Elgin cemetery walk strolls through history
The dead came back to life on Sunday in Elgin - not to scare people, but to educate and entertain them.
The Elgin Historical Society hosted its 27th annual Cemetery Walk in Bluff City Cemetery, giving visitors a chance to meet a number of prominent Elgin residents (portrayed by actors, of course) who are buried there. Visitors also learned about the cemetery itself.
"It's such a beautiful and historic place," said Laura Stroud, who co-chaired the Cemetery Walk Committee with her husband, Steve. "There's much to see and do here."
Past walks have attracted about 600 people, and organizers hoped Sunday's event would match that, Stroud said. The beautiful weather certainly cooperated, but Stroud knew the Bears-Packers game provided some competition.
"We try to make the presentations informative and fun, so I think people who come will have a good time," she said.
Visitors were led on a tour of the cemetery, stopping occasionally to hear presentations from residents who lived more than 100 years ago.
Jane Peterson, who graduated from Elgin High School in 1894, talked about her life as an acclaimed artist and teacher. Peterson, who was portrayed by Linda Rock, said a trip to Europe in the early 1900s was key to her development as a painter.
"I absolutely loved that trip. Europe was much more tolerant of women artists," she said.
Lydia Keys Becker was a longtime teacher of history and literature at the Elgin Academy. She also wrote a column titled "Glimpses of Elgin Long Ago" for a local newspaper.
Becker, portrayed by Bonnie Conte, read an excerpt from one of those columns, which recalled a time in Elgin when "the moon was the only nighttime illuminator."
Mike Delehoy portrayed successful Elgin businessman Jonathan Force, a stern and pragmatic man who had no use for paper money or banks.
"Banks are nothing more than over-glorified edifices of debauchery and thievery!" he said.
Force told his visitors, whom he repeatedly accused of wanting to take his gold, about the 40 acres of land he bought for $1,200 and later subdivided and sold off at great profit.
In addition to the living-history portrayals, the Cemetery Walk provided information about the various tombstones and monuments found at Bluff City. For example, a tombstone that looked like the trunk of a tree suggested the person buried there had lived a long life. A small lamb on top of a headstone, however, signaled that an infant was buried underneath.
"A cemetery is a little bit like a poem," said John Marston, one of the tour guides on Sunday. "Nothing you see is exactly what it seems. There are symbols everywhere."