A walk through history

Maple Hill Cemetery, located at 800 North Hyatt Street in Tipp City, was the location for a unique event on June 1. “If Tombstones Could Talk” was a stroll through history sponsored by the Tippecanoe Historical Society. During this informal evening activity, Historical Society members enacted the lives of Tipp City residents who are interred at Maple Hill. Visitors were encouraged to walk through the cemetery at their leisure from speaker to speaker, stopping to ask questions and talk with those giving presentations.

The Gazette recently interviewed Susie Spitler of the Tippecanoe Historical Society, who shared the history of how this activity came about.

“A college professor friend of mine was getting ready to retire and found a little college town named Oxford, I think in Mississippi, that she thought would be nice,” she said. “She subscribed to their town newspaper. They did one of these walks every October, so there were pictures in the paper. She thought it sounded interesting and gave it to me. I took it to the board, we discussed it, and decided we could do it here. The first one was in 2011, and we had one every year through 2019, when we stopped due to COVID. This is the first one we’ve scheduled since then.”

During the walk, there are five presentations at pre-selected gravesites. The presenters dress for the time period of the people they’re portraying. They give a 10- to 15-minute presentation, then answer questions from the audience. Audience members circulate throughout the cemetery until they have visited all five gravesites. They may start out wherever they want, so there will be groups circulating all the time. Those doing the presentations conduct research and write their own scripts. Some of the material and information comes from the Society, but many will do further research.

“We go through our files looking for interesting people and take suggestions from people,” Spitler said. “We always do five subjects at a time. We ask for presenters who are theatrical, resemble the person, knew the person, or like history, and are willing to do the research and select proper clothing. Period clothing is an important part of it, and they will also have some items for people to browse.”

One of those actors chosen to bring a character back to life is Frank Scenna. He and Heather Bailey portrayed Frank and Eva Hill. Scenna told the Gazette that they had some say in whom to portray.

“Susie Spitler of the Historical Society gave me a list of couples to choose from, and I selected Frank and Eva Hill,” he said. “I chose them mainly because my name is Frank, and it felt like an easy connection and made the character easier to remember. I didn’t know anything about them except that Susie said Eva sold Avon around town. Really, people remember Eva for selling Avon? I found myself wondering, ‘Why them? What makes Frank and Eva so important?’ There has to be more to their story.”

His research eventually took him on a longer journey than he had anticipated. “Most of the research I did was genealogical, such as using Census records. They provided details like where the Hill family lived, where they came from, their children, occupations, disabilities, and more. Eva’s history was relatively straightforward. Her family lineage was easy to follow through multiple generations. Frank was much more difficult because he was an orphan, and ‘Frank Hill’ was his adopted name. Without knowing his birth name or exact birthplace, the census records became useless.”

“That’s where the National Archives came in. They were an invaluable resource, especially when researching veterans like Frank. The key is finding a military serial number, which often leads to a VA number. Since all men were drafted for World War I, I started looking for his draft card. Fortunately, I found it and with it, his place of birth. From there, I was able to locate his full military record.”

Once Scenna’s research was completed, he needed to pull it all together into a script. “The dialog was completed in about an hour, but I tweaked it for weeks. Local newspapers were also incredibly helpful. They’re full of personal tidbits—weddings, arrests, obituaries, church involvement, community events, garden clubs, you name it. I caught another lucky break when I found Frank’s obituary, which mentioned his brother, Samuel Martin. That was the missing link--‘Frank Martin Hill’ was his birth name. But that led to even more questions, like how did Frank become an orphan, and what happened to his parents?”

The Historical Society hopes that visitors take notice of the various historical items adjoining the graves as part of the presentations. Most are self-explanatory, but one that people may not be familiar with is the GAR star. This stands for the Grand Army of the Republic and was started by veterans and families during the Civil War to be of assistance to those still serving. Frank and Heather also made use of period items and clothing in their presentation.

“We dressed for the mid-20th century and had all sorts of props and documents about their lives. I used clothing around my house, but Heather got her costume from the “Peg Hadden Collection.” An event like this proves that there is always more to a person’s life than what is said about them in an obituary, sort of an “I didn’t know that” revelation.  “Frank and Eva appeared to be just ordinary people leading ordinary lives in Tipp,” Scenna said. “But as I got to know them, I realized their lives were far more intriguing than I ever could have imagined.”

To learn more about Monroe Township Cemeteries, visit www.monroetwpohio.com, click on cemeteries, select whichever cemetery you are looking for, then find the grave site by entering the person’s name. For more information, call the Museum at 937.667.4092, or visit the Tippecanoe Historical Society’s Facebook page.

Tippecanoe Historical Society is located at 20 N. Third St. They are open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.