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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series on our region's history coordinated by the Trumbull County Historical Society.
Seely Cemetery is located on the slope of a hill, today surrounded by a modern motel, many eating establishments and a four-lane highway, state Route 46.
It was very different when the first Howland settlers were buried there. John Cherry operated a tavern in the early 1800s along the same road. John Seely owned the property and set aside a half-acre for burial purposes.
The first burial is unknown, but it could possibly be Uriah Williams who passed away July 19, 1814. An article in the Tribune Chronicle dated Aug. 25, 1930, written by the Trumbull Trailer, was inspired by an earlier article published in The Trump of Fame, "Scraps of History."
The Trailer visited with Mrs. Norris Hake, who lived on a farm along Route 46 and visited the cemetery to tend to her great-grandparents' graves, who were Uriah and Jemima Williams. Their grave markers were wood. Jemima died April 6, 1845. Today, there are no markers for their graves.
A cemetery inscription book names several people who were buried there but some only have initials, such as in lot 10 JCG: John G., Jacob Grove, TR, Shadriac, John Newell, Julia Harshman. In Lot 9: Alfred Cadwaller, John W. Williams, (possibly Uriah's brother) MA, Maria A and JW. In Lot 8 lies Abigail, John Seely General and Physician, his wife Elizabeth, his daughter-in-law Elizabeth and John Cherry. Next are Abigail, Eliza, Alfred, LSW and JW. The last line or lot names George W. Williams (6th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry), Joseph Williams, Melinda Williams, John Williams, his wife Luzanna Williams and their only surviving child, Lewis Williams, who died in 1912.
Lewis erected the obelisk with his parent's names. He was an accountant in Cleveland, and his burial was probably the last at the cemetery. Several Boy Scout projects helped clean up the cemetery and more recently, a Boy Scout Eagle project revealed that John Cherry, who served under Gen. Simon Perkins and Gen. John Seely, had no marker. Cherry owned a tavern and had a place of honor for he was buried in the same line or lot as the Seely family.
When Route 46 was being widened and construction for the motel was underway, Howland Trustee Rick Clark had a retired superintendent of Oakwood Cemetery probe for graves and it was found there were many graves without markers.
John and Luzanna Williams had a row of small approximately 15-inch graves lined up east to west beside them. This was undoubtedly their children.
George Washington Williams died as a result of starvation at Belle Isle Prisoner of war camp and the children of Abigail and Septimus Cadwaller encased their parent's marker in concrete because the cows kept rubbing against the markers and knocking them over. Another amazing thing discovered growing there was a rose in bud. Thinking this was our wild Ohio rose, which is pink, it was left to grow. However, when it bloomed it was a rosy red, single petal and very fragrant. A picture was taken and shown to a friend's mother, a devoted rose fancier. It was Rosa gallia, which was immediately researched and found to be the Red Rose of the Tudors. They were the victors in the War of the Roses. The losing side was white.
Remarkably, someone had brought the rose from the old country and planted it in Seely Cemetery. At this time there was an article in Smithsonian Magazine saying that when the researchers wanted to find old rose varieties, they went to old cemeteries.