Union and West End Cemetery

On May 31st, the fifth grade class of the Ironton Elementary School visited the Union and West End Cemetery in furtherance of their studies on the American Civil War.

Following a brief presentation on the history of the cemetery, the students assignment was to scourer the cemetery in an effort to complete a "Cemetery Scavenger Hunt". The first item on the assignment called for each student to locate a grave of a Civil War Veteran and to make a tracing of the veterans headstone. It was not difficult to locate a veterans grave. Those of you that are familiar with the cemetery are aware that there are 714 Union Veterans buried in the Union and West End Cemetery and of course, every grave is decorated with the nation's flag.

After completing the tracing, the students scattered throughout the cemetery to complete the remaining items on their "Cemetery Scavenger Hunt" worksheet. The worksheet contained ten additional items that had to be located. Item number eleven had ten-parts to it; requiring the students to find the date of death of some of the more notable veterans.

Cemetery Historian, Janet Hagenauer was on hand to lend her expertise and knowledge to any students that needed some guidance in locating someone on the scavenger hunt list. She usually had a line of kids waiting for her advice.