I REMEMER "ASHLAND" BY WILLIAM L. VASS PART #2

VASS, KIMBLE, RUPE

Posted By: Mary Ellen Lanigan (email)
Date: 4/12/2005 at 10:45:43

I REMEMBER ASHLAND PART #2 of 3 parts 1913-1917 by William L. Vass

THE CEMETERY

"Ashland", the name itself conjurs to me a scene with towering evergreens, flowering scrubs, grassy knolls; not a big place , but a place of reverence; a place of solitude, a place to ponder, a place where the hustle and bustle of present day living seem far away. This is the impression I get when I visit the cemetery , and I know it was my mother's also. She always said there is nowhere as pretty little cemetery as "Ashland". Her one desire was to do something to preserve its beauty and history.

Two years after her funeral, and burial in the family plot, I visited the cemetery and found many signs of vandalism, and neglect. Tire marks crisscrossed the area, headstones broken, chipped or knocked over, fences were in poor condition or did not exist. It was then I decided on my own to restore the cemetery as per my mother's desire. In a two year program the following work was performed. A chain link fence was constructed around the area. An overhead sign with a drive-through gate was installed. A walk through gate with turnstile, flag pole with drive through gate, historical marker was set in place, and trees in the area were pruned with twenty-six evergreens, mostly pines, being planted through the grounds. Costly-sixty-two-hundred dollars. I feel I have done my part-now someone else has to do theirs or all my work is for nil. People park in front of the main gate, and as a result it is continually broken down, garbage covers the main gate area spreading over and among some of the graves. I've recommended a parking lot be made west of the main gate. That job rests with the Township Authorities.

Throughout the cemetery are family plots belonging to early pioneers some of whom I have mentioned. All of them carry about the same story. They helped make history.

Vincent Vass (my great-grandfather) born 1791, Stokes County, North Carolina. A Blacksmith by trade, but he followed farming all his life. Arrived in Ashland area in the mid 1840's, purchased the Vass Homestead one half mile north of Ashland in 1849. The home he built then burned in 1982. Both he and his wife, Mary-Coner Vass are buried here.

John C. Vass (my grandfather) born 1831 in Stokes County North Carolina, came to Iowa with his father Vincent. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War. Spent his life as a successful farmer, cabinet maker, and carpenter. Most of the caskets in the cemetery, as were many of the barns and houses in the area, were built by him.

Francis Kimble, born 1846 in Indiana, came to the Ashland area in the late 1840's. Served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Married Mary Rupe and was a successful farmer and carpenter, having also built many houses and barns in the Eldon area. Francis and Mary Rupe Kimble are buried in the cemetery. In all, over twenty members of the Vass-Kimble families rest here.

*Part #2 of 3 parts.