Ellsworth Cemetery Restoration
April 2022
Audrey Cimino and Thomas Greul, and their effort to restore the Ellsworth Cemetery, are the April 2022 grant recipient for Hey Westminster! Photo credit: Justin Willet.
Congratulations to Audrey Cimino and Thomas Gruel, and their effort to restore the Ellsworth Cemetery, the #HeyWestminster! grant recipient for April 2022.
The Ellsworth Cemetery was founded by six Civil War veterans from Westminster and serves as the final resting place of twenty-six soldiers who served during the war, according to Cimino and Gruel. After learning that many of the headstones in the cemetery had been damaged or destroyed, Cimino and Gruel made it their mission to replace them. “It broke my heart that these people were being forgotten,” said Gruel, who has worked to maintain the cemetery for the last twelve years.
The cemetery is significant to Carroll County because Westminster’s African American residents were primarily buried here during segregation. “This cemetery in Westminster is a treasure and a source of pride,” said Cimino.
