The following are some cemetery etiquette guidelines that Bellefontaine Cemetery wants everyone to be aware of and follow.
. This is an active cemetery; avoid disturbing a gravesite or chapel service and family members that are visiting their loved ones.
. Children under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
. Pets are welcomed but must be on a leash.
. Firearms are prohibited with the exception of the Military Honor Guard and re-enactors.
. Visitors and lot owners are requested to leave comments and inquiries at the cemetery office.
. Soliciting within the cemetery is prohibited.
. Groups of 10 or more must register at the cemetery office before proceeding onto the grounds.
. Keep conversation volumes low. Be respectful. Other people in the cemetery may be upset and want a tranquil place in which to mourn and to be alone in peace.
. Keep contact to gravestones to a minimum. Do not sit on any monuments. They are meaningful to the families who placed them there. Rubbings are prohibited.
. Do not take photographs of other people or funeral activities in the cemetery. Restrict your photography to scenes of landscape, nature, and architectural elements.
. Use common sense when walking off of the roadways. Walk between the headstones and do not stand on a burial place.
. The cemetery hours are 8am to 4pm everyday. If you do not leave the cemetery by 4pm, the gates will be locked and you will have to call the security number on the gate and have them let you out. Please do not let this happen.
The 10 Medal of Honor recipients are as follows:
Fitz William Guerin - Private - During the battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi:
Joseph Pesch - Private - During the battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi:
Henry A. Hammel - Sergeant - During the battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi- On April 28-29, 1863 - These three men voluntarily took position on board the steamer Cheeseman, in charge of all the guns and ammunition of the battery, and remained in charge of the same for a considerable time while the steamer was unmanageable and subjected to a heavy fire from the enemy.
Frederick W. Fout - Second Lieutenant with the 15th Indiana Independent Battery - Near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia - On September 15, 1862 - He voluntarily gathered the men of the battery together, re-manned the guns, which had been ordered abandoned by an officer, opened fire, and kept up the same on the enemy until after the surrender.
Francis (Frank) Edwin Brownell - Private - In Alexandria, Virginia - On May 24, 1861 - He killed the murderer of Colonel Ellsworth at the Marshall House in Alexandria, Virginia. First Civil War deed to merit Medal of Honor.
Welis Howard Blodgett - First Lieutenant - During the first battle of Newtonia, Missouri - On September 30, 1862 - He, with a single orderly, captured an armed picket of 8 men and marched them in as prisoners.
Henry D. O'Brien - Corporal - During the Battle of Gettysburg - On July 3, 1863 - Taking up the colors where they had fallen, he rushed ahead of his regiment, close to the muzzles of the enemy's guns, and engaged in the desperate struggle in which the enemy was defeated, and though severely wounded, he held the colors until wounded a second time.
William Mackey Wherry - First Lieutenant - During the battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri - On August 10, 1861 - Displayed conspicuous coolness and heroism in rallying troops that were recoiling under heavy fire.
James F. Merton - Navy Landsman - During the Korean Conflict on Ganghwa Island - On June 9 -10, 1871 - Merton was severely wounded in the arm while trying to force his way into the fort.
Alexander Rives Skinker - Captain - In Cheppy, France - On October 8, 1918 - Killed while leading two other men in an attack on German pillboxes.
To find the locations of each CMH recipient, you will need to write down the first three numbers you find on the memorials. All of the memorials are made from some type of stone. You may find some bronze plaques which have some very interesting information, but we did not use them. On the memorials, if there are only two numbers, then you will add a zero at the beginning. For example, if the memorial has the number 68 on it, as the only numbers, then you will make it 068. If a memorial says "He was the 1st person to build 3 bicycles in 1905" Then the first three numbers will be 131. When you come up with the three numbers, checksum will be in (), calculate your next waypoint using the list and plug them into the following equation of N 38° 41.NNN W 090° 13.WWW. For example, if you are at WP1 and your three numbers are 131, then your next coordinate will be N 38° 41.488 W 090° 13.698. (131+357=488, 131+567=698). Some of the memorials are located at W 090° 14.WWW. When you do your calculations, WWW will be a four digit number. For example, if WWW = 1234, West = 90° 14.234.
The above coordinates take you to WP1, which is the memorial of Welis Howard Blodgett. There are no numbers on this memorial so use the memorial to your right for Joseph and Elizabeth.
WP =(checksum) N , W
WP1 = (12) +357, +567
WP2 = (17) +462, +890
WP3 = (4) +538, +1056
WP4 = (6) +547, +943
WP5 = (5) +364, +793
WP6 = (13) +202, +682
WP7 = (9) +149, +580
WP8 = (10) +160, +617
WP9 = (12) +309, +392
WP10= (10) +129, +670
We hope you have fun touring the cemetery and recognizing our fallen heroes.
GEOCACHING BONUS
Meet Jordan Nash at N 38° 41.619 W 90° 13.682. Jordan is the son of our Missouri Reviewer Glenn and Joanne Nash. Jordan's memorial has a tracking number engraved near the bottom of his stone. You can discover this trackable number on Geocaching.com. Please do not post a picture or copy the tracking number. The family would like only people visiting the site to get the number.
We would like to thank Dan Fuller of Bellefontaine Cemetery for granting us permission to place this cache.