Donations to fund burial vault restoration

Cemetery board chairman Nancy Thompson, left, met with the Historic City of Jefferson President Tammy Boeschen on Monday at Old City/Woodland Cemetery so Boeschen could see first hand the Herrick family crypt that money donated from HCJ will help to repair and stabilize.
Cemetery board chairman Nancy Thompson, left, met with the Historic City of Jefferson President Tammy Boeschen on Monday at Old City/Woodland Cemetery so Boeschen could see first hand the Herrick family crypt that money donated from HCJ will help to repair and stabilize.

A historic burial vault, unique to this part of the country, will be restored.

The Herrick vault is the latest project at the Woodland/Old City Cemetery to receive attention from the city's Cemetery Resources Board. It also benefited from significant donations from the Historic City of Jefferson (HCJ) and the Thomas Lawson Price Foundation.

"The people who are buried here settled and established Jefferson City," cemetery board chairman Nancy Thompson told the HCJ board recently. "They formed and ran the government, built the buildings, created the businesses and schools, enforced the law, piloted the steamboats and fought the wars.

"They are the history of Jefferson City."

The Herrick family burial vault is unusual for this area, as it is an above-ground vault more commonly found in the New Orleans area, Thompson said.

Charlotte Herrick is buried with her daughter, Elvire, and father-in-law, Ebenezer Herrick.

Ebenezer moved his family to Jefferson City from Indiana and died in 1873.

Charlotte was born in Stoddard County to Hiram and Margaret Rich. Her father was a Methodist minister and "one of our oldest and most highly esteemed citizens," the Cole County Democrat reported at his death in 1892.

She married Emory Herrick, a livestock dealer, in 1878 in Callaway County. Their daughter Elvire was born in 1870 and died in 1880.

The city has budgeted $7,000 for repairs at the historic cemetery this year. Two years ago, the bulk went to repair the Clarke Mausoleum, and last year, a large tree removal project zapped the funds, Thompson said.

This year, the cemetery board has targeted the tombstones in disrepair that present the greatest safety issues. Thompson said she has identified 119 stones; of those, 24 were submitted for repairs by Dave Grellner, city environmental health manager.

"Obviously, our money doesn't make a dent in that number," Thompson said. "If something isn't done soon, this valuable cultural resource will be lost forever."

The HCJ donation is the most recent community partnership with the cemetery board.

Lincoln University ROTC helped with cleanup in fall 2015. The state's Office of Administration agreed to take over maintenance of the state lot inside Woodland Cemetery in early 2016. The Governor's Mansion docents helped host a walking tour last summer, and this spring, the university's GIS department mapped a portion of the cemetery.

"The HCJ board voted to give a donation of $5,000 to the cemetery board for repair of the Herrick crypt," HJC President Tammy Boeschen said. "We are hoping that this will spur other organizations and individuals to invest in the upkeep of this historic cemetery."

Other repairs the cemetery board will receive bids for include a new door for the Clarke Mausoleum, welding the iron fences and permanent removal of groundhogs.

"It is my ultimate goal to get this property designated as a park, but in the meantime, it is going to be necessary to preserve what's there," Thompson said.