The Old Cemetery

A stroll Uirotigli the oíd cemetery ouglit to convinco almost any citizen ol our fair city tliat something should be done there immediately. To one possesssed with any reverence for tlie raeinory of the departcd, it is a sad sight to go tbrough ttiis oíd city of the dead. Headstones and footstones are broken and destroyed in many ingtances; otliers are in a half fallen condition, some tipping this way and some that, wUilc here and there and everywhere will be found excavations neaily tilled with dead leavcs where remains have been taken up and removed. Some of tlie marblc slabs will be found bruiscd and chipped by bullets where some wanton fellow?, without proper sense or reverence stored away In thcir anatomy, liave used them for targets. It ia hard to even think of human beings go loët to cominon decency, as to desecrate the tombstones of the dead, but thcreappears to have been somesuch in our community. Let us believe that thcy too have passed awny and are not with us now. We even foiind the cemetery being used to pasture cows in also. Whose cows they were, we did not ascertain, but there they were, tied to loug ropes to stakes whicli are pulled up and driven in fresh places wlien the cirele shall be all eaten off. In the name of the old and beloved pioneers of this city and vicinity whose bonea repose in that place, we protest against this desecration of their graves. Until the city feels ricu enough to purcha8e some land adjoining one of lier two cemeteries and take up these sacred bones and have them decently re-lnterred, she ouglit to protect them where they are. No nterinents have been uwde here for the past ten or fifteen years, as near as we can ascertain, while many bodies have been removed. All ought to be removed and the sacred fpot kept by the Corporation for all time to come as a public park. Ccrtain it is that this ground should never be plowed or dug up, for there are many graves wliich cannot be identiñed, and they should bc permitted to foiever rest in peace. And in case these grounds are taken for a park, in the center should be placed a line monument of granite telling the story of the place and honoring the memory of tliose who may still be resting derueath the sod, their graves utiknown. There are but two monuments left on the grounds. One u square one erected to the memory of Job Slatford (and family) who died ofl' the coast of Mexico, M&rch 24th, 1851, aud to his niemory Is inscribed the followlng veres: "FUng to the heedless wluds Or ou the waters cast Thelr aslies shall be watcheü And gathered at the last." The other monumeot is the round broken shaft surraounted by a wreath, so popular a half century since. It was "erected to the meinory of Mrs. Susan Heard Cleaveland, wife of Rev. John P. Cleaveland, who died at Marshall, Oct. lst, 1848." By its side is a plain sliaft "erected by the young men of Ann Arbor," in memory of Caroline Worcester, youngest daughter of Rev. John and Susan Heard Cleaveland, who died Oct. 15, 1841. With this inscription : Be stlll my heart, what could a pareni's prayer Ask for lu Darling llke the bliss ef Jieaven. Upon these grounds also reposes the remains of "Rev. Thos. Wiley, minister of the M. E. church, died April 3, 1835. A tombstone also tells us tliat Hon. Edward Mundy U among those sleeping here, and by his side lies Phineas Mundy, who died in 1849. Over the grave of Abram BurUen who died in 1848 a black cherry tree grew ' til it was fully a foot through, breaklng '¦ ofl' the tombstone that lies near the grave, ; and then from some iinknown cause dying itself. There is only one wooden headstone left, and the paint is not worn away so J but that the descrlption is discernible, it being placed there for Stephen Alles, who died In 1849. David Judkins wlio } died in 1832, and D.mid True in 1834, are among the oldest. Pleces of raarble grave stones are to be found all over tlie grounds. L'ion one were these words: "JenDett Kinsley, and her son." Tliat was all tlwt was left. The balance had been taken off or scattered to some otlier portion of the grounds. Upou another piece were two hands clasped and the words "In memory of ray mother." But who that motlier was will not be known agnin to the dwellers here, probably. Such is the condltion of the old cemetery; a disfrace to oiir fair city, and an insult to the memory of those who canie to this wilderness and laid the foundations of this conimonwealth the people of which enjoy go matiy luxuries now. What a shauie ! When used according to dlrectlon, Ayer's Agüe Cure is warranted to eradicate, from the system, Kever and Ague, Intermittent, liemittent, and Bilious Fevers, and all malaria diseases. Try it. Last Wednesday Mrs. Maria Jenniiigs died at her home in Detroit, and her remalns were taken to Brighton for interincnt, where the funeral services were held on Friday. Mrs. Jennings livcd In Aun Arbor a few years back, and was well knowu to many of our citizens. Joseph H. Peebles formerly and for many years a resident of this city, but who removed to Howell some months since, died last Sunday, at 10 o'clock a.m., at lila home in Howell. Mr. I's dvatli wlll be learned here with great regrot, as there aro many friends and acquaiiitances of the family in the city.