Our Past Is Present January 15, 2018

January 15, 2018

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            Today’s story is taken from an editorial written in December of 1867. However, the author or source is not identified.  Here is the story:

            “The military authorities at Fort Riley have enclosed the Post burial grounds with a strong stone wall.  We are glad to note this thoughtfulness, for soon military authority will vanish and that memorable home of the dead may be left without protecting care.  We wonder if it is possible to get up some interest in Junction City towards preparing and sustaining a first class cemetery.  The fact is we’ve all got to be buried someday – there’s no dodging it.  We imagine it to be difficult for a man to bury a wife or a child or someone dear in the open prairie without protection from the cattle.  The place where burials are made in Junction City is a piece of wild prairie with no one having title to it nor can anyone obtain title to it.  There are a large number of graves in that burial ground.  Many of them are being obliterated because there is no one caring for the place. These are the resting places of people like Ben H. Keyser, S.B. Garrett and others who have friends caring for their graves, but after years pass, the public will want to know the spot where lay  the remains of people so prominent in history of the neighborhood.  We trust some interest may be taken in this matter.  There is nothing that will contribute more to the respect of a community than the degree of respect which it shows to its dead.    

            We now have two beautiful cemeteries in Junction City.  St. Mary’s Cemetery is on St. Mary’s Road and Highland Cemetery on Ash Street.  We want to thank those who care for them.

            That’s today’s story on…. “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.