View from the top of Amanda Twp. Cemetery

Okay, so I didn’t quite make it back in to finish my family history within a week, but it’s kind of close! Is having to cover school board meetings a legitimate excuse? Didn’t think so. Darn. But, never fear, I am back now to finish this (despite more school board meetings even).

Amanda, Fairfield, Ohio:

The majority of my relatives who are not buried in Green Lawn are out in the little town of Amanda (not Bethlehem). Honestly, Amanda’s a creepy little town (sorry to the people from there I’ve just offended). The first time Megan and I ventured there, I didn’t have good enough directions, so we drove north for a while and I figured we were way out of the way, so we drove back south and actually went through the town. We only saw a couple people the entire time we drove through and everything was just rundown but too put in place, if that makes sense. It was kind of a perfect, rundown town – to use an oxymoron. As it turned out, like usual, if we had just got about a quarter of a mile further north we would have found the cemetery.

Like I said in the last post, I was never fully aware that so many generations of my family were from Ohio. Since I grew up in a military family, we lived all around the country and only a handful of the closer relatives were from Ohio in my mind. Now I’ve realized that while I have yet to find any of my forbearers were officially founders of anywhere, they were pretty much some of the first people in Ohio. (look up those dates)

That being said, I have at least four generations of grandparents buried in the Amanda Township Cemetery.

The most recent is Paul Daniel Cook, my great-grandfather. 

Paul Daniel Cook (Jan. 14, 1915-Dec. 22, 1995)

As you can see from his stone, he served in World War II, which is something I was unaware of until I found it, despite the fact that I actually knew this relative. The few times we visited Ohio when I was a child, I loved going to their house (my great-grandmother Myrtle is still alive and turns 94 next week). They loved gardening, so we always had a lot of good food when we visited, plus they had a piano and that cool Noah’s ark toy. I’d bang on the piano until they were annoyed and then move on to the toy. It was fun, good times. I remember just as clearly the phone call on Dec. 22, 1995, telling us that he had passed away. Thankfully we had just visited Ohio that summer, so we got to see him before he died.

Myrtle (Reed)(Jul. 14, 1892-Feb. 24, 1953) & Ray Milton Cook (Oct. 17, 1887-Sep. 22, 1966)

Also there are his parents, Ray Milton and Myrtle Cook. Though he died long before I was born, he’s one of the relatives on my tree that stands out the most. Possibly because my favorite poet ever is John Milton, possibly because he is in the line of actual Cooks, possibly just because my grandfather has actually told stories about him.

Ray’s parents are also buried in the cemetery, as well as a brother and sister of his. Daniel and Eliza (Clark) Cook have one of the larger stones I’ve seen in my family. Footstones next to this grave indicate that Walter and Lucy (two of their other children) are also buried here.

Eliza (Jul. 16, 1860-May 5, 1924) and Daniel (Mar. 1856-Oct. 23, 1901) Cook

The highest tier of relatives I know about in Amanda are the Clarks (Eliza’s parents). Lewis and Diana (Crosley) Clark had nothing to do with the famous Lewis and Clark, but are still pretty cool. Once I traced my line there, it kind of took off. Several Clarks before Eliza were quite a big deal, namely in the sailing industry.

Lewis (May 14, 1829-May 30, 1908 ) and Diana (June 10, 1842-Nov. 16, 1907) Clark

Other Ohio burials:

Glen Layton was my great-grandfather, another relative who died long before I was born. However, his wife, known in the family as Nan, is still alive and kicking and will turn 93 this year. She was probably my closest relative, since she moved in with my family in 1988 when I was 3 and we lived in Colorado. She moved with us to Georgia and finally on to California before finally moving back to Ohio in 1994 to live on her own. Despite the fact that she was also very alert and healthy for her age, in the last couple of years she has succumb to her age and for practical purposes no longer knows who I am. Still, the point being her husband, even though I didn’t ever meet him, I’ve heard tons of stories about “Caps” (what my Dad and his brothers call him). He was pretty strict but not a bad guy. He died Dec. 4, 1974, of a brain aneurysm in a Bob Evans (I don’t ask about the facts I know, okay?). Sadly I don’t have a picture of his headstone because I haven’t made it out to Forest Lawn Memorial Garden in Columbus yet. When I do (which I’m planning to as soon as weather allows) I’ll be sure to post!

Other relatives I know are in Ohio but I’ve never visited are up in Chili in Coshocton County. I don’t really remember who they are, but someday I’ll plan a visit and post about them! Well, I hope you enjoyed this somewhat random trip down some of my family’s tombstones. Hopefully maybe it will inspire you to find some of your own or think a little more about the stories behind the people remembered in cemeteries.