:Knollwood Cemetery

Knollwood Cemetery was incorporated on September 9, 1908, by C.F. Heinig, Francis P. Newcome, and H.L. Ebbert.{{cite news|title=Ohio Incorporations|work=The Plain Dealer|date=September 10, 1908|page=9}} A five-member board of directors was established, and Benjamin Ottman elected its first president.{{cite news|title=Legal Notices|work=The Plain Dealer|date=May 4, 1909|page=9}} A few weeks after its incorporation, the cemetery purchased {{convert|200|acre|m2}} of land from the Pennington-Quilling Co. for $40,000 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|40000|1908}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars). The land had previously been the farm of Robert Lowe.{{cite news|title=Site For Cemetery|work=The Plain Dealer|date=September 27, 1908|page=14}} In June 1909, the cemetery purchased another {{convert|10|acre|m2}} of land for $100 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|100|1909}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) from James Watters, and {{convert|22.6|acre|m2}} of land from J.W. Thorman for $100.{{cite news|title=Realty Transfers|work=The Plain Dealer|date=June 25, 1909|page=10}} Another {{convert|27.4|acre|m2}} were acquired from other sources.{{cite news|title=Begin Work On City of the Dead|work=The Plain Dealer|date=June 27, 1909|page=8}}

Ground was broken on the new cemetery on June 26, 1909. Paul Heinze, an architect from Detroit, Michigan, who had designed several cemeteries in the Midwestern United States, laid out Knollwood as a "park" cemetery. Twenty work crews began preparing burial vaults, grading roads, and landscaping {{convert|170|acre|m2}} of the site in preparation for a July 15 dedication.{{Efn|It's clear from later reports that not all of the {{convert|170|acre|m2}} were immediately converted to burial space. Most of the work probably consisted of clearing brush, laying sod, and building roads.}} Work included the creation of a man-made lake. The cemetery's roads were paved with macadam, while the county began work on grading and laying asphalt on Mayfield Road to upgrade it in time for the burial ground's opening. Other work at the site included the emplacement of stormwater sewers about {{convert|7|ft|m}} belowground, and the construction of a front entrance consisting of wrought iron gates supported by several granite pillars. A.T. Russell sold {{convert|1150|acre|m2}} of land to Knollwood in September 1909.{{cite news|title=Realty Transfers|work=The Plain Dealer|date=September 16, 1909|page=10}}

The first interments at Knollwood were about 300 bodies removed from the old Erie Street Cemetery in downtown Cleveland. Hiram Brott became the first contemporary person to be interred at Knollwood when he was buried there on April 27, 1910.{{cite news|title=Mortuary Notice|work=The Plain Dealer|date=April 26, 1910|page=11}} Interments were relatively few in number until 1912.{{cite news|title=Knollwood Cemetery, Cleveland|work=The Monumental News|date=August 1916|page=505|access-date=March 15, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jtBAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Knollwood+Cemetery%22&pg=PA505}} Demand for burial space was strong enough that by 1916 {{convert|25|acre|m2}} of the cemetery had been cleared, landscaped, and plots laid out. Fully {{convert|16|acre|m2}} of this acreage was near the entrance of the cemetery, and consisted of a park-like garden cemetery. The remaining {{convert|9|acre|m2}} were more like a lawn cemetery. Another {{convert|45|acre|m2}} of the property had been cleared of underbrush and sodded, while {{convert|45|acre|m2}} remained heavily forested. The cemetery association also sold about {{convert|33|acre|m2}} of land, and spent $25,000 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|25000|1916}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) constructing a caretaker's residence (which included a small chapel) and maintenance buildings.{{Efn|A different source claims the cemetery still had {{convert|250|acre|m2}} of land as of 1937.{{sfn|Historical Records Survey|1938|page=110}} The sale of land may have come not from the cemetery itself, but from the Knollwood Cemetery Association's other extensive land-holdings.}}

By the mid-1920s, Knollwood Cemetery was effectively a large land-holding company. In 1925, Knollwood sought to become a nonprofit organization. Under Ohio law, this meant the cemetery had to divest itself of most of its investments, which meant selling off land. This included the sale of {{convert|100|acre|m2}} of land to the new Acacia Park Cemetery, adjacent to Knollwood.{{sfn|Deal|1987|page=165}}{{sfn|Vigil|2007|page=}}{{cite news|title=Masons Open New Cemetery|work=The Plain Dealer|date=June 3, 1929|page=6|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=Bundy to Head Acacia Cemetery|work=The Plain Dealer|date=November 24, 1961|page=10}}

By the end of 1927, Knollwood Cemetery held more than 2,300 remains.{{cite news|title=Look for Your Answer Here|work=The Plain Dealer|date=January 26, 1928|page=22}}

File:Mausoleum 02 - Knollwood Cemetery.jpg

In 1923, Knollwood Cemetery announced it had hired noted funerary architect Sidney Lovell to design a large, above-ground mausoleum for the cemetery. Plans called for the structure to be a mixture of Gothic Revival and Egyptian Revival, and for it to include two chapels and about 50 "private rooms" off the main corridor.{{cite news|title=Knollwood Mausoleum|work=The Plain Dealer|date=October 21, 1923|page=83}} It was completed about 1926.{{cite news|title=Cleveland Convention Program|work=The Modern Cemetery|date=February 1926|page=334}}{{Efn|"Private rooms" are spaces in a mausoleum, usually gated or grilled and about {{convert|10|by|10|ft|m}} in size, containing five to 10 single-capacity crypts.{{cite news|title=The Mausoleum Age|work=The Churchman|date=November 8, 1913|page=648|access-date=March 19, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZNOAQAAMAAJ&q=mausoleum+%22private+room%22&pg=PA648}}}}

To decorate the mausoleum, the cemetery commissioned a number of large stained glass windows from Tiffany & Co., most of which were vaguely secular in nature.{{sfn|Speenburgh|1956|page=56}} Other Tiffany windows were commissioned by individuals who owned crypts in the mausoleum.{{Efn|For example, Annette Kaple commissioned a window depicting a mountain scene from Tiffany in the early 1920s.{{sfn|Sotheby's|1990|page=617}}}} All of the windows were finished in the late 1920s and early 1930s, toward the end of Louis Comfort Tiffany{{'s}} life, making it unclear how much work Tiffany himself put into their design. As of 2006, there were 17 windows in the mausoleum attributed to Tiffany.{{cite news|last=Litt|first=Steven|title=Cleveland landmarks offer good local views of Tiffany windows|work=The Plain Dealer|date=December 17, 2006|page=J7}}

In 1928, Knollwood Cemetery officials determined the mausoleum should be expanded. Hubbell & Benes, a Cleveland architectural firm, designed the addition, which was constructed by the Craig-Curtiss Co.{{cite news|title=Knollwood Contract Let|work=The Plain Dealer|date=May 2, 1928|page=24}} The $175,000 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|175000|1928}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) addition was finished in December 1928.{{cite news|title=$77,441,000 In Building Is Done By Clevelanders|work=The Plain Dealer|date=January 2, 1929|page=11}} Seven more additions were made between 1930 and 1959.{{cite news|title=Unusual Value at Knollwood|work=The Plain Dealer|date=October 17, 1959|page=47}} A {{convert|4842|sqft|m2|adj=on}} addition was added in 1997.{{cite news|title=Communities|work=The Plain Dealer|date=October 15, 1997|page=B6}}

File:Section 27 - Knollwood Cemetery.jpg

In 1930, the Memorial Construction Company of Lansing, Michigan, purchased Knollwood Cemetery. Knollwood Cemetery was sold to Gibraltar Mausoleum Corp. in 1994, and in June 1995 Gibraltar was purchased by Service Corporation International.{{cite news|last=Schneider|first=A.J.|title=Industry giant to buy Gibraltar Mausoleum|work=Indianapolis Business Journal|date=June 19, 1995|page=A3}}

Knollwood was sued over the mishandling of remains in 1983. In 1929, Katherine G. Mallison was buried in a family plot at Knollwood. Her granddaughter, Dorothy Mallison Carney, died in 1982. While digging the Carney grave, cemetery workers discovered that it was already occupied by a wooden burial vault containing Mallison's coffin. Cemetery workers used a backhoe to remove Mallison's burial vault and remains, which they dumped at a refuse site on the cemetery grounds. Carney's burial occurred a few hours later. In March 1983, a Cleveland television station broadcast news about the mishandling of remains at the cemetery. After an investigation revealed the remains were Mallinson's, Carney's children sued the cemetery and were awarded $56,000. Knollwood Cemetery appealed, but the Ohio Eighth District Courts of Appeals upheld the verdict in 1986.{{cite court|litigants=Carney v. Knollwood Cemetery Association|vol=33|reporter=Ohio App. 3d|opinion=31|court=Ohio App.|date=1986|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/19866433OhioApp3d31_157/CARNEY%20v.%20KNOLLWOOD%20CEMETERY%20ASSN.|access-date=March 17, 2017}}

In 1988, Knollwood Cemetery workers buried Ruth Pistillo in the wrong grave. The family discovered the error only when no headstone was placed on the grave Pistillo had purchased. Even after the error was discovered, Knollwood remained unsure as to who was buried in the wrong grave. Pistillo had to be disinterred and one of her family members had to identify the body. Her heirs received $101,000 in damages.{{cite news|last=Torassa|first=Ulysses|title=Woman in Wrong Grave, Family Gets $101,000|work=The Plain Dealer|date=June 4, 1992|page=A1}}

In 2002, Knollwood Cemetery sought permission from the city of Mayfield Heights to permit the drilling and operation of a natural gas well on its property by Bass Energy. Knollwood said the proposed wells would be in an area about {{convert|300|yd|m}} from any graves, an area which would not be used for burials for at least 25 to 30 years. Knollwood said the wells would provide it with free natural gas for heating of its mausoleum and other buildings, and would give the cemetery much-needed revenue of about $50,000 a year for 10 years{{cite news|last=Tinsley|first=Jesse|title=Emotions run high over gas well idea for Knollwood Cemetery|work=The Plain Dealer|date=September 27, 2002|page=B4}} to help meet its $350,000-a-year operating costs.{{efn|In testimony before the Ohio Senate, Forest P. Reichert, president of Knollwood Cemetery, claimed it took more than $8,000 a month to heat the mausoleum, and that a "recent" recarpeting cost $165,000.}} The city denied the permit. The conflict led to the introduction of legislation in the Ohio Legislature to strip localities and counties of their authority to regulate oil and gas wells.{{cite news|last=Tinsley|first=Jesse|title=East Side mayors fight to regulate gas drilling|work=The Plain Dealer|date=November 17, 2003|page=B1}}{{cite news|last=McCarty|first=James F.|title=Woman sues cemetery over gas well near crypt|work=The Plain Dealer|date=August 15, 2008|page=B1}} This law passed in September 2004. Subsequently, three natural gas wells were drilled and began operation on the Knollwood property.{{cite news|last=Flournoy|first=Tasha|title=Residents look to cap well-drilling efforts|work=The Plain Dealer|date=April 20, 2005|page=B1}} The new law was challenged in court. As the lawsuit progressed, a Court of Common Pleas allowed production to continue at existing wells at the Knollwood Cemetery.{{cite news|last=Flournoy|first=Tasha|title=Gas wells again pit David vs. Goliath|work=The Plain Dealer|date=May 31, 2005|page=A1}} The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the new state law in February 2015.{{cite news|last=Smyth|first=Julie Carr|title=Court upholds Ohio's power to regulate drilling|work=Mansfield Journal|date=February 17, 2015|access-date=March 17, 2017|url=http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2015/02/17/court-upholds-ohios-power-regulate-drilling/23559145/}}

In 2008, the Vitale family sued Knollwood cemetery for placing a natural gas well too close to their mausoleum on the cemetery's grounds. The family also accused Knollwood (which had erected the mausoleum) of constructing such a poorly built structure that family members had to be disinterred and the mausoleum rebuilt. The case was dismissed with prejudice in May 2010.{{cite web|title=Josephine A. Vitale v. Knollwood Cemetery Association. CV-08-667688|website=Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts|date=May 19, 2010|access-date=March 17, 2017|url=http://cpdocket.cp.cuyahogacounty.us/CV_CaseInformation_Summary.aspx?q=VCP__e1FqOVH3Z_c3_4QBA2}}

Knollwood Cemetery had about 47,000 burials in 2007,{{sfn|Vigil|2007|page=94}} and between {{convert|94|acre|m2}} and {{convert|96|acre|m2}}{{sfn|Vigil|2007|page=94}} in 2008. Its mausoleum remained the largest in the state as of 2012.{{cite news|last=Bennett|first=Shawn|title=Natural Gas Development Provides Much Needed Relief To Cemeteries|work=Energy In-Depth|date=July 13, 2012|access-date=March 17, 2017|url=https://www.energyindepth.org/ohio/natural-gas-development-provides-much-needed-relief-to-cemeteries/}}

File:Feargus Bowden Squire - Knollwood Cemetery.jpg

File:Sam and marilyn sheppard crypt - knollwood cemetery.jpg

A number of famous individuals are buried at Knollwood Cemetery. They include:

• Frederick Henry Herbert Adler (1885-1959), poet.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=387}}
• Albert R. Bahr (1868-1939), founder, A.H. Bahr Lumber Co.{{cite news|title=Parma Dealer in Lumber Is Dead|work=The Plain Dealer|date=March 13, 1939|page=13}}{{sfn|Downs|1934|page=321}}
• Ernest Barnard (1874-1931), president of the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team from 1922 to 1927.{{sfn|Lee|2009|page=493}}
• Francis H. Beam (1900-1965), chairman of the board, National City Bank of Cleveland.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=84}}
• George H. Bender (1896-1961), Republican who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 to 1947 and again from 1951 to 1954, and in the United States Senate from 1954 to 1957.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=138}}
• Howard Simmons Booth (1891-1952), professor of chemistry at Western Reserve University.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=563}}
• Fred H. Chapin (1875-1958), president, National Acme Co.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=52}}
• Herb Conyers (1921-1964), first baseman for the Cleveland Indians from 1941 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1952.{{sfn|Lee|2009|page=493}}
• Alwin C. Ernst (1881-1948), co-founder, Ernst & Ernst.{{cite news|title=Alwin C. Ernst|work=The Plain Dealer|date=May 15, 1948|page=6}}
• Billy Evans (1884-1956), Major League Baseball umpire; general manager, Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers; president, Southern Association league; and National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.{{cite news|title=Billy Evans, 45 Years in Baseball, Dies|work=The Plain Dealer|date=January 24, 1956|pages=1, 29|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=Services Held for Billy Evans|work=The Plain Dealer|date=January 29, 1956|page=C12}}
• Finley Melville Kendall Foster (1892-1953), scholar of English literature, Western Reserve University.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=17}}
• Sonny Geraci (1947-2017), lead singer of the rock music groups The Outsiders and Climax.{{cite news|last=Norman|first=Michael|title=Sonny Geraci, lead singer of The Outsiders, dies at 69|work=The Plain Dealer|date=February 6, 2017|page=A7|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=Geraci|work=The Plain Dealer|date=February 8, 2017|page=A17}}
• Reynold Hinsdale (1879-1934), architect.{{cite news|title=Hinsdale Dies, Was Church Architect|work=The Plain Dealer|date=November 5, 1934|page=10}}
• Benjamin Franklin Hopkins (1876-1955), early automobile manufacturing executive.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=64}}
• Pete Johns (1888-1964), infielder for the Chicago White Sox and from St. Louis Browns.{{sfn|Lee|2009|page=493}}
• Harvey Bryant Jordan (1895-1965), vice president of American Wire & Steel Co.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=65}}
• Edwin Arthur Kraft (1883-1962), organist.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Kraft, Edwin Arthur|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|date=July 17, 1997|url=http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=KEA|access-date=March 17, 2017}}
• George Miller (1898-1966), co-founder, Miller Drug Stores; president, Strong Cobb Arner pharmaceutical manufacturer; president, Distillata Co.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=71}}
• Mike Murphy (1946-2006), drummer for the bands Bee Gees, Chicago, and The Manhattan Transfer.{{sfn|Vigil|2007|page=94}}
• Newbell Niles Puckett (1897-1967), folklorist and professor of sociology, Western Reserve University.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=34}}
• Thomas E. Orr (1891-1952), engineer and president, Keystone Plastics Company and Plastray Ltd.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=573}}
• Ellis Ryan (1904-1966), owner of the Cleveland Indians from 1949 to 1952.{{sfn|Lee|2009|page=493}}
• Suzanne Schnitzer (1941-1984) Gates Mills resident from a prominent Gates Mills family, nurse, and patron of the arts.
• Jimmy Scott (1925-2014), jazz vocalist.{{cite news|title=James Victor Scott|work=The Plain Dealer|date=July 9, 2014|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last=Petkovic|first=John|title=Cleveland jazz singer Jimmy Scott dies|work=The Plain Dealer|date=June 14, 2014|page=A1}}
• Marilyn Reese Sheppard (1923-1954), murder victim and wife of Sam Sheppard. The fetus of her four-month-old unborn son was buried with her in 1955.{{cite news|last=Dirck|first=Joe|title=Body Exits Crypt As It Arrived—In Spotlight|work=The Plain Dealer|date=October 7, 1999|page=B1}}
• Sam Sheppard (1923-1970), physician, husband of Marilyn Sheppard, and accused murderer. Originally buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Columbus, Ohio, his remains were disinterred and cremated before being placed in his wife's crypt in 1997.{{cite news|last=Simonich|first=Milan|title=Beyond the Grave|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=September 17, 1997|page=15}}
• Thomas Sinito (1938-1997), caporegime in the Cleveland crime family.{{cite web|last=McCarty|first=James F.|title=Thomas J. Sinito, 59, Powerful Cleveland Mobster|work=The Plain Dealer|date=December 23, 1997|page=B7|postscript=none}}; {{cite web|title=Sinito, Thomas J.|website=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|date=June 29, 2013|access-date=March 17, 2017|url=http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=STJ}}
• Antanas Smetona (1874-1944), President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and from 1926 to 1940.{{cite news|title=Lithuanian President Dies in Fire Here|work=The Plain Dealer|date=January 10, 1944|pages=A1, A4|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=Mass to Honor Memory of First Lithuanian Head|work=The Plain Dealer|date=January 11, 1964|page=13}} (His remains were moved to All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Ohio, in 1975.){{cite news|title=Exile: Lithuanian Leader's Body Moved to New Site Today|work=The Plain Dealer|date=September 20, 1975|page=11}}
• Feargus B. Squire (1850-1932), Standard Oil executive.{{cite news|title=F.B. Squire, Oil Pioneer, Is Dead|work=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=July 21, 1932|page=5}}
• Floyd St. Clair (1871-1942), composer with the Sam Fox Publishing Co.{{cite news|title=The Final Curtain|work=Billboard|date=September 5, 1942|page=25|access-date=March 15, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAwEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Knollwood+Cemetery%22&pg=PA1902}}
• Jack R. Staples (1911-1990), investment banker and partner in Cascade Industries.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=84}}
• Gordon A. Stouffer (1905-1956), restaurateur, heir to Stouffer's fortune.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=486}}
• Terry Turner (1881-1960), infielder for the Cleveland Indians.{{cite news|title=Terry Turner, Star Here 15 Years, Dies|work=The Plain Dealer|date=July 20, 1960|page=28}}
• Edith Anisfield Wolf (1889-1963), poet and philanthropist.{{cite web|title=Wolf, Edith Anisfield|website=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|date=July 23, 1997|access-date=March 19, 2017|url=http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=WEA}}
• D. Carl Yoder (1869-1963), Methodist minister and founder, World Religious News (a news service).{{sfn|Spencer|1998|page=374}}
• Charles X. Zimmerman (1865-1926), brigadier general in the U.S. Army and sports team owner.{{cite web|title=Zimmerman, Charles X.|website=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|date=July 10, 1997|access-date=March 19, 2017|url=http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=ZCX}}

;Notes

{{notelist}}

;Citations

{{reflist|30em}}

{{commons category|Knollwood Cemetery}}

• {{cite book|last=Deal|first=Mary H.|chapter=Cemeteries|title=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|editor-last1=Van Tassel|editor-first1=David D.|editor-last2=Grabowski|editor-first2=John J.|location=Bloomington, Ind.|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=1987|isbn=9780253313034|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl0000unse}}
• {{cite book|last=Downs|first=Winfield Scott|title=Encyclopedia of American Biography. New Series. Vol. 12|location=New York|publisher=The American Historical Society|date=1934}}
• {{cite book|author=Historical Records Survey|title=Inventory of the Municipal Archives of Ohio. Volume 2|location=Columbus, Ohio|publisher=Ohio Historical Records Survey Project|date=1938}}
• {{cite book|last=Lee|first=Bill|title=The Baseball Necrology: The Post-Baseball Lives and Deaths of Over 7,600 Major League Players and Others|location=Jefferson, N.C.|publisher=McFarland & Co.|date=2009|isbn=9780786442393|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4oEwCgAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book|author=Sotheby's|title=20th Century Decorative Arts: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, American Arts and Crafts|location=New York|publisher=Sotheby's|date=1990}}
• {{cite book|last=Speenburgh|first=Gertrude|title=The Arts of the Tiffanys|location=Chicago|publisher=Lightner Publishing Corp.|date=1956}}
• {{cite book|last=Spencer|first=Thomas E.|title=Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, With Listings of Many Prominent People Who Were Cremated|location=Baltimore, Md.|publisher=Clearfield Co.|date=1998|isbn=9780806348230|url=https://archive.org/details/wheretheyreburie00spen|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|last=Vigil|first=Vicki Blum|title=Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio: Stones, Symbols and Stories|location=Cleveland|publisher=Gray & Co.|date=2007|isbn=9781598510256}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knollwood Cemetery}}

Category:Mayfield Heights, Ohio

Category:1908 establishments in Ohio

Category:Cemeteries in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Category:Cemeteries established in the 1900s