Jefferson County To Take Over Maintenance Of Bower Cemetery

By Reagan ConnellyOn Tuesday, May 24, the Jefferson County Commissioners made the decision to begin the process of declaring Bower Cemetery as abandoned. Once the cemetery is officially declared abandoned, the responsibility for maintenance will fall to the county.Mary Heidemann brought the issue of the neglected cemetery to the attention of the commissioners.Heidemann’s husband, Philip Heidemann, previously maintained the upkeep of the cemetery until he was in an accident in May 2021 which resulted in an injury preventing him from continuing the maintenance work. Heidemann said most people buried in the Bower Cemetery were born in the 1800s.“There are veterans buried there,” Heidemann said. She continued by reading a few of the epitaphs of those buried in the cemetery.“Peter Earnst, born in 1800, was a soldier in the Grand Army of the Republic. John Rider, born in 1879, was a soldier in the 45th infantry. And David Gilmore, my husband’s relative, he was in the 13th Ohio Infantry,” Heidemann read.Heidemann went on to say that after her husband’s accident in May 2021, she called Phyllis McCown to tell her someone would need to be hired to mow the cemetery. “And it looks like it has not been mowed since May of 2021,” she said. McCown said the cemetery had been mowed last year and that her son was going to mow it again but was unable to continue doing so. Since then, she has had trouble finding someone willing to mow.“What I think we need to do is turn the money over to the county and let it be mowed as an abandoned cemetery,” Heidemann said.McCown agreed and added that her grandson just got out of school and said he would mow the cemetery one last time before it is turned over to the county.The biggest problem they face is that the grass is so tall a mower can’t cut it sufficiently in one pass. Someone would have to go through twice, perhaps even have to use a scythe or machete for the first pass. McCown also said she had talked to Ryan Paul on Sunday after church. Paul does lawn care in the community and would be willing to take on the Bower Cemetery as well, McCown said.County Attorney Joe Casson, who was on vacation but attended the meeting via phone, recommended the commissioners begin the process of declaring the cemetery abandoned.Casson said once the cemetery has been declared abandoned no one can be buried there.The Commissioners said this would not be a problem as not many people have been buried there recently. The board decided to go ahead and begin the process of getting the cemetery declared abandoned.

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