‘Tales from Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery’ Archives
Tales: October ’23
Memorial Markers Always Timely No. 215 By SUE HUNTER WEIR Enid Weston wanted to honor the intentions and wishes of her grandparents so she ordered new markers for two of their children. They were children who died more than 100 years ago so she never knew them. Their father died before Enid was born but she was fortunate to have known their mother, the woman that she was named after. Placing a marker is an act of remembrance for those who might otherwise have been forgotten and a gift to the memories of the parents who loved those children. Her grandmother spoke about losing her second child, Everett William Prill, but she never spoke about her first child most likely because he died as a result of being born prematurely on December 4, 1914, the day that he was born. Enid discovered him while she was working on her family’s genealogy. In the Cemetery’s records he is known simply as Baby Boy Prill. Everett died about a year and a-half later, on May 7, 1916. He was 22 [...]
Tales: September ’23
THEN and NOW: Teen Gun Deaths Rob Lives, Devastate Shooters, Cause Individual and Community, Long-Term PTSD Three accidental shooting victims at Cemetery By SUE HUNTER WEIR Glenn PhillipsOn August 11, 1904, twelve-year-old Glenn Phillips shot and killed John Pala, his best friend. Everyone agreed that it was an accident. Just kids horsing around when Glenn pulled the trigger on a revolver and shot a boy who had been his friend for years. The two boys were playing near the east end of the Franklin Avenue Bridge when another boy told them that he had hidden some candy from his father’s store in an outbuilding. The two boys went looking for it. Accounts about how and when Phillips got the gun differ. The Minneapolis Journal said that he found it in the outbuilding. The Minneapolis Tribune said that he had been carrying it around for several days, using it to shoot fish and birds. What was clear is that he pulled the trigger twice and that one bullet struck his friend in [...]
Tales, No. 213: Freed Family Embraced Freedom Across U.S. & Haiti
Glenalvin Goodridge, 1829-1867; teacher, iconic photographer Goodridge and Grey Family: Extraordinary Abilities and Service While Enduring Racial, Economic, and Judicial Injustice By SUE HUNTER WEIR from Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery The identity of the man in this photo has not formally been identified but John Vincent Jezierski, author of “Enterprising Images,” believes that it is most likely a photo of Glenalvin Goodridge. The man in the photo bears a strong resemblance to William Goodridge, Glenalvin’s father. The photo was taken sometime in the 1850s. Photo Credit: from 'Enterprising Images' It’s taken more than a century and a-half but Glenalvin Goodridge is finally getting his due. Although he was well-known and highly regarded during his lifetime, he died in 1867, and other than a handful of scholars, few people have heard of him. That has changed since his work is now part of an important exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art [...]
