Old City Cemetery Conneaut

The City Cemetery of Conneaut, Ohio is located on Liberty Street.  The drive was originally a horse and carriage drive, so it is very narrow and now it is a brick drive into the cemetery and turns to a very narrow dirt drive.  We parked the van on the street. 

This cemetery is the oldest in the City of Conneaut and is sadly abused.  Parts of it looks “maintained” and other parts look abandoned.  It is located in town and on a busy street so it is hard for me to imagine the callousness of the residents.  This is their history and it is slowly slipping away.  Some damage has been done by the weather, and some monuments are missing.  There are a few monuments that have been tipped over on their faces.  

Two of the residents of the Old City Cemetery is Captain Gilman Appleby and his brother, Captain Calvin Appleby.

Captain Calvin W. Appleby's first experience as boatman was on the Lady of the Lake.  He afterward ran on the packet J. G. King, the brig. Lucy A. Blossom, and the steamers Indiana and Sultana.  The whole of his active life was spent on the lakes, and for many years he was one of the most popular commanders running between Buffalo and Chicago.  He was an intimate friend of Benjamin Wade and Joshua Giddings.  Mr. Wade was his attorney in one of the first suits the Captain ever had, the litigation concerning Conneaut harbor.  This suit was with the Fords and Captain Appleby and the defendant.

Captain Gilman Appleby, also a native of Bethlehem, New Hampshire, was born on August 29, 1806.  He built and commanded both the Sultana and the ill-fated Lady Elgin.  He also commanded the North America and the Constitution.  After he built and took command of the Lady Elgin, his brother became captain of the Sultana.  This vessel was described as the "Buffalo and Chicago steam packet Sultana," and was used chiefly in carrying passengers.  The gangway to the Sultana (like the gates to the upper sanctuary) was open night and day for the reception of the able sons of Ham, and the disembarking, too, if occasion required it, to insure the safety of such passengers on "the underground steamboat railway,"  Captain Calvin himself being the captain conductor.  Many were the negroes carried safely over, and the Sultana could have carried as many more had opportunity offered.  The kind and large-hearted Captain was a man of wonderful expedients in providing ways and means to lend a helping hand to every one who was in trouble.  Gilman Appleby was commander of the famous Caroline at the time she was captured by the enemy on December 20, 1837.  The fate of this vessel - how she was set on fire and allowed to drift over Niagara - is familiar to all readers of history.  The captain and crew escaped.

These brothers, Gilman and Calvin, were both self-made men, beginning their careers on small vessels and working and wining their way to promotion and the high positions they occupied.  Many were the times they distinguished themselves for their bravery.  Indeed, they were ready for every emergency.  In all their long experience they never lost a life nor did they ever have an accident.  Gilman was at one time commanding the North America on Lake Erie, and when near Dunkirk, New York, the vessel was caught in a heavy storm and was in danger of being dashed against the beach.  The Captain knew this would be certain death to all on board.  All the steam the vessel was allowed to carry was applied.  Still she was in danger.  Only one thing could save her.  Apply more steam.  But would the strength of her boiler admit this?  Taking the benefit of the doubt, and against the best judgment of the engineer, he held down the safety valve with his own weight, and more steam applied, and thus withstood the storm, landing his passengers safe in port.  Taken From The Webpage Conneaut, Ohio History & Genealogy.

Like I have always maintained “Take time to learn the history of the town and one of the steps in doing so is to visit the cemetery.  One of the residents of the old city cemetery is Captain Devereaux who died in the battle of Spotsylvania Court House.  Like most of the cemeteries I have visited the residents are lawyers, veterans, teachers, doctors, housewives, house husbands, and children that continue to touch the hearts of those that visit them.  It is my biggest pet peeve to see these silent cities desecrated.

To view pictures of the Old City Cemetery click here.

“I take these little lambs said he  And lay them in my breast  Protection they shall find in me  In me be ever blest  Death may the hand of life unloose  But can't dissolve my love  Millions of infants souls compose the family above.”