Ten members of one of St. Louis’s most influential families are buried in a historic cemetery in Crestwood, but until last month, the only marker indicating where they lay to rest was a metal post with the number 16 on it. That changed July 29, when a monument honoring the legacy of the Vashon family was unveiled at Father Dickson Cemetery.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon in the cemetery for graves to not be marked. Established in 1903, Father Dickson Cemetery, 845 Sappington Road, was one of the first public cemeteries available for Black individuals in the St. Louis area, though it was not endowed to provide perpetual care – common with most Black cemeteries in the era – and closed to new burials in the 1970s. It was neglected and fell victim to vandalism until the mid-1980s when the Friends of Father Dickson Cemetery was established to “protect, restore and reclaim the historic landmark.” Since then, the cemetery has been transformed back to its original glory, though one thing is still missing: grave markers. Out of the over 12,000 burials recorded at the cemetery, under 1,000 are marked.
This didn’t sit right with many people, including Mary Ellen Kruger. She and a few members of her church, Sts. Clare and Francis ECC, volunteered on one of the “Saturday Clean up days” in the summer of 2013, and began working with Ernest Jordan, the president of Friends of Father Dickson, on various projects including a “walking tour book” to shed light on the people buried there. One spot Jordan specifically wanted to highlight was an area where some members of the Vashon family are buried.
The walking tour and map book has since been published, but the lack of grave markers stuck with Kruger. She tried multiple times to do something about it, though nothing came of it until October 2022 when she got in contact with Calvin Riley, the director of the George B. Vashon History Museum. Riley connected Kruger to Paul Thornell, the great-great grandson of George Boyer Vashon and Susan Vashon, and the rest fell into place.
“Paul called me and we talked for about 45 minutes about his family and the need for a monument. Within two weeks we had the money for the monument,” Kruger said. “It took 10 years for this amazing family to be recognized and their resting place known, but they now have a beautiful monument. Every time I would go by No. 16 I would tell Susan Vashon that I was still working on getting her family known. I am sure that her spirit was right with me and working to get this accomplished as much as I was.”
On the monument are inscribed 11 names – those of the 10 buried in Father Dickson Cemetery, including Susan, along with George Boyer Vashon as he died during the yellow fever epidemic and is buried in an unmarked grave at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.
“The fact that he has never had an appropriate burial headstone monument honoring him, that has made this whole sort of exercise and journey and opportunity to recognize the family so important,” Thornell said. “So much of the circumstances around his death were really kind of not recognized or known to anyone.”
Thornell has been intrigued by his family history “probably since the summer of 1981.” He credits much of this to his grandmother, Frances Vashon Atkinson, who passed down stories of the Vashon family to him when he was young. He continued this tradition, telling his children, Nolan and Lena, the same stories when they were young, making it even more special that they were at the monument dedication by his side.
“On that day – especially with my children being there, who are the ninth generation of the Vashon family that I know of in this country – it was a great moment to honor George B. Vashon and the others, but also do it in a way that I think hopefully allows other Black Americans and white Americans and Americans of all color to see the excitement, the passion and the fulfillment that a several decade focus on family history has brought me joy,” Thornell said.
This will not be the last time George B. Vashon will be recognized in St. Louis for his accomplishments. The 200th anniversary of the birth of George B. Vashon is July 25, 2024, and Thornell is planning to travel to the cities Vashon spent notable time in – including St. Louis – to make sure he is acknowledged for all of the work he did throughout his life.
“My hope is in each of those places, there’ll be some sort of marker of sorts to help recognize his contributions, and those of the Vashon family members,” Thornell said.