Calvary Cemetery Tours Spotlight Notable Dayton Civil War Veterans 9/10
Next year Calvary Cemetery celebrates 140 years of Dayton families' history since its founding in 1872. For some, as many as six generations are buried here. Along with these strong ties, there are many war veterans buried here. Our Civil War veterans and the monuments created to honor them are of note as the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War is marked this year.
Tours will be conducted two weekends in September, on the 10th-11th and 17th-18th from 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
Local author Edward Focke Breen will lead the tours. Breen will show visitors the various Civil War soldier's graves and monuments. He will also highlight notable Daytonians buried here. The Victorian garden landscape is an opportunity to view beautiful scenery along with the statuary placed throughout the cemetery.
Breen attended Capital University for an under graduate degree in History and completed post-graduate work in Education at Antioch University. He is an Ohio native and school teacher who has spent much of his life doing extensive traveling in Europe, North Africa, and the Americas. (Breen is available for interviews before the tour. Please note the contact information listed below)The first weekend of tours will also include a presentation by Gary Wilson, great grandson of Corporal Patrick Traynor, and the story of Traynor's immigration from County Mayo, Ireland and participation as a Union infantryman in the 73rd OVI. (Wilson may also be interviewed) The tours will meet at St. Henry's Chapel, at the top of Calvary Drive, directly off of S. Dixie Blvd. The entire tour is about one mile total and will be completed on foot. The first part of the tour is uphill so comfortable shoes are highly recommended.About Calvary CemeteryFounded in 1872, Calvary is a Victorian Garden cemetery, with beautifully terraced hillsides along the Moraine ridge in Kettering. Overlooking Carillon Park and the University of Dayton, Calvary today is over 200 acres of scenic landscape, classic art and historic statuary. At the center is St. Henry's Chapel, designed by Frank Andrews (who also designed the Dayton Arcade), dedicated in 1902 to the thousands of souls whose remains re-interred here when St Henry's cemetery closed in 1875. St Henry's was the original Catholic graveyard founded in 1844. At this time, more than 75,000 Daytonians rest here.Videos