So, the mystery of the lines on the tombstone has been cleared up and we wish to thank Mrs. Mousseau for her kindness in sending us the letter.

   The Requested Poem

 The poem which a number of our readers requested republication is on the tombstone of Mrs. George Kenderch in the Coumbe cemetery in the town of Richwood. Mrs. Kenderch before her marriage, was Miss Lizzie Whitcomb. She died April 13, 1871, aged 21 years, 3 months and 22 days. The poem was a favorite of hers and was read at her funeral. It follows:

 My youthful friends both small and great
 Stand here and you shall see
 A woeful sight which is a type
 Of what you soon must be.

 I once appeared so fresh and fair
 Among the youthful crowd
 But now behold me dead and cold
 Wrapped in a sable shroud.

 My cheeks once red like roses spread
 My sparkling eyes so gay
 But now you see how 'tis with me
 A lifeless lump of clay.

 When you are dressed all in your best
 In fashion so complete;
 You soon must be as you see me
 Wrapped in a winding sheet.

 When you unto your follies go,
 Remember what I say;
 In a short time, though in your prime,
 You may be called away.

 When unto my grave you go
 That gloomy place to see
 I say to you who stand in view
 Prepare to follow me.

 Now I am gone, I can't return;
 No more of me you'll see,
 But it is true that all of you
 Must shortly follow me.

 It is a long poem to be carved upon a stone, and not a large stone at that. The elements have worn away some of the letters so they are hard to make out. Time, wind rain and the sun will, in another few years, so wear the nicely carved letters to such a state that they can no longer be read for it will be 86 years this April since relatives and friends gathered together in the Coumbe cemetery to lay a loved one away.

 Future stories of the cemeteries will have to wait a short time before appearing in these columns, how long depends upon the weather. Last fall illness prevented the writer of these stories from visiting a number of burying grounds which we had in mind and now, to continue the "Tales The Tombstones Tell," will depend upon the coming of spring which will enable the writer to once again scan the monuments and markers and find something of interest for you.

Page 82 

 Among the cemeteries to be visited is the Basswood, Sabin, Sylvan and several smaller ones here and there about the county. There are perhaps ten or a dozen of them smaller burying grounds which should have something of historic interest. We have been to all of them at one time or another but made no notes. There are also several long forgotten, long neglected and long unused cemeteries where pioneers, soldiers, citizens of the long ago, sleep away the years. To these we hope to go when spring rolls 'round and the countryside awakens from its winter slumber.

 Why visit the cemeteries? The reason is best stated in a poem clipped years ago from a newspaper and it reads as follows:

  I have become a stranger in the town where I was born -
  Like so many pages from an old book torn.
  Wandering along the old familiar ways,
  My eyes look out and meet
  An alien gaze.
  One by one the old and well loved faces
  Are gone - and new ones take their places.
  Out in the churchyard where the roadways cross
  I do not feel this heavy sense of loss -
  A well remembered name upon a stone,
  Another, then another, I had known;
  I have become a stranger upon a once familiar street,
  But I have old friends waiting
  Where the crossroads meet.
 

S. F.

Page 83

Tales The Tombstones Tell - Republican Observer - May 2, 1957

 Just across the highway from the English Ridge church and school house, is the English Ridge cemetery, where rest the pioneers of that section of the town of Marshall.

 English Ridge is so named because the early settlers of that area came from England back in the days of long ago. Some of the early comers were the Grahams, Bannisters, Moons and Harris. Many of these families are buried in this cemetery and other familiar names which appear upon the stones are Richards, Davis, Dillingham, Minett, Cooper, Hewitt, Carlton, Reed, Unbehaun, Malpress, Hilleshiem, McCann, Richardson, Lowry.

 Among the early settlers in that area were William Minett and John Graham, both natives of England who came to Richland county in 1853. They came from Rock county where they took up settlement earlier. Both entered land on Horse Creek. They or members of their families are buried in the English Ridge cemetery as is Thomas Graham. Thomas, according to his tombstone, was born in England and where in 1851 he was married to Elizabeth Malpress. They came to America the same year and to Richland county in 1854.

 William Minett, a native of Maves, England, was born April 11, 1828 and at the age of 21 he came to America and from Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1853 to Richland county. In 1852 he was married to Mary A. Graham and she died in 1863, leaving six children. He was again married in 1864 to Maria Moon, the widow of Albert Carlton, and they became the parents of six children. She died in 1903. On her tombstone is this verse:
   O' Mother, first to leave our band,
   Life's song as yet unsung,
   While gray hair gather on our brows
   Thou art forever young,

 A son, Irvin, who died December 11, 1902, at the age of 31, has his name upon the tombstone with the note that he is buried at Osage, Iowa.

 Joseph Moon, another Englishman, lived to a ripe old age. He was born in May, 1812, in Cambridgeshire. He married Sara Richards, also a native of England. They sailed for America in 1851 and it took them six weeks to cross the ocean. They lived in New York for a time and then set out for Wisconsin, taking up their home in Walworth county, remaining until 1855, when they came to Richland county. They were the parents of nine children, one of whom, Maria, became the wife of William Minett. Mrs. Moon died in June, 1880. Mr. Moon passed on April 10, 1893, at the age of 80 years.

 William Richards, born in England in 1816, was another of the pioneers of English Ridge. His wife, was also born in England, the date of her birth being July 11, 1823. Her maiden name was Mary Minett and their marriage took place January 19, 1846. They came to America in 1850 and to Richland county in 1855. Like the others who came in 1855, they built and lived for a few years in a log house, later building frame homes. On the monument for Mr. Richards is a verse which reads:

   A loved one has gone from out circle,
   On earth we will meet him no more,
   He has gone to his home in Heaven
   And all his afflictions are o'er.

Page 84

 Mr. Richards died November 2, 1873, aged 62 years. His wife Mary, died March 10, 1898, and on her gravestone it says:

   Weep not for me my children dear,
   I am not dead but sleeping here.
   I was not yours but Christ's alone,
   He loved me best and took me home.

 Thomas Parsons, born in London, England, May 12, 1812, came to America in 1841, located in Canada, where in 1843 he married Mary Harris.

 John Harris, his wife Mary, and their son William, are buried in this cemetery. Mr. Harris, so the tombstone says, died February 17, 1889, at the age of 94 years, four months and 15 days. His wife died the year previous, March 25, 1888, aged 93 years, 10 months and six days. They lived to an honored old age. Their son, William, noted above, died January 9, 1862, at the age of 22. Mr. Harris was a Civil War veteran, a member of Co. F 15th New York Cavalry. Other members of the Harris family are buried there. On a broken stone all that can be read is this:

   "Adopted son of J. and E. Harris, died June 26, 1878."

 Another of the Harris family is Samuel Harris, who was born in Canada February 16, 1844, coming here in 1855. He married Laura Gorsuch in 1866 and she died in 1877. His second wife was Penina Beeman, and she passed on in 1889.

 David Reed and his wife are among those who were laid to rest in this burying ground. Mr. Reed died on March 24, 1887, aged 79 years, and his wife Susanna, died March 9, 1886.

 John Barrett, who died August 22, 1883, found rest in the English Ridge cemetery. John had one more than ordinary bit of excitement during his lifetime. He was a constable at the time of mob violence in Richland Center in September, 1868, which ended in the lynching of a 15 year old lad who was charged with the murder of a lady residing in the town of Dayton. Barrett as a constable, together with others, started in quest of the boy accused of the crime, located him near Ferryville and brought him to Richland Center where he was lodged in jail. On the afternoon of the day of the lady's funeral a mob formed and marched to the jail, demanded the prisoner. This being denied the mob stormed the jail, placed a rope around the neck of the lad and hung him to a tree nearby. Excitement was at high pitch and as an officer of the law Mr. Barrett and others were in the midst of it all in an effort to protect the young man and let the law take its course.

 Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bannister, long time residents of Horse Creek, also of English birth, rest in the cemetery. Mrs. Bannister was a Graham. Mr. Bannister, before coming to Richland county, resided in Milwaukee where he was employed as a boilermaker. Their sons, John and Alvin, continued to live on the farm until their death. The sons were buried in the Richland Center cemetery.

 There is a stone in the burying ground for Rev. J. Marks, who died October 2, 1903, at the age of 74. His wife died on January 19, 1893, aged 72. Rev. Marks died at West Port, in the town of Richwood, of a heart attack in the church. His body was taken to the English Ridge cemetery where he was laid to rest on October 5th. It is of interest to note the difference of funeral costs between 1903 and the present. The undertaker of Rev. Marks was John S. McKinney of Excelsior, and it was he that took the body to English Ridge for burial. The entire cost of the funeral was only $37, which sum, Mr. McKinney reports, was paid in cash.

 Page 85

 The English Ridge cemetery is not far from the Unbehaun farm. Henry T. Unbehaun, born January 14, 1827, and died November 24, 1904, is buried close to the gate by the side of his wife Kathrine Wacker Unbehaun, born Sep. 21, 1834, and died December 30, 1910. He was a native of Germany and came to America when he was 20 years old. He met Kathrine Wacker, also a native of Germany. They were married at Highwood, Illinois, in 1852, and went to Crawford county where they remained a few years and then came to Richland county. Mr. Unbehaun served in the Civil War as a cook. They became the parents of ten children.

 Another of the Unbehaun family to find final rest in this cemetery  close by the church was George Unbehaun, born September 17, 1870, and died April 2, 1951. His wife, Augusta, is also buried there. She was born February 5, 1912. They were married March 27, 1900 and became the parents of four children; one daughter, Florence, died in August, 1928, and she is buried by the side of her parents.

 A stone for Moses C. Davis marks his grave. Mr. Davis was born in 1841 and died in 1899. He was well known throughout that section.

 There are a number of Civil War veterans buried in this cemetery, Lorenzo Dillingham, Arthur S. Ladd and others whose graves are just marked by G.A.R. emblems. One World War I veteran, Ralph Parr, has his grave marked with a government stone. He was born, so the stone says, on November 15, 1890, and died on his birthday, November 15, 1948.

 This little cemetery is located in section 20, town of Marshall, on the farm formerly owned, we believe by Glen Richards. It is located in a field west of county trunk A south of the side road which leads west to the Sabin fish pond. It is known as the Lowry cemetery, for what reason we do not know. There are only two tombstones visible. One reads

   To the memory of
   our dear Mother
   Marandy Bailey
   Born June 27, 1799,
   Died August 26, 1861.

 The other is for "Sgt. W. M. Bailey, Co. b 20th Wis. Vol. Inft." That is all the marking on the stone but from records we learn he enlisted from the town of Marshall, July 15, 1862, was first a private, then a corporal and then a sergeant. He was discharged in December, 1864, on account of illness. It appears likely that Marandy was the mother of the soldier boy. Others may be buried in this cemetery but we saw no markers for them.

S. F.

** Note: Birth year for Augusta Unbehaun was 1873, not 1912, she died in 1912, the year her daughter Florence was born. D.B.T.