~ 13th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry. Negro solidiers who served in the Civil War. ~
Published Wednesday
January 15, 2003
Group plans cemetery memorial
BY CHAD PURCELL
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Jason Suibielski found Edward Jones' tombstone in the brush and bramble of a nearly forgotten Omaha cemetery, buried under years of neglect.
The find set Suibielski on a personal mission to uncover the cemetery's secrets. He also made two promises to the man buried there:
He pledged always to keep an American flag planted above Jones, believed to be a runaway slave who fought for the Union during the Civil War before dying in Omaha in 1905.
In addition, he vowed never again to let a racial slur cross his lips.
Suibielski can't fully explain how his life changed after he found the graves of Jones and 56 other black men, women and children in a lost lot at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Somehow, the discovery exhumed a compassion he didn't know he possessed.
"I had some racist views about things," he said. "Now that I've gotten into this, I've tried to learn more about the times then. It makes me appreciate people of all races, you know. I don't know, it's just different now."
Suibielski's quest took a formal step Tuesday. He and seven others interested in his discovery met for the first time and formed the Laurel Hill East Preservation Association.
It was about a year and a half ago when Suibielski learned of the old cemetery, nestled not far from his south Omaha home.
Laurel Hill is just north of Harrison Street and west of the Kennedy Freeway. Founded in 1865, it's one of the city's oldest cemeteries. More than 7,000 people are buried there, including the grandmothers of Fred Astaire and Peter Kiewit.
Typically, one or two people are buried there every year, although six were interred in 2002.
Suibielski said he began "headstone hunting." One day he ventured down the hill toward the cemetery's east fringe.
"It was nothing but trees and weeds and just nasty looking," he said. That's where he met "Mr. Jones," as he has taken to calling him.
The overgrown area didn't even appear to be part of the cemetery, Suibielski said. The words inside a shield etched on the weathered slab read, "Edw'd Jones, 13 U.S.C.I."
When he learned that "13 U.S.C.I." was short for "13th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry," Suibielski couldn't get the man out of his mind.
The regiment fought with the Union Army during the Civil War. Suibielski's Internet search revealed that Jones' regiment originated in Tennessee, a Confederate state.
He started devouring books written about the black men who served in the Civil War. He deduced that because Jones joined Union forces in a Southern state, he likely was a runaway slave.
Jeannie Mill, manager of the Laurel Hill board, let Suibielski examine the cemetery's records.
They showed that Jones died in 1905 at age 57, which would have made him a teenager during the war. He was married and had lived at 819 N. 27th St., which is now part of Creighton University.
The documents also revealed that 56 other black people were buried near Jones, but Suibielski found just one other headstone when he searched the overgrown area. In all, the cemetery's records show, more than 160 blacks are buried at Laurel Hill.
But markers identify only a few. Moreover, Suibielski believes that at least four other black Civil War vets were buried in the cemetery.
Suibielski, a manager at Oriental Trading Co., volunteered to be a caretaker at Laurel Hill. Last spring, he began cutting down the trees and bushes that obscured parts of what old records referred to as the cemetery's "colored" burial grounds.
He started longing for a way to memorialize the people buried there. When he met Creola Woodall through a mutual friend, Suibielski found an eager partner.
"I think it's so interesting that he's white and I'm black," Woodall said. "His enthusiasm has ignited me. It's genuine and it's sincere, and he really does have a passion for what he's doing."
Woodall on Tuesday was named chairwoman of the Laurel Hill East Preservation Association, and Suibielski was named vice chairman. The group's goals include erecting a memorial, applying for nonprofit status, further exploring the cemetery's history and possibly trying to contact descendants of those in the neglected graves.
Few things excite Suibielski, a 1981 Boys Town graduate, more than the idea of meeting someone related to Jones. He said he can't help being drawn to the man he believes Jones to have been.
"He fought for himself, for his family, for his people and ultimately for this country," Suibielski said. "It's important that all these forgotten people in the cemetery be remembered, especially him. He's really a hero."