Turned out that I-75 thru Detroit was closed for repairs and so they detoured us completely across Detroit until we reached the bypass that goes around the west side of Detroit. This added around 25 miles to our trip. But traffic was light and moving so we made good time until we got to Toledo where there was a lot of construction and traffic delays. We ended up getting to W-P AFB around 5:00, found our campsite and got set up easily. After 2 months on the road, we've got set up and tear down down pat.
Friday, Aug. 18th - This morning we picked up our rental car. We were originally supposed to pick it up yesterday afternoon but with traffic delays we arrived too late. Then we headed off to the commissary to restock our groceries. After lunch, we headed down to Centerville, OH to visit Pat's Aunt Dorothy. Last year when we were in Dayton, we had stopped and visited Pat's Uncle Ray and Aunt Dorothy. Ray was Pat's Dad's younger brother and he was in the hospital as he had just fallen and broken his hip. He never fully recovered and died in February. After Ray's death, Dorothy moved into an assisted living apartment at St. Leonard's in Centerville.
So, we stopped by and visited with Aunt Dorothy. She is doing well and will turn 90 next month. This is a very nice facility with independent living cottages and apartments, assisted living apartments, memory support and a nursing home. It is a former Franciscan monastery and is still run by the Franciscans.
After visiting with Aunt Dorothy we stopped by the Dorothy Lane Market in south Dayton. This originally was a small neighborhood market that has evolved into the local equivalent of a Whole Foods grocery store. Great variety and lots of neat stuff to sample and buy.
Saturday, Aug 19th - This morning we headed northwest from W-P AFB to visit Pat's old house in Englewood. House still looks the same but the area around Englewood has really grown. We then continued northwest to the city of Greenville. Greenville is the historic location of Fort Greene Ville which was built in 1793 by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne's soldiers during the Northwest Indian War. It was named for Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene. It's defenses covered about 55 acres, making it the largest wooden fort in North America. Two years later the Treaty of Greenville was signed bringing an end to the Indian war and opening up the Northwest Territory for settlement. The fort was abandoned in 1796 and the town of Greenville was founded in 1808 on the site. Two famous people who came from around Greenville were Annie Oakley and Lowell Thomas.
Our first stop was the old St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery which is on the site of the original St. Mary's Catholic Church which was the first Catholic church in the area. It was a small log church built in 1839. This church served the community until 1863 when they moved to a new building in the center of Greenville.
The cemetery is located about 2 mile east of Greenville. We were here to find the graves of the first of Pat's ancestors to come to the USA, Bartholome Sucher, who was Pat's 2nd great grand uncle. We are not sure what year he arrived in the USA but it was before about 1840. Here is Bart's grave stone.
It shows him being born in 1808 and dying in 1883. Here is the head stone of his wife Christena, born in 1810 and dying in 1869.
This next head stone is for their 2nd son, Anthony, who was born in January 1844 and died in August 1845. This is supposed to be the oldest head stone in this cemetery. Records show that they had 6 other children. Bart was a farmer but we're not sure where his farm was located.
Our next stop was in the city of Greenville, where we visited Greenville Union Cemetery which is on the west side of downtown Greenville. Here is the entrance to this cemetery.
Here we are looking for Anton Sucher who was Bart's youngest brother. We found the family burials for Anton, his wife Hanna and their extended family. In the foreground, the spire is the marker for Hanna's parents, Francis and Elizabeth Buchwalter. The headstone next to it is for Francis H. Bookwalter, note the change in spelling, who was their son and Hanna's brother. He served in Company F, 94th Regiment Ohio Infantry it the Civil War and apparently died of injuries or disease from the war as he died shortly after being discharged.
Here is a closer shot of the second row of headstones. The small upright stone is a second one for Francis given to him by the Union Army with a small star emblem of the Grand American Army 1861-65. The three small horizontal headstones are from right: Anton Sucher, his wife Hanna and John Sucher who was probably their grandson.
Here Pat is standing by the Buchwalter monument. You can get a good idea of its size.
Here is a close up of the brother's headstone.
Family lore is that both Bart and Anton came over from Germany together. Bart came directly to Ohio while Anton settled in Pennsylvania and worked for the railroad. He met and married Hanna who was a member of the Church of the Brethren. Some years later they moved to Greenville, obviously with Hanna's family. Since Hanna wasn't Catholic that would explain why they are not buried in the Catholic cemetery.
We then drove back to W-P AFB. Tomorrow we head south again with our next stop in central Tennessee where we hope to see the total eclipse of the sun.
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