The Chester Grave Hunters gathered among headstones on the eve of Oct. 9 at Quirk Cemetery in Chester Township to resurrect stories buried in time for residents armed with flashlights and a thirst for the untold.
The Chester Grave Hunters gathered among headstones on the eve of Oct. 9 at Quirk Cemetery in Chester Township to resurrect stories buried in time for residents armed with flashlights and a thirst for the untold.
“Our tour is honoring the quieter chapters, the ones that are not necessarily written about in headlines, but in forest clearings and in family plots and in the footprints of those who came before us,” said Diana Kresnye, resident and historical interpreter at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland.
The grave hunters group gathers regularly to discuss Chester Township’s history and restore and repair tombstones around the township’s three cemeteries — the Chester Township Cemetery, Old Settlement Cemetery and Quirk Cemetery.
Kresnye led the “Twilight tour” at Quirk Cemetery, 12703 Woodside Drive. She also led three more sold-out tours at Quirk, one at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10, and then at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 11.
It wasn’t until trees were being cleared for the construction of Victoria’s Bakery at 12725 Woodside Dr. a couple years ago that the grave hunters discovered the cemetery even existed, Kresnye said.
“I thought to myself, ‘Who knew that a cinnamon roll could resurrect local history?’” she quipped, adding the best stories come from underground.
“The longer I do this, the more my belief deepens that cemeteries are among the best storytellers that we have in our communities,” Kresnye said. “People are like books. Some deceive you with their cover and others surprise you with their content, and Quirk Cemetery is just like that. It’s modest at first, but it’s full of stories that surprise and stir and stay with you. And as I dug deeper, I met builders and believers and boundary-pushers. Tonight, I get to share their stories with you and that’s the part that I love the most. Tonight, we will be walking among those who carved a town from trees, before streets, before steeples, before schools.”
Kresnye, as well as grave hunter members George Zehnder and Jennifer Fry played parts in the tour.
Zehnder played the part of William Ellsworth, a veteran of the Revolutionary War who passed away in 1852.
Ellsworth was also a part of the New York militia.
Fry played the part of Mary Anne Tiffany, who passed away in 1909.
Tiffany had five children, two of which preceded her in death in 1859 within a month’s span.
Kresnye also detailed the Hovey, Williams and Sears families, who are buried at Quirk.
The Williams family has 16 members buried at Quirk, Kresnye said.
“More than any other family here and their story in stone stretches across three centuries and more than six generations,” she added.
Daniel David Williams is the patriarch of this branch of the Williams family, born in Essex, England, in 1765, she continued.
In addition, records show the Hovey family is buried at Chardon Municipal Cemetery, however, they have a barn with their family title, “HOVEY,” carved on it at Quirk, Kresnye said.
“That would suggest that this was meant to be their mausoleum, a permanent resting place,” she added.
Records show a time when the building’s doors stood open and children played inside, as it was empty, Kresnye said.
She suspects the building — now locked — could have been used as a receiving vault or casket storage; however, she is not sure why the Hoveys would have a family name above the door if they are buried in Chardon.
Also buried at Quirk are brothers Albert and Marcus Sears, descendants of pilgrim Richard Sears, who arrived in Plymouth colony in 1632, Kresnye said.
Albert was a moneybroker and had $15,000 in silver, gold and cash in 1874, according to probate records, she said, adding that is the equivalent of $1.4 million today.
“Quirk cemetery holds more than names and dates, it holds memory, sorrow, heartache and the kind of stories that don’t always make it into the history books,” Kresnye said. “It’s our hope that you leave tonight with a few new discoveries, a deeper sense of where Chesterland’s story touches your own because while a cinnamon roll may have resurrected history tonight, it’s your curiosity that keeps it alive.”
Photo captions
EMMA MACNIVEN/KMG
Chester Grave Hunters Diana Kresnye, George Zehnder and Jennifer Fry gather Oct. 9 at Quirk Cemetery to share secrets of Chester’s past.
EMMA MACNIVEN/KMG
Chester grave hunter Diana Kresnye questions the Hovey family’s alleged “empty” barn at Quirk cemetery Oct. 9.
EMMA MACNIVEN/KMG
Jennifer Fry shares secrets of Mary Ann Tiffany during the Quirk Cemetery twilight tour Oct. 9.
