“Proud Mahaska In The War” Is 2011 Cemetery Walk Theme
Sharon Boer talks about the Civil War Cemetery located in Forest Cemetery
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Public Library’s Teen Advisory Board conducted their annual Cemetery Walk today. The walk now has been around now for 12 years. The weather for Sunday’s event certainly didn’t help attendance as the skies continued with at least a minimum drizzle, while light rain was common from time to time. Oskaloosa Youth Librarian Linda Fox, who helps put the event together, said, “Sometimes rainy days are kind of the most fun for a cemetery walk.”
The cemetery walk is an annual event in which middle school and high school youth take biographies of certain deceased historical residents of Oskaloosa, and create a theatrical presentation to present to the persons taking the tour provided. This years walk highlighted Oskaloosa’s role during the Civil War and how her residents participated. Linda Fox, who is the Youth Librarian for the Oskaloosa Public Library, said, “Since it’s the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, we’re doing all Civil War characters.”
The walk typically takes 30 to 45 minutes, but this years took a little longer with the additional historical information given along the way.
Colleen Peterson, a member of the Missouri Order of Confederate Rose, places a rose atop Major Shumate's marker on Sunday
This year, the walk featured 13 different stops as 15 youth represented someone from the past. Also on hand to help lend some atmosphere and pay tribute to a Confederate soldier buried at Forest Cemetery, was Earlham residents Bruce Peterson, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans of Iowa, and his wife, Colleen Peterson who is a member of the Missouri Order of Confederate Rose.
The couple helped with the research of people who were featured on Sunday’s walk, and were invited to take part during the walk where Colleen Peterson placed a rose at Major Thomas Shumate’s (Confederate Officer) grave. Bruce explained that finding and marking the Confederate soldiers is much harder in the northern states as many of them attempted to keep their past hidden in their new hometowns.
Confederate Major Thomas Shumate met Confederate President Jefferson Davis at the Battle of Bull Run, and he was there when Stone Wall got his name, when the comment, “There’s Jackson standing like a stone wall,” was made. He also rode under General Imboden, who helped to cover General Lee and his retreat from Gettysburg. General Imboden went into the coal business and links can be drawn to those from Virginia that moved to Iowa including Shumate to take advantage of the coal deposits in Southern Iowa.
Those who were portrayed today were:
- Elizabeth Loughridge by Cheyenn Fallis
- Frank McGlumphy by Kaylee Morris
- Major General Samuel A. Rice by Hanna Sampsel
- General Elliott W. Rice by Haley Bunnell and Lindsay Foster
- Civil War Cemetery and Harlan Carnahan by Sharon Boer
- Greybeards by Jacque and Andy Reif
- Major Thomas Shumate by Washington Pearce
- Emma Josephine Hammond Shumate and Alice M. Shumate by Emily Hoselton
- William H. Needham by Naomi Cochran
- J.W. Hammond by Erin Shannon
- Miss Belle Boyd by Emilee Morris
- John Sims by Emma Kain
- Andrew Jackson Comstock by Bob Leonard
