Weekly update, part 2: cemetery walk

 

We had to bundle up for the annual cemetery walk on Sunday afternooon. 

The Zion City Cemetery was founded in 1902 and renamed Mt. Olivet in 1904. The first burial was November 4, 1902. As of September 20, 2023, there are 15,266 people buried here.

(This entry will tell you more about Zion's origin as a religious community in the early 20th century.)  

I portrayed Dorothy Peterson. She was born in Hector, MN, in 1897. Her family came to Zion in 1906. She went to Chicago Music College and became an actress on Broadway. She went to to Hollywood and made her first movie in 1930. . She made more than 60 feature films, typecast as long-suffering wives and mothers. Among the credits: Dark Victory (with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart), Mr. Skeffington (Bette Davis), Saboteur (Alfred Hitchcock). She was in several TV shows. Her last role was an episode of the Patty Duke Show in 1964. She died in New York in 1979. Wikipedia says she's buried at Mt. Olivet but the cemetery records do not list her -- the family plot has her parents and her older brother. Who should we believe?

Jan portrayed Ellen Lloyd, the nurse-midwife who delivered 2500 babies in Zion over six decades. Her husband Ken  portrayed John George Nicholson who was a mechanic and engineer who came to Zion to work in the lace factory

Mike portrayed his grandfather who headed Zion's public works department   Mike's wife Donna (not pictured) portrayed George's wife (Mike's grandmother) Sara.  

Kurt  portrayed Walter Hurd Clendinen who was mayor of Zion for two decades and also general manager of Zion Industries.

John portrayed Dr. James Brister, DDS. Brister was the first Black graduate of the University of Pennyslvania dental school. Dr. Dowie asked him to come to Zion -- though Dowie's faith healing principles prohibited medical doctors, the people of Zion still needed dental treatment! Brister's grave was unmarked until 2018. The Zion Historical Society held a fundraiser to erect a grave marker.

On the right: Sue portrayed Gladys Warren (Sue's husband's great-grandmother). The Warrens had six children and owned the Leader Department Store (later Ace Hardware) for generations.  Sue and her husband were the original owners of our house. And Sue lived in my hometown until she was 6 -- in conversation yesterday we learned that we knew some of the same people.