History of Greenwood Cemetery
Hamilton’s earliest burials were in public grounds, in the area of what is now the intersection of Front and High Streets. Other sites included: the Third Ward Cemetery between Third, Fourth, and Sycamore Streets (also known as Ludlow Park or Third Ward Park); the Rossville Cemetery (First Ward) at Park and D Streets (now Sutherland Park) on the west side. On occasion, family yards, rural plots, and farms became places of interment.
In the 1840’s, Hamilton’s leaders felt the need for a community cemetery. In 1848, Greenwood Cemetery Association was established. The cemetery land was purchased from David Bigham. The cemetery contains more than 1,800 remains from Hamilton’s two pioneer cemeteries.
Greenwood was modeled after the world-famous Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Boston and the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Adolph Strauch, the landscape architect and gardener who designed Spring Grove also planned Greenwood, although most of the work laying out the cemetery was done by prominent Hamilton citizens John W. Erwin, John M. Millikin, and Governor William Bebb. It is in the style of a park containing beautiful mortuary art.
Many people who made major contributions to Hamilton, Butler County, the State of Ohio, and the nation are buried at Greenwood. Hamilton historian Jim Blount has written profiles of some of these people in his book Greenwood Biographies.
Deceased veterans of all wars from the American Revolution to the present are buried at Greenwood, including the only Civil War general from Butler County and some of the most recent fallen heroes from the war in Iraq.
In 1994, Greenwood Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
~ from the Greenwood Cemetery Website.
At the posted coordinates, you will find the obelisk of several members of the STRAUB family. The top of the obelisk is broken off. Sometimes, vandals damage gravestones. However, the damaged area is quite high, so vandalism is unlikely. More likely a tree fell and damaged the obelisk, or else it may have been deliberately designed this way. A broken-off obelisk denotes a life cut short.
About 30 feet east of the STRAUB obelisk is a zinc headstone. These are easy to spot due to their greenish-blue color.
Zinc, or "White Bronze" headstones can be found throughout North America. They are rare in that they were only produced from the mid 1870's through 1912, and only by one company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
More information about zinc headstones can be found on the Zinc Headstone Waymarking category page.
To calculate the final coordinates for this cache, examine the zinc headstone:
What year did MRS. ELIZABETH die? Subtract 1723 to calculate NNN.
MRS. ELIZABETH died in the XXth year of her age. Multiply XX by 5.6977 to find PPP (round to the nearest whole number).
The final cache is located at N 39° 24.NNN W 84° 32.PPP.