After nearly three years of restoration, it came as a shock when, in early April, it was discovered that nine tombstones were deliberately overturned in the Doty Settlement Cemetery in Oxford.
Oxford Museum Association Director of Programs and Properties Bill King stated that between last October and this April, vandals overturned nine tombstones - about half of which are irreparably damaged.
According to the association's Web site, a restoration project of the Doty Settlement cemetery began in 2004, and it is the latest project of the Oxford Museum Association.
King said the cemetery was named a historical Ohio landmark in 2005. It is part of the Doty Settlement - a historical cluster of homes from the settlement period of the mid-1800s near Hueston Woods.
The local museum association began in 1953, and it is responsible for most local historical projects such as Hueston Woods and its accompanying lodge, the Pioneer House and Museum, the Apple Butter Festival, the Dewitt Log Homestead, and the restoration of the covered bridge off Morning Sun Road.
King said he is discouraged by the senseless destruction of the headstones in the cemetery after all the hard work members of the association have put in to renovate it.
"Its just one of those sad stories that started out as a happy story," King said. "Whoever would stoop to this unacceptable behavior will be pursued. I feel strongly that someone will do something when they are called to task."
King said all the historical tombstones will be set and repaired again, but the cracks of the broken headstones left by the vandals cannot be completely fixed. The Oxford Museum Association is currently looking for a cost quotation for repair, but King said that the monetary cost is negligible compared to the emotional cost to those involved with its restoration.
Most of the grief from the vandalism comes from the family members of the disrespected dead. Barbara Gruver is the last living descendant of Samuel Doty, whose tombstone was broken in the vandalism.
She and her husband, Kenneth, have played an active part of restoring the landmark both monetarily and physically, as active members of the Oxford Museum Association.
"It was very disheartening to see this happen," Kenneth Gruver said. "The (restoration) project was about 90 percent complete. It has been a long two or three year struggle."
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In regards to catching the culprits, Gruver remains hopeful because of the large monetary reward. The Oxford Museum Association, along with the Oxford Township Trustees, is offering $1,500 in reward money for information regarding the vandalism.
"I hope that it will generate information to the conviction of the people who did it," Gruver said. "This will make people think twice. Creating the reward means someone will come forward."
The museum association's Web site states the cemetery was originally part of a one-acre donation - including both the burial ground and a small church house - by Job Smith in 1844 to the First Congregation of Christian Disciples.
Though the cemetery contains only 35 headstones, King said, 75 to 100 people were buried there between its donation and its abandonment in the mid-20th century.
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