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Submitted: 4/30/11 • Approved: 5/2/11 • Last Updated: 7/31/12 • R517579-G0-S3
1857
Among the silence of the cemetery, one will notice a grave that stands out from the rest. One story revolves around two slave brothers who were rock masons, and the Grissos would rent them out to build chimneys in the area. Earl Harber, a man who restored the cemetery to its former glory in 1975, recounted the story of the two brothers to Hodges, who wrote what he said.
"Jacob Grisso owned two slaves which were brothers. They were rock masons and Mr. Grisso rented them out to build chimneys and to do other rock work. One of the brothers died of small pox and was buried in the cemetery. The remaining brother, with the permission of Mr. Grisso, took a wagon and team of steers and built the monument which now covers the grave,'" Harber related to Hodges.
The monument is stone and meticulously built. Each stone was carefully chipped and shaped to form the prism-like shape around the grave. The stones piled on the grave are massive and would have taken several hours each to shape and put in the right place. Whoever this slave was, he must have deeply respected and loved his brother to put so much labor into his monument. A marker at the head of the grave says, "Grisso Slave 1857." Next to the grave lies another marker, which also says, "Grisso Slave." This grave is believed to be the grave of the brother who built the monument.
Source: www.areawidenews.com/story/1503490.html
Grisso Cemetery: Where history runs deep
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Emily McIntosh, Staff Writer
Contributed on 4/30/11 by ashaw444
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Record #: 517579