The Beatty mausoleum

Its pioneers, veterans and businessmen are among those who have made great contributions to the area. That is why it is important to remember who these contributors were and all they accomplished during their lifetimes.

To help do so, those affiliated with the Friends of Beatty Park, a volunteer revitalization group, are making final preparations for the third-annual Union Cemetery Historic Tour and More.

Scheduled to take place Sept. 28, the informative event will allow participants to visit the gravesites of historic figures and offer the opportunity to view some of the beauty which lies within the city.

Friends of Beatty Park will be presenting and sponsoring the tour, according to its founder and chair, Flora VerStraten-Merrin.

The Sherrad family mausoleum

Participants will gather near the historic sandstone arch bridge prior to the start time, according to VerStraten-Merrin, who noted the tour will begin promptly at 10 a.m.

Guests are asked to arrive early and park on the right side of the road in the cemetery. They also should bring a folding chair, she added.

VerStraten-Merrin will be one of the morning’s guest speakers, in addition to historians Paul Zuros and Jeff Evans. Each presenter will have a topic that will engage the audience and be of historical interest and importance.

“There will be a few surprises during the presentation — which will include music selections,” she commented.

VerStraten-Merrin explained she will be speaking about the historic connections between the cemetery and Beatty Park. Then, following the presentations, visitors will have the option to take a brief walk to various locations of the cemetery and viewing unique tombstones.

Historic sandstone arch bridge

VerStraten-Merrin will speak about the inscriptions and engravings found on some of the oldest tombstones in the cemetery, including symbols, unique or unusual epitaphs and carvings.

Zuros and Evans will select people of interest, sharing their stories. These narratives will inform and entertain those on the tour, she stated.

The Ohio Genealogical Society’s Jefferson County Chapter will have a table set up at the bridge, offering information regarding Jefferson County cemeteries, tombstone inscription readings and recordings that are available for cemeteries throughout the county.

The chapter will have membership information available and light refreshments will be served for a small donation, officials commented.

Board members of the Jefferson County Genealogy Society will be present to answer questions. Its members include VerStraten-Merrin, president; Matt Detchon, vice president; Rena Goss, secretary; Connie Rohall, treasurer; Patti West, trustee; and Buddy Merrin, senior trustee.

The event is free and open to the public. The tour will be canceled in the event of heavy rains.

Anyone interested in making a donation can do so by mailing a check to: Jefferson County Chapter, ATTN: Beatty Park, P.O. Box 177, Stratton, OH 43961. Donations also can be made by credit card through the website jeffcochapter.com.

The Friends of Beatty Park is a volunteer group which seeks out funding for park improvements and organizes its volunteers to work on various park projects. VerStraten-Merrin says she always thoroughly enjoys the historic walking tour and looks forward to it every year. She grew up in the South End of Steubenville and Beatty Park was her childhood playground.

“With all of its natural amenities that could be afforded to me as a child, it was a place to swim and hang out with my friends and sisters,” she stated. “That is the reason I started this volunteer revitalization group — Friends of Beatty Park — five years ago.”

VerStraten-Merrin has been writing a book about the park’s history, the adjacent Union Cemetery and the South End of the city.

She has served as the president of the Ohio Genealogical Society’s Jefferson County Chapter for 23 years and is a local historian who manages a popular website for the chapter.

She expressed her happiness to be able to assist those who are researching their pioneer roots right here in Jefferson County, as her first ancestor arrived in the area during 1797 — one of the first justices of the peace.

VerStraten-Merrin stated she is looking forward to the third-annual walking tour.

“It will be a way to inform the community about those who fought for our country during the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I and World War II,” she said. “Each plot visited will have an interesting story to tell about the men of long ago who fought for this country.”

One of the tour’s graveside presenters will be Evans, whose love of history and nature has been evident since childhood.

Early memories include climbing onto his grandfather’s lap in order to explore books which talked about the nation’s past. By the time he entered high school, he was active in local history organizations, spending summers uncovering the past in an archaeology department at a local university.

While a student at Bethany College, where Evans graduated, he served as a seasonal ranger at Fort Necessity and Petersburg National battlefields and spent a semester working at Colonial Williamsburg. For a decade, he was an interpretive ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.

He won an Incentive Award for helping to develop interpretive programming and teaches geography, economics and American History in Raleigh County, W.Va.

He is a senior staff writer for the Battlefield Journal and a previous guest editor of the Jefferson County Ohio Genealogical newspaper. Evans is a frequent contributor to several publications and a highly sought-after lecturer.

Another graveside presenter will be Zuros, a former director of Historic Fort Steuben, local historian and author.

Zuros’s parents were both interested in history. Therefore, his love for the past was developed at an early age, as well. His interest in local history began when he volunteered with the Hancock County Museum, located in New Cumberland. He later volunteered with the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center.

A graduate of Weir High School, Zuros went on to attend West Virginia University in pursuit of a degree in history and a minor in public relations and Italian studies. While in college, he worked at Civil War sites in the National Park Service in Richmond, Va. Zuros graduated from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh with a master’s degree in public history, and a concentration in decorative arts.

Throughout the years, he worked with the John Heinz History Center in its library and archives, the Fort Pitt Museum and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Prior to returning to the Ohio Valley so as to take the reins as executive director of Historic Fort Steuben, Zuros was operations manager with the West Virginia Humanities Council and served as the executive director of the Historic Craik Patton House — a historic house museum in Charleston. He currently serves as the Hancock County administrator.

For four years, Zuros has been writing a bi-weekly local history column in the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times entitled, “History in the Hills.”

In addition to the Union Cemetery Historic Tour and More event, Beatty Park will hold a number of other activities during the remainder of the year.

VerStraten-Merrin announced there will be a trick-or-treat activity held in October. The event is sponsored annually by the Steubenville Parks and Recreation Department. The date has yet to be finalized, she said, adding that children, along with their families, are encouraged to dress in Halloween costumes for the occasion. Participants will walk along the roadway on the park’s McCook Trail, collecting candy.

VerStraten-Merrin said the city could offer another option during the event, such as an inflatable bounce house and refreshments. Should the weather be extremely cold or in case of rain, the Halloween event will be moved indoors to the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center.

The Friends of Beatty Park will hold its final event of the year, Christmas in the Park, from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 7. This is the group’s largest event, as more and more people attend with each passing year, VerStraten-Merrin said.

“We have seen so many smiles on so many faces that it makes all of the work worth it,” she said.

“Since this event and all of our events are planned and carried out by volunteers, this is our year-end reward. Our reward, of course, is having a big group of visitors and seeing them all happy. This event never disappoints.”

Everything for the Christmas festivity is donated, including the sets, cleanup, crafts, food, beverages and gifts.

“This in itself shows us that we have a community that supports Beatty Park,” she added. Christmas in the Park will feature a live nativity in which guests can touch and feed the animals.

Live Christmas music and recorded Christmas music will play throughout the afternoon.

Cookies and refreshments will be served. Guests will have the opportunity to go on a hike to the Christmas tree area or participate on a Storybook Walk throughout the park.

“Visitors can take beautiful stories and read them by hand-painted Christmas trees or by the wildflower wall,” VerStraten-Merrin mentioned.

“When the children have read the story, those who are 10 and under can go to the Main Library branch and receive a free prize,” she added.

Santa will make an appearance, gifting presents and candy for those who are 10 years old and younger.

Dogs are welcome to attend the event. There will even be a place in which the animals can take a photo with Santa.

Cookies, warm drinks and crafts will round out the event. Everything at the park will be free of charge, VerStraten-Merrin concluded. “And everyone is welcome to attend. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for the volunteers who donate their time and energy into maintaining the park, and we thank each and every one of them.”