Exploring Almost Forgotten Gravesites in the Great State of Ohio

Dedicated to cemetery preservation in the great state of Ohio


"A cemetery may be considered as abandoned when all or practically all of the bodies have been Removed therefrom and no bodies have been buried therein for a great many years, and the cemetery has been so long neglected as entirely to lose its identity as such, and is no longer known, recognized and respected by the public as a cemetery. 1953 OAG 2978."

Friday, July 21, 2017

Spotlighting the Old Huntington Cemetery in Lorain County, Ohio & Hattie Pratt - The "Blue Girl"

Sharing photos of various scenes to be found at the Old Huntington Cemetery in Huntington Township, Lorain County, Ohio that were taken on Sunday, July 16, 2017.

Hattie Adele Pratt's name was inscribed on a tall black granite monument there as was her brother's and parents' names on the other sides.  
It is one of the newer monuments at the Huntington Cemetery.  

However, an original white marble marker was found in an outbuilding with Hattie's name carved on it that has sparked a lot of mystery about her real final resting place.  
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"Three year old Hattie Pratt was the subject of an Archibald Willard painting named “Blue Girl”. 
Hattie died of diphtheria in 1862 at 3 years of age.  The painting was done from a photo a few years later. 
There is an obelisk in Huntington Cemetery inscribed with the four Pratt family names: Benjamin - father; Alta - mother; Jerome; Hattie.  
What is believed to be Hattie's headstone was found under a post of an outbuilding on the Pratt farm in the 1990's and is currently on display at the Huntington Historical Society Museum."

 
 
The 7 photos below are views of the monument
for the Pratt Family:
Hattie Pratt, Jerome Pratt
and their parents - Benjamin and Alta M (Houghton) Pratt

Hattie Pratt was the subject for the "Blue Girl" painting
by Ohio's famous artist, Archibald M. Willard.