The Salem Historical Commission is planning “Tales from Eastlawn”.
The commission’s chair Luke Purcell says the cemetery tour will tell the story of some of Salem’s most historic residents.
“We do it on golf carts and feature 8 different people buried at Eastlawn Cemetery with biographies on each one of those people and an actor portraying that person. So we will go grave to grave and the actor will recite a biography on the people buried there. These are people that are interesting to the history of Salem.”
Those included are Sam and Betsy Joles, the first Gypsies; William Jennings Bryan’s mother Mariah Bryan, Lulu Hull who started the Salem Women’s Club and the local Daughters of the American Revolution, and Matthew Young who along with his father were the first settlers in the area. Others included on the
tour are John Merritt, editor of a local Salem paper and father of Civil War General Wesley Merritt, Colonel Stephen Hicks, Veteran of the Blackhawk and Mexican Wars as well as the Civil War, and Mark Tully, the founder of Salem who also donated the land for the Marion County Courthouse.
Tickets to the tours planned at 5, 6, and 7 pm on Friday October 1st and Saturday October 2nd go on sale Friday at Salem City Hall. They are $10 apiece. Each tour is limited to 21 people, so tickets are first come first serve.
Purcell says proceeds will help the commission continue to improve the city’s new museum. The museum will be open on Saturday from nine to noon.
