I love a good story and this is one to warm the heart. When I was interviewing Virginia Stoltz yesterday, we were talking about the many hours she's spent in cemeteries cataloging the stones. Finally, I asked her, "What discovery do you remember most?" She told me of a monument to a dog in Miamisburg's Hillgrove Cemetery and how that little white bulldog had affected her.
Today I went looking for it.
It was a hot day to climb the hills there but I had some idea where the monument was located. Stoltz said it was on the high hill near the cemeteries entrance, in what I've always called the "Treon section" (named after a founder of Miamisburg). Mom tried to climb the hill with me but it was too hot and too steep and she chose to go back to the car and wait.
I did not find the monument at the highest point where I expected it but rather down on the north side of the hill. As I came down, I saw the "little white bulldog", facing north where he has lain for over a century. Here's what the inscription says:
My ever faithful dog
That guarded me in life
Still guards my grave.
I can't be sure which grave is the master's but I'd say it's the one with the large stone in front of the dog (wouldn't you set this up so the dog was actually watching the stone?). If so, the dog belonged to Frederick C. Fox, b. 2/25/1809 d. 4/30/1887. Ah, in the ground already for 123 years!
And so Mr. Fox and his beloved dog lie side-by-side on a pleasant hill above Miamisburg. What a lovely monument to a companion! Like Virginia Stoltz, I am touched by the delightful monument to a forever friend.
