Monday, September 11, 2000
Long-dead soldiers get respect
Graves are tracked, restored
By Walt Schaefer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SHARONVILLE — Civil War contributions continue to be discovered as Bill Lewis, Bob Houston and other members of the community historical society work to restore the city's four historic cemeteries.
“We have just recently discovered the graves of four more Civil War veterans at the Coleman Cemetery (off Malaer Road), and we know there's another one buried there. We just haven't found his grave yet,” said Mr. Houston, vice president of the historical society. The cemetery contains about 55 graves.
Among the newly found graves is that of Union soldier Stephen Myers, who gave his life at age 22 in a skirmish at Milliken's Bend, La., on Aug. 9, 1862.
Myers was a member of the 83rd Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, said Mr. Lewis, president of the historical society.
Mr. Houston said the oth er graves are of Union soldiers who survived the Civil War and returned to Sharonville — Jefferson H. Hill, of the 4th Regiment of the Ohio Cavalry; Arthur C. Ritter, also of the 83rd Regiment, and Frederick Schaible, of the 187th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Records show that Francis Carr Ritter, who died at 72 and served in the 83rd Regiment, also was interred at the Coleman Cemetery, but his grave has not been located, Mr. Houston said.
“We would really like to find living descendants of these soldiers, but so far none have come forward. All were members of Sharonville families,” Mr. Houston said.
Earlier this year the grave of Jonathan Shuff was found. The 20-year-old Union soldier was the son of a Sharonville farming family.
Shuff had been at rest in the Shuff-Myers Cemetery off Sharondale Road for 136 years when Civil War buff Bill Elmore, 40, a Sharonville native now living in Davenport, Iowa, walked into the cemetery, began reading headstones, and saw the grave.
Mr. Elmore did the necessary research and paperwork, and Shuff has received a new headstone free from the U.S. government. It was dedicated Memorial Day.
“I'm going to begin research on those they just found,” Mr. Elmore said.
Eventually, he intends to have new military veteran headstones placed at each of the Coleman Cemetery graves. “I do this (research) because it's a lot of fun ... I'm piecing together history,” he said.
Anyone who may be a descendant of a Civil War veteran buried in Sharonville is asked to call Bob Houston, 671-2812.
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