVES
No matter what cemetery Guerrier is working in, the problems are the same: locating unmarked graves.
In the Revolutionary War era, graves were marked with the limestone or sandstone markers worn by weather and time. Others were marked with engraved wood markers that didn't last. At Cornersburg, those facts are obvious. The row of graves that contains a Revolutionary War soldier had long stretches of grass. There are likely graves along the stretch, but their identities were unknown.
Guerrier said he had to rely on records at the Ohio History Connection. "Records show their name, date of birth, date of death, their service record and where they are buried. Some records go as far as to say who they served under."
Once a soldier's grave has been located, Guerrier and the SAR can order a polished black granite stone, etched with all the soldier's information. The gravesite is prepped with a small concrete base, and when the granite stone arrives, it is glued into place. If the original stone is still there, it is left in place and cleaned.
"It costs us around $200 per stone," he said. "That includes the etching. It is worth it as that stone will look the same 100 years from now."
To cover the cost of the stones, the local SAR chapter relies on donations from the community and from funds raised during an annual golf outing at the Youngstown Country Club each May.
As more stones are bought and placed, Guerrier and the SAR hold a ceremony to honor the soldiers. On Saturday, he held a ceremony with the SAR and some family members. Being honored were Revolutionary War soldiers Pvt. David Woodruff (also War of 1812); Nicholas Osborn, who was a captain in the Virginia Militia; and Pvt. John Osborn, who served in the Connecticut Militia.
"David Woodruff had descendants fly in from Washington State for Saturday's ceremony," Guerrier said.
OHIO'S ROLE
For the future, Guerrier said he and the local SAR chapter will continue the efforts by taking one cemetery at a time and making sure all the soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and, in some cases, the Civil War, are recognized and honored with a proper grave stone.
"Our nation owes its life to the men and women whose names we may never know," he said. "Because of this project, we are going to know those names."
Guerrier said Ohio is second in the U.S. for the largest number of Revolutionary War graves. He said that was due to the fact many soldiers were paid -- not in money, but in land in Ohio.
Guerrier's personal Revolutionary War connection is through his sixth great-grandfather, James Critchlow, who served in the Pennsylvania Regiment. He said Critchlow built a log cabin in Renfrew, Pa., that is now part of a Girl Scout camp.
"They use the cabin as a craft cabin," he said. "How neat is that?"