All the royalties from the sales at the Book Corner are going to a project to begin restoration of the stones in our historic cemeteries
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“Sacred to the Memory”
Susan Dietz, Author "Porter" 2005

       In 1835 John Young, a merchant and namesake of the village of Youngstown, deeded property behind the present First Presbyterian Church for purposes of a cemetery.

       About a year ago Don Gibbons and Suzanne Dietz were doing an inventory at the Universal Cemetery for the Porter Historical Museum .  Part of the history of Porter had disappeared forever.  Remnants of the past lay broken. Other stones were tipped from the cycle of winter and ground thaws.  One stone’s inscription was face down preserved in the dirt.  With a crow bar they lifted the stone.  It was dedicated “sacred to the memory of Lovicy P. wife of Alexander Olds who died Feb. 4, 1852”. 

      Gibbons and Dietz returned to the cemetery with redi-mix, a level, shovels and some other tools and were able to set the Olds marker upright again.  But there are many other stones in need of repair and care at the Swain, Tower, Halsted/Filmore and Curtiss cemeteries which have reverted to the town.

     Dietz saw the writing of Porter to be a beginning for a cemetery restoration project.  While writing she listened to concerns by Larry Grimm of Ransomville about the condition of the cemeteries as they spoke about the history of the town.  So Dietz decided to donate all her royalties from sales by The Book Corner to the town for this endeavor.  The profits realized by the Town of Porter Historical Society from Porter are also being used for this purpose.

      It wasn’t until the 1880’s that municipalities were required by law to keep records of deaths, births etc.  The cemeteries are an important source for history.  These monuments mark the graves of ancestors and towns people who fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and other conflicts which helped to preserve our Union and our freedoms.  Dietz is hopeful this effort will be an impetus for preserving these precious pieces of history.

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