Honoring an old friend, Ina Green

A few years ago, I wrote an article about a remarkable woman I knew as a young boy.  Her name was Ina Green and she was born in the Dakota Territory in 1882.  When she was four years old she moved to Greenville with her mother and father.  If anyone would like to learn about this remarkable woman’s life, her story is available https://porcupinesoup.com/remembering-ina-green.

While researching that article, I became aware that Ina’s headstone had fallen over in the Locust Cemetery on Maple Avenue. I didn’t know long it had been toppled but it didn’t sit well with me to see it laying on the ground.  Ina is a very distant relative of mine.  She also sold my family part of the property I live on today.  I didn’t believe she had any close relatives living in town so it fell to me to address this situation.  Yet, in spite of my good intentions, the years had slipped by and I hadn’t done anything.

So, in August of 2025, in the middle of one of our hottest and driest summers in recent memory, I found myself taking on this project.  Because I am an old man now, everything I attempt to do takes longer.  This project was no different.  It turned into a two-day effort.  On the first day, my wife Terry and I dug out and rebuilt the foundation.  This headstone was first placed in 1905 when Ina’s mother was tragically shot and killed on the family’s front porch.  The foundation was simply laid up field stones.  Over the past century these stones had shifted finally causing her headstone to topple.

On the second day, Terry wasn’t available.  My friend Joe Snyder helped me raise and reset the stone.  In addition, two of my neighbors who had known Ina―Paige and Stephanie Ingalls―came for the event.  The stone was quite large and heavy but after a considerable struggle we got it upright and set.  What a remarkable stone it turned out to be. It is in the form of a tree.  Around the tree is carved a sign hanging on a rope. On the sign is carved the names of Ina and her mother and father.  I personally have never seen such a stone.  Perhaps others have.  It is a truly beautiful piece of art.

With the job done, Joe, Paige, and Stephanie left. After throwing the last of the tools in the bucket of the tractor, I stood there covered in dirt and sweat thinking of Ina and admiring her stone.  In the distance I heard the rumble of thunder.  A few minutes later, for one of the few times this summer, it began to rain. As I drove the tractor home with the steady rain cooling me off and rinsing off the dirt, it occurred to me that perhaps somehow Ina was pleased that she was remembered.  At least I hope so.

If anyone would like to see Ina’s unique stone, it is extremely easy.  You don’t even have to get out of your car. Just drive in the south entrance of Locust Cemetery.  Her stone is on the right side next to the driveway just over the hill.  From there you can follow the driveway and exit the North entrance.

Addendum

From Greenville Town Historian Don Teator

This tale did not end here. At first, Garth wanted this story to remain private, possibly kept in the recesses of my local history records. However, after some lobbying and after some new finds, Garth relented and I have added a few more facets of his kind deeds.

In one of our emails, Garth admitted to “having learned so much about Greenville’s early history I somehow get the feeling I am among old friends as I do my cemetery work. I am sure this sounds strange but it is not a feeling I can shake.”

My own experience with genealogy searching of my own tells of a similar shared feeling―to recognize a name that came from an old record and to see a final resting place and then to feel a closer connection.

Garth’s past work with the Lake family is well documented in the Porcupine Soup archives. Hundreds of names can blur… but then lightning seems to strike and that one or two or a dozen names now have significance. And Garth found a few of them in the Prevost Cemetery.

The several weeks after his work restoring Ina Green’s gravestone, Garth and friends went on to reset at least three stones and cleaned at least eight others.

And then there was a revelatory moment.  In another email, Garth related how, after cleaning the stones already raised, that he “looked around for my next stone.  I noticed an almost completely buried fallen stone with just a couple of inches showing.  When I dug it out, I found the stone of a child named Sydney Hopkins who died at age 2 in 1853, 102 years before I was born. His stone was almost lost forever. I can’t explain how this made me feel.”

Garth raised and cleaned this stone and it inspired him to continue this work.  He has now raised or cleaned approximately 30stones.  His work will continue next spring.

The Town of Greenville and this town historian lauds Garth for the work he has performed way above and beyond the normal.

One of his requests is to see more people who have early families in the Greenville area share their stories, even if simply listing the first family member to come to the Greenville area and where they came from.

Disclaimer and Warning

From Greenville Town Historian Don Teator

We would be remiss if we did not caution the reader(s) that the work Garth performed, as noble and worthy as it is, comes with considerable risk.

This is strenuous work, testing muscles and physical strength.  Please know your body’s limits.  Garth had access to machinery for lifting some of these monuments and this is a cautionary tale also.

Please keep in mind that a cubic foot of stone, on average, weighs about 170 pounds, a weight that if it fell the wrong way or was moved in an unsteady manner could easily injure those involved. Or worse. And some of these stones weigh hundreds of pounds.

A final requirement: Anybody can clean or fix their own family’s stones.  Garth got permission from the Town of Greenville before he worked on non-family stones.  Please get written permission from the owner of the property.  Doing otherwise could be a criminal act.

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Note: Past Greenville Local History Group feature articles are archived at https://porcupinesoup.com/greenville-local-history.

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