05/20/2024
From the history files ...
Here are two pictures of small headstones on the far west side of our original (south) section.
The identity and story of these two men were shared with us by our Senior Cemetery Trustee Emeritus and historian Rich Grommon:
The first is Charles Rabbit, who as you can see lived to 100+. He was well known in the Township for his work as a field drainage tile expert. Mr. Grommon shared that Charles worked well into his 90's and his services were well in demand.
Then there is William Orr, who was a hired farmhand working for Frank Grommon at the Grommon family farm, now the site of the Ashbury subdivision. Mr. Orr was from the Rockford area, but as the story goes, no one stepped forward when he passed away. He was buried in a lot reserved for "strangers" on the cemetery's west side, about 50 feet south of our flagpole near the road.
The headstones of both these men are considerably smaller than most, and very simple in design ... probably indicating they were obtained and placed as small dignified markers of the final resting place of two men who left their mark on the Wheatland Township area, each in their own way ...
