Friends of Greenlawn Cemetery Foundation

Friends of Greenlawn Cemetery Foundation Founded in March 2017, the FOGCF is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Greenlawn Cemetery.

Historical Re-enactments, Easter Sunrise Services, Serenity Garden, Christmas Memorial Services, Tree Mapping, Beautification and much more. Immediate Goals:
*Digitizing records with mapping and genealogical information on website and smartphones
*Chapel restoration and proposed memory garden
*Fence and perimeter enhancement
*Security

We always have a fun afternoon with our friends from Rotary. So proud of what this organization does in our community.
09/30/2025

We always have a fun afternoon with our friends from Rotary. So proud of what this organization does in our community.

Monument Monday 🪦Robert Hunter BellAugust 20, 1815December 2, 1883Robert Hunter Bell was born August 20, 1815, at Circle...
09/29/2025

Monument Monday 🪦

Robert Hunter Bell
August 20, 1815
December 2, 1883

Robert Hunter Bell was born August 20, 1815, at Circleville, Ohio. His father, James Bell and his mother, Mary Hunter, were natives of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Joseph Bell, came from Ireland.

Robert Bell, as a boy in Circleville, was brought up in the shoe business. He also had a broom factory which he and his father conducted.

He married Dorcas Currie of Lithopolis, Ohio, on March 4, 1850. They had four children with one dying in infancy.

He came to Portsmouth on July 1, 1850, and engaged in the shoe business. He was the pioneer of the boot and shoe making business in Portsmouth. He started the first shoe factory in Portsmouth on August 21, 1850.

Frederick Drew, Irving Drew’s father, was Mr. Bell’s foreman for many years. All of the shoes were made by hand until 1869, when machines were first used. After 1869, they made 200 shoes per day and employed 40 people. A group of fifteen women stitched and bound the shoes. Each bench of five men made six pairs of shoes in one hour.

Mr. Bell went into the wholesaling of shoes with W. H. Ware and Joseph Vincent under the firm name of Bell, Ware & Vincent, afterwards R. Bell & Company.

He left the shoe business in 1874, and went into the insurance business. In 1876, he was elected a member of the board of cemetery trustees for three years. In 1873, he was elected a school trustee. He was elected Clerk of the Courts in 1878.

He was a member and Elder of the Presbyterian church in Circleville for many years. Later he was superintendent of the Sabbath School of the Presbyterian Church of Portsmouth for almost 30 years. He was also Clerk of the Trustees of the Children’s Home of Scioto County for many years.

Mr. Bell was known as a public spirited man, always ready with time and means to assist with any worthy enterprise. He was known as a lover of children. Before he went to work on Monday he was known to always check on teachers or scholars that were absent from Sunday School on Sunday.

“He was one of the most useful men in his church and in the community.”

Mr. Robert Hunter Bell departed this life on December 2, 1883.

This monument is located in section six.

Join us on October 12th, as we learn more about Mr. Bell, and those who came after him in the Portsmouth shoe industry. Tickets are available at Berndt & Murfin Insurance Agency and Harris Floor Covering.

Monument Monday 🪦Thomas Patterson1826-1918Thomas McNutt Patterson was born at Steubenville, Ohio, on December 13, 1826, ...
09/22/2025

Monument Monday 🪦

Thomas Patterson
1826-1918

Thomas McNutt Patterson was born at Steubenville, Ohio, on December 13, 1826, to James and Margaret (Johnson) Patterson, natives of Maryland. He attended school in Steubenville until age fifteen and then went to learn the trade of book-binding. After training for a year he remained with the company for five years until 1847. He then went to Cleveland and worked for Sanford & Hayward until 1850.

He came to Portsmouth in 1850, and worked for Stephenson & Huntington of Columbus. He worked there until 1855, when he bought one-half of the bindery from Stephenson. From the time Mr. Patterson arrived in Portsmouth, until his marriage he was one of the young society men of the city.

On December 24, 1852, he married Caroline Clugsten and they had two sons. She died in 1865, and he married Rebecca Taylor in 1866. They had seven children with three surviving until adulthood.

In 1862, he bought one-half of the Stephenson Book Store under the name of Stephenson & Patterson. In 1866, he dissolved the partnership and went into business for himself on Market Street. In 1871, he moved to the McFarland building on Second Street. In 1882, he added the making of paper boxes to his business. In December of 1883, his business burned. In 1885, he moved to Front Street in the Wise Building where he remained until 1896. He then purchased the Ga***rd Rolling Mill premises and moved his book-bindery and box factory to that location.

His book binding business increased in volume as the city grew “and the business of making boxes is entirely a new feature introduced by the operation of the many shoe factories in Portsmouth. He has $7,000 worth of machinery and employs about sixty hands”.

Mr. Patterson took great joy in traveling across the country. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and later the Second Presbyterian Church. He was the President of the Western Paper Box Manufacturing Association. He was successful in business and “most highly esteemed by all who knew him as a true, Christian gentleman.”

The Patterson Family Plot is located in the City South section near the Grant St entrance.

Meet Mr. Patterson and many others as we go back to a time when the shoe industry was thriving in Portsmouth. The Story of Us, “The Sole of the City,” will be on October 12th. We hope you will join us!

Monument Monday 🪦Elijah Glover, Sr.May 6, 1782Oct 23, 1829The Glover family were among the earliest settlers of Scioto C...
09/15/2025

Monument Monday 🪦

Elijah Glover, Sr.
May 6, 1782
Oct 23, 1829

The Glover family were among the earliest settlers of Scioto County. Their American ancestor came from London, England, under a grant to Lord Baltimore. He was of mixed Scottish and English descent.

Elijah was born May 6, 1782, and was the first member of the Glover family to locate in Ohio. He was followed by his brothers and sisters. His first trip to Ohio was in 1799, when he came to buy furs for his father’s hat store in Kentucky.

He and a companion, named Crane, went in a pirogue up the Scioto River as far as Chillicothe. On their way back the boat struck a snag, turned over and Crane lost all his furs. Ever after, during the keel boat navigation, this spot was called “Crane’s defeat.”

In the year 1800, Elijah and Catherine Jones were married in Kentucky. After their marriage, they came to Ohio and settled in Alexandria. Two of their children were born there.

They built a house between Scioto and Massie Streets. He finished the kitchen first and moved into it. The same year they completed the house they opened a tavern. Mr Glover also opened a hat store, running both at the same time. Mr Glover later built a larger house on the corner of Jefferson and Front Streets, which was known as “Pig Iron Corner.” For several years this was the largest house in Portsmouth. He lived there until his death.

Elijah and Catherine had nine children, Samuel, John, Ezekiel, William, Nathan, Elijah, Samuel Griffith, Elizabeth and Anna Maria. Three of their sons: Samuel, William and Nathan were drowned in the Ohio River. Another son, Ezekiel, died in 1823 of a fever. He was sixteen. “There were not enough well to care for the sick and many fell victim to it.”

Elijah Glover was appointed sheriff in 1810. John Clark, the sheriff, resigned rather than serve a warrant on General Robert Lucas. Elijah volunteered to serve the warrant so he was appointed sheriff and served until 1814. There was bad blood between the Glovers and the Lucases from that time on and there were arrests and prosecutions while that generation lived. The first court was held in what was called a bank stable. The room for horses was carved out of the bank of the Scioto River and the room where the court was held was above it. Court was also held in his hat store.

Mr Glover was a Councilman, a member of the committee on streets and on the committee to improve the front of the town.

He was hospitable and his house was always full of relatives, who found a welcome and a home, when needed. They raised several of their nieces and nephews. He never turned the hungry away from his door.

He was intelligent, beyond the time in which he lived. Mr. Glover died on October 23, 1829. Catherine, his wife, died in March, 1856.

This monument is located in the City East section near Garfield Street.

A busy week in Greenlawn with lots to do before winter. Shout out to Rick Walker Roofing for the maintenance and repair ...
09/14/2025

A busy week in Greenlawn with lots to do before winter. Shout out to Rick Walker Roofing for the maintenance and repair work on our slate roof.

Our Serenity Garden and entryways received a much needed refresh this week. Everything was trimmed, shaped, weeded, and ...
09/12/2025

Our Serenity Garden and entryways received a much needed refresh this week. Everything was trimmed, shaped, weeded, and mulched. Some large plants were transplanted to other areas of the cemetery. Thank you Joe TePas Landscaping for a fantastic job!

It’s that time of year…we hope you can join us for The Story of Us VII, “Sole of the City” on October 12th! Help us cel...
09/11/2025

It’s that time of year…we hope you can join us for The Story of Us VII, “Sole of the City” on October 12th! Help us celebrate our rich history in the shoe industry. Tickets are on sale now and are available at Berndt & Murfin Insurance Company and Harris Floor Covering.

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.~John Muir
09/10/2025

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
~John Muir

Mark your calendars! Our annual Tombstone Trot will be on October 26th at 2pm. This is a fun event for the entire family...
09/10/2025

Mark your calendars! Our annual Tombstone Trot will be on October 26th at 2pm. This is a fun event for the entire family to enjoy. Sign up at https://tristateracer.com/race/13135 by October 10th to guarantee a T- shirt.

Monument Monday 🪦John L. WardFebruary 14, 1813Death 1894The monument of John and Mary Ward is located in section six nea...
09/08/2025

Monument Monday 🪦

John L. Ward
February 14, 1813
Death 1894

The monument of John and Mary Ward is located in section six near the center of the cemetery.

John Ward was born in Georgetown, D. C., on February 14, 1813. In 1818, his family moved to Pickaway County, Ohio. He went to Perryville, Indiana, at the age of 18 and began blacksmithing. He was said to have hammered out his fortune on an anvil.

After some time in New Orleans and Lancaster, he came to Portsmouth in 1835. In 1836, he and Thomas Wilbahn went into a partnership in blacksmithing at Second and Jefferson. He enlarged his business with a new partner, Andrew Applegate, making plows and wagons. At the same time he conducted a livery stable on Second Street in the rear of the Hotel Portsmouth.

His career in public office began in 1843, when he was elected a Councilman from the first Ward. In later years, he was a trustee and a member of town and city council. He was one of the aristocrats of the town. In 1859, he was made a fire Chief. From 1859 to 1863, he was the Sheriff of Scioto County and then served as Treasurer for two terms.

In 1852, the firm of Ward, Murray & Stevenson was formed to make machinery for the Burgess Mill. In 1855, he sold the machine shop and went to Burgess Steel as part owner. In 1863, he was a government to***co inspector.

In 1855, he entered the hardware business and purchased two farms in Green Township. The mill later failed and he was financially ruined but continued as a farmer.

A few years before his death he decided to put up a monument in Greenlawn Cemetery and made a contract for the design in granite, having an anvil at the top, which now stands guard over his grave in the cemetery. Mr. Ward and his neighbor went to inspect and accept the monument while leaving his mules in Mr. Wards stable.

“Capt. Isaac Miller (Mr. Wards son-in-law) warned Mr. Ward not to go near the mules in the stable, but Ward did not think he needed any advice from his son-in-law about mules, and went inside the stable anyway. One of them kicked him in the face, knocked out his teeth, disfigured his face and knocked him unconscious. When he was brought back to this world he said he thought eternity had come and the mule was the messenger to notify him. When he was shown the teeth the mule had displaced, he said they would do for corner stones to the proposed monument. He later admitted his son-in-law knew more about mules than he did and he should have listened.

What is the lesson of his life? How many blacksmiths die leaving $80,000? How many of that trade rise above the anvil? How many men who are financially ruined at the age of 47 ever regain their fortunes? John L. Ward was a man of iron nerve and remarkable willpower. The life of John L. Ward is a noble lesson and example to all young Americans.”

Mr. Ward married Mary E. Smith of Lancaster, Ohio, in 1836. They had one child, Ellen. Mr. Ward died in 1894.

We are not sure if the teeth were actually incorporated into the monument but a follow up is sure to come.

Source: Scioto County and Pioneer Record.

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PO Box 333
Portsmouth, OH
45662

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