10/18/2026
MT. WOOD CEMETERY WORKDAY UPDATE
Sixteen volunteers appeared on a glorious autumn morning yesterday at Mt. Wood Cemetery for our final workday of the season. As the sun warmed the fog dissipated and the dew glistened in the crisp morning air. We were all moved by the scene and appreciated the moment.
And then we got to work. As the photos show, our concentration on Section B near the cemetery entrance made a difference. The most challenging achievement was an hour’s work resetting the granite footer and monument of World War I veteran William H. Kustchmann who was killed in action on November 9, 1918, in the Verdun front in one of the bloodiest and final major engagements of the war, days before the Armistice. He served as a US Army Private, Company “B” 313th Infantry.
William Herman Kutschmann, born on December 1, 1888, in Rudolstadt, a town in the German state Thuringia, was a son of William Frederick Kutschmann and Olga Augusta Braunes. The family emigrated from Germany in 1893, according to the 1900 census of Wheeling, at which time they resided at 506 Market Street. The parents had been married for 12 years, and the father was employed as a laborer at the Calico Works. They had 4 children and all were living. They were William, 11, Otto, 9, Selma, 6, and Anna, 3, the last two born in West Virginia. Another daughter, Lily, was aged 2 in the 1910 census. A daughter, Ella, born in 1901, died in 1906. When William registered for the draft, he was employed as a stogie maker at Po***ck
Stogie Factory. (Profile by Linda Cunningham Fluharty).
We also reset Ella’s monument. Both these restorations, along with three others, are the work of volunteers Ray Carney, Kevin Conklin, Bill Cox, Jay Frey, Eric Heinowitz, Zach Roeder and Cork Schane.
Ivy covering the Scott Mausoleum’s north wall was removed by volunteers Anna Brinkmeier, Ray Carney and Scott Schenerlein. The ivy’s root system invades the mortar holding the sandstone blocks together. Both the Scott and Forbes Mausoleums are in terrible condition and the remains interred there have long ago been moved. This effort was to prevent further deterioration.
Many other monuments were cleaned with Endurance, a bio-degradable, non-toxic and safe cleaning agent for this purpose, and flags were placed on veterans’ graves in anticipation of Veterans Day. Thanks to volunteers Vanessa Arnold, Dina Carney, Laura Dawson, Jeanne Finstein, Elaine Strauch and Carla Tustin for their work on these initiatives. Special thanks to Laura and to Peggy Niebergall who make certain we have drinking water, lunch, volunteer registration, and with Carla, photos of our work.
We are grateful for our volunteers, and for donors whose financial support provides the supplies we need for cleaning and repairing monuments. We also thank Diana Mey, Chuck Ryan and the Ladies Auxiliary, American Legion Post 1, for donating the flags for veterans’ graves.
