Oregon students clean tombstones

COOS BAY, Ore. – Some freshmen at Marshfield High School got a firsthand view of history when they took part in a Memorial Day exercise last week cleaning the tombstones of Civil War soldiers buried in the neighboring Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery, also known as Pioneer Cemetery.

The burial ground beside Marshfield dates to August 1891, when the IOOF lodge in the city then called Marshfield founded a cemetery to replace an earlier, smaller one by Telegraph Hill.

The cemetery became the final home of Marshfield residents for a generation, only to fall into obscurity as other cemeteries opened in the Coos Bay area and relatives of the deceased moved or died.

In groups of threes, the students were assigned to find the burial places of Civil War soldiers, clean the headstones, then return the next morning to plant crosses beside them.

Once inside the burial yard, the threesomes trudged off in all directions, attempting to find the headstone bearing the name of a soldier they had been assigned and, at first, failing.

One trio of girls circled a patch of ground three times, only to stop and glance yet again at their map.

Gradually, the students got their bearings and found the graves of the ex-soldiers.

As others found the resting places of their soldiers, a slim blonde girl came across a sandstone marker: “A.H.H. DINGMAN, CO. G., 9 IND. INF.”

“I think it’s great to have the hands-on experience,” said Kelsie Armstrong as two classmates caught up with her, struggling to keep their footing on the rain-slicked grass. “A book doesn’t teach you everything you need to know.”

Pointing to the grave, she added: “You’ll probably remember this longer than a book.”