Mount Tabor Cemetery TALES THE TOMBSTONES TELL

Tales The Tombstones Tell - Republican Observer - September 26, 1957

                  THE SABIN CEMETERY

    Just a bit north of Sabin in the town of Sylvan is the Mt. Tabor, or better known as the Sabin cemetery. It is located on a hillside and therein are buried many of the pioneers of that area. We were there one afternoon late in May and the view from this hillside spot was a beautiful one. Bright green fields and newly plowed ground, could be seen up and down the valley. A farmer with his tractor was working in a field quite a distance to the north; cattle grazed in the pastures and everything looked prosperous.
    The cemetery is well kept but burials are not numerous there any more but no doubt it will be in use for many more years.
    Names of well known folks appear upon the stones, Turner, Fetty, Reed, Smith, Thomas, Kerby, Watt, Marshall, Wheeler, Stevens, Felton and Kepler are some of these. Then there are others, McDaniels, Wanless, Ewing, Bee, Brown, Duke, Shepherd and others.
    One stone, close to the gate, bears a little lamb on its top. The inscription states it is for the infant children of S. L. and F. M. Fetty and bears the dates March 2, 1893, and March 26, 1896. Close by is a stone for Frank B. Turner, born in 1836, and his wife Nancy, born in 1839.
    Four tall pine trees mark the lot where Peter S. Johnson is buried. He died in 1877 at the age of 31 years. Another stone is upon the lot but we could not read the inscription thereon because of the wearing away of parts of it by the elements. No doubt these four pine trees, one at each corner of the lot, were planted well over 80 years ago. An inscription upon the stone for Mrs. Johnson says:
            "My earthly task is done, and I willingly I go
            To meet my Savior and my God
            Where there is neither grief or woe."
    Samuel Groves and his wife Minnie are buried in this cemetery. They were both former residents of Richland Center. He was born in 1860 and died in 1921; Mrs. Groves was born in 1858 and passed away in 1945. Another stone on the lot is for Mary Groves, who died in 1878 at the age of 51.
    A stone is there for B. H. Thomas, who died March 29, 1906, at the age of 83. He was a member of Co. D, 11th Infantry, and entered service in September, 1861, was promoted to a corporal, wounded at Coche River, and discharged on account of his wounds, September 2, 1862. He had rather an odd first name which was, according to the records, Barzilli, but it does not appear upon the monument. A verse reads:
            "Farewell my wife and children all,
            From you a father Christ doth call."
    Joseph Kerby and his wife Sarah, have several of their kin buried on their lot. Joseph was born on February 22, 1804, and died March 21, 1895; his wife was born May 18, 1809 and died August 7, 1873. Others were William Kirby, born in 1846 and died in 1916; Stanley Kirby, born 1832, and died in 1896.
    James Taylor Brown appears to be the oldest in point of birth date buried here. He was born in 1797 and died in 1883 which would make him 86. His wife Elizabeth, was born in 1814 and died in 1887. James A. Watt and his wife Alma are here. He was born in 1839 and died in 1922; his wife was born 1845, and passed on in 1909. Two others, Fred J. Watt and Frank have their names upon the stone. Fred was born in 1866 and died in 1906, while Frank was born in 1869 and died in 1886. Mr. Watt was a Civil War veteran, enlisting in 1861 and was mustered out in 1864.
    Wilson J. Bailey, born in 1851, and his wife Rilla, born in 1856, are in this hillside burying ground and a stone there close by reads:
            "Holley, adopted son of
            W.J. and Rilla Bailey
                   1894-1912"
    Other names that appear upon the monuments other than those mentioned above, are Dary, Adams, Higgins, Bender and Marshall, Wanless, Benson, Bayne.
     Calvin Coulter and his wife Elenor have a marker. He was born in 1839 and she in 1850. He was a Civil War veteran, member of Co. B, 20th regiment, and enlisted from Sylvan in 1862, and was mustered out in 1865 at the close of the war.

    Two World War veterans found the Sabin cemetery the end of the road of life. Amos Sneath, private in the 218th Regiment Coast Artillery, is one. He was born in June, 1900, and passed on March 15, 1934. His marker bears these words:
            "Brief, Brave and Glorious was his young career."

    Charles Bee is the other World War veteran. Charles was a Cpl. in Co. D, 3rd Infantry Regt. World War II. His birth date was October 22, 1910, and May 17, 1943, was the date of his passing.

    Nathan Higginbotham and his wife are among those buried here. Mr. Higginbotham was born in 1848 in Delaware county, Indiana, and came to the town of Sylvan in 1855. His wife, who before their marriage was Deborah Waller, was born in Ohio in 1847 and came to Sylvan with her parents in 1863. She and Mr. Higginbotham were married in 1868. They both passed away in 1926.

    Thomas Cranston, born in 1837 and died in 1923, and his wife Sarah, born in 1841 and died in 1916, are buried on a lot not far from the four tall pine trees spoken of above. Another on the lot is Patrick Cranston, who passed on a few years ago. The Cranston family was quite prominent in the early life of this county.

    On the marker for Jasper and Lewis Allaback, children of Mathias and Sarah Allaback, it says
            "They are not lost but gone before."

    David Smith and his wife Nancy, had a sad life if one can measure sadness by the number of deaths in the family as noted upon the monument which stands in the cemetery. Mr. Smith was born in Ohio and came with his mother, a widow, to Richland county in 1857. He was born in 1811. His mother bought a farm in Sylvan and gave it to David, her only son and sole support. He was married on December 15, 1861, to Nancy Babb, who was born in Delaware county, Ohio, February 3, 1843. On her marker it says:
            "She faltered by the wayside
            and the angles took her home."

    The mother of Mr. Smith died in Sylvan in 1883. She was born in Ohio in 1800. Mr. Smith died at Viola, May 4, 1922, and his wife on March 20, 1907. On the same marker are the names of some of the children of Mr. and Mrs. David Smith, together with the dates of their passing. Ulysses Grant Smith died in 1864; Anna Isabelle in 1867; Mary Lucinda in 1871; Nellie J. in 1875; George M. in 1879; Elizabeth in 1896. Upon the same tombstone is this:

    "Elizabeth Twaddle, born in Jefferson county, Ohio, November 6, 1800, moved to Richland county, Wisconsin, in 1857, and died September 17, 1888. She and five brothers were born blind."
    Thus it was the fate of Elizabeth to live a long life of 88 years in total darkness. Five brothers also were born without an optic nerve and never looked upon the beauty that surrounded them.
    The brothers of Elizabeth, born blind, were Jacob, Philip, Andrew, Alexander, John and Martin. The sister, Elizabeth. although blind, could do all her household duties, spin yarn and flax just as well as folks with perfect eyesight.

    The Babb family has several members buried here. The pioneer was George H. Babb, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1815, removing later to Indiana and then to Richland county in 1856.
     In 1841 he was married to Elizabeth Jordan, a native of Indiana, who was born in Wayne county in 1823. Mr. Babb held several offices in the town of Sylvan and was prominent in the affairs of the town, being town chairman, assessor, justice of the peace and census taker. He was a minister of the gospel for many years in the Christian church. He was one of those who organized the church at Sabin in 1858, and was one of
the first preachers. He died in 1902 and his wife passed on in 1887. On the same lot are markers for Susan Babb born in 1845, and died in 1876; Rachel, 1855-1877, and James 1864-1906. Timothy another son, has a marker close by. Timothy was a Civil War veteran, a member of Co. F, 3rd Regt. He was born in 1847 and died in 1907. His wife was born in 1848 and died in 1875.
    A son of Mr. and Mrs. George Babb was laid to rest in the Mt. Tabor, or shall we say, the Sabin cemetery. He was John H. Babb, who was quite prominent in county affairs, serving as county treasurer for four years and one term as member of the state legislature. He was born in Sylvan August 10, 1860. He worked on the farm, then taught school for three years when he engaged farming. On July 4, 1900, he was married to Jessie Danner, who was born in Ohio January 12, 1867, and two years later came to Richland county with her parents. On the same lot is a marker for a daughter, Madeline, who was born April 4, 1901, and passed on in August 1916.
    There are a number of the Brown family here besides those mentioned above. These are Mr. and Mrs. Russell Brown, who for some years made their home in Richland Center on East Court street.
    John Twaddle and wife Martha, are among those who sleep away the years here on this hillside. He was born in 1846 and died in 1925, and Mrs. Twaddle was born in 1849 and died in 1908. John Dary, born in 1854 and died in 1918, is another of the folks of the Sabin area who found rest here.
    The father and mother of Samuel Groves mentioned elsewhere, are here. They are Samuel and Mary Groves. Mr. Groves was a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, born in 1828, coming to Richland county in 1855. He was a member of the 20th Wisconsin Infantry.
    Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Shepherd are numbered among those resting here. He was born in 1823 and she in 1834. Life came to an end for Mr. Shepherd in 1908 and for Mrs. Shepherd in 1928.
    We wish we knew more about some of the folks buried here but the cemetery is not large and some of the tombstones have nothing on them but names and dates.

S. F.

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