Photographs and information from Vicki Tieche -- submitted September 3rd and 4th, 2016.
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Vicki Tieche's question is in connection to the smaller size plain markers that only have the inscription of "I S" carved on them. And, Vicki is wondering if anyone else has seen "I S"carved on small stone markers.
Below is the information that Vicki Tieche has shared and her question to learn the meaning of the "I S" inscribed on several of the small size footstone looking stones at the Center Village Cemetery in Harlem Twp., Delaware County, Ohio.
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"In your research and or cemetery work, have you ever run across roughly made markers with only the initials I.S. on them? I have found 5 in one of our cemeteries, the one with the highest concentration of Civil War burials. I've wondered if they were temporary markers put in for soldiers graves until the families could afford to buy a real stone. A couple of them were near Civil War stones and in most cases, the IS stones were flat on the ground or along the edge of the cemetery. I'm attaching some pictures. "
"One of them, the last one we found, my daughter stepped on as we were leaving the cemetery one day. It was face down beside the large monument for a Civil War soldier who died at Atlanta. We'd been over it / past it many times and hadn't realized it was shaped until that day. That's when I made the possible connection to war burials - the others had been near the graves of soldiers who died in the war. I'm attaching a picture of the large monument. The IS stone was below the right side of the stone, between the stone and the cemetery fence."
"Yes, Center Village Cemetery is the only one where I've found the IS stones.
I may be able to add a little more to help - one of the first settlers here was Ishmael Bennet, born about 1729, survivor of the Wyoming Massacre, who came with his son, the Reverend Daniel Bennet in 1809. Ismael was a stonecutter "at the base of little mountain" in Pennsylvania. His son, Daniel obviously learned the trade from his father because there are stones signed "Brother D. Bennet". Center Village Cemetery was created beside the ME Church in Center Village. Reverend Russell Bennett, son of Daniel, lived beside the church and was chaplain for the 32nd OVI company I. So, there's a high possibility Russell was also a stonecutter or had learned enough from his father to make the IS stones."
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Above is a close up view of the marker below by the tree
