I was up in Princeton today and, surprise, thought I’d take a side trip to the local cemetery. This one being Oakland, a fairly large cemetery of 80 acres founded in 1836 and on National Register of Historic Places. Their most famous resident is Owen Lovejoy, a minister, congressman and noted abolitionist whose home in Princeton was a stop on the underground railroad (now museum and National Historic Monument).
I pulled up to his large obelisk and was walking about when I noticed a large zinker (or zincer) in the distance. You know, those customizable zinc made gravemarkers that were all the rage at the turn of the century. There’s a couple in Springdale and you’ll see a few here and there, but this one was really tall.
Then I noticed another, and another, and another… I realized this place was a haven for zinkers and before you know it time had no meaning and I was off on a scavenger hunt!
Zinkers were manufactured in Connecticut but they had a sales office in Chicago so it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think a salesman or two made the rounds in Princeton. Sold as inexpensive alternatives to Marble and Granite, they’ve held up pretty well over time, for the most part anyway. Because they are hollow with removable plates, it is said they were also popular during prohibition.
I probably missed a few, but here’s the Zinkers I found in Oakland Cemetery in the beautiful and historic town of Princeton.
Further reading and references:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/107273/oakland-cemetery
http://www.colorado-cemeteries.com/zinker.html
https://agraveconcern.wordpress.com/…/zinker-spotting-2
(Sorry I had to bump you Owen [Lovejoy], but I’ll write about you sometime down the line.)
https://www.pbs.org/…/feature/owen-lovejoy/index.html
Many more photos in my facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peoriaareacemeteries/permalink/1912769499138133/