Knox County history comes alive with cemetery walking tour

Hidden Stories of the Cemetery will be held Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Mound View Cemetery in Mount Vernon.

Tour guides will direct guests through a walking tour of the cemetery. Tours will start at the parking lot of Round Hill Dairy at 1 p.m. with tours every 15 minutes until 3 p.m.

The graves of eight famous figures in Knox County history will be stops on the tour:

— Wild Men of Borneo will be the first stop. Hiram and Barney Davis were brothers who were "little people," touring as eccentric clowns in the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Their story will be told by actress Cate Blair Wilhelm.

— Jonathan Miller, a Revolutionary War veteran, will be stop No. 2. There are many Revolutionary War veterans interred in Mount Vernon, and they built many homes with architecture resembling that in Connecticut. Local actor Bill Bridges will bring to Miller to life and explain why it was so common.

— The Grieving Mother Monument will be the third stop. The monument was erected for a mother of Winfield, Carl and Dana March, but very little is known about her and them. Karen Smith will portray the grieving mother.

— Robert C Kirk, a successful businessman, will be the fourth stop. Kirk earned a national position under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and US Grant. He will be portrayed by storyteller, author and playwright Mark Sebastian Jordan.

— Lecky Harper, who operated the Mount Vernon Democratic Banner from 1853 to 1895, will be the fifth stop. Harper used his influence at the paper to call out politicians, especially Kirk. Harper will be portrayed by Larry Evans, a longtime theater director and educator at Ohio State University.

— Sarah Vance, who was married to Col. Joseph Vance, will be the sixth stop. Joseph Vance operated a law firm and an inn on the square in Mount Vernon in the late 1850s. He fought in the Civil War and was mortally wounded, but his wife was not notified until several months had passed. Sarah Vance will be portrayed by Jenny Bartsch.

— Judge Samuel Lane will be the seventh stop. Lane was a former slave and a valet for Gen. Mercer during the American Revolution. He was a very charismatic character and will be portrayed by Moses Murray Jr.

— The final stop will be M. Fidelia S. Punches. She is the wife of Frank Hangars, a Mount Vernon resident who was killed during an escape while working as a guard at the Mansfield Reformatory in 1932. Her story will be told by Audrey Lombardo.

There will be musical entertainment by The Chapeaux, a male a capella ensemble.

For more information, call Susan Kahrl at 740-501-4892 or visit www.moundviewcemeterytour.com.