Boy Scout searches for Revolutionary solider remains at Hamilton park

Michael D. Pitman and Steve Colwell – TV Hamilton, Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio
·3 min read
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Mar. 22—Having a Revolutionary War veteran buried in an unmarked grave "didn't sit right" with Eagle Scout candidate Zackary Kramer, and he hopes to change that.

The 17-year-old Badin High School junior is getting help with this project from The Underground Detective, a Cincinnati-based company that uses electromagnetic and radar equipment to, among other things, locate utilities and assist with utility mapping.

The goal is to find the bodies of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 soldier Paul Bonnel and his wife Mary Bonnel. They were buried in what is now known as Symmes Park, which was once a cemetery for the city of Hamilton.

"We're searching for their exact position so we can honor them more justly," said Kramer. "History has always been a big part of my passion. If I had to choose something, it'd be history."

Hamilton is where Fort Hamilton was founded in 1791, and the Symmes Park property was initially the Hamilton Burying Grounds. While most of the graves were moved to Greenwood Cemetery in 1848, the Bonnels' remains were not.

While Kramer hopes they are located, regardless of the success of the search, he plans to honor the couple from New Jersey on April 13 at the Hollow Earth Festival.

"If we can undoubtedly find them, we'll place a marker there," he said. "I'm thinking a bench with a plaque, and sum it up what he's done in his life and honoring him."

They will not exhume the Bonnels remains, or any other bodies they may locate, which is possible given it is a former cemetery.

"If we find a lot of places (in the park) with bodies, then I don't think we can discern which one is (Bonnel's) and his wife, versus other people," Kramer said. "We'll still have a ceremony and put a bench where we believe him to be."

Chris Maraschiello, a teacher at the Hamilton Freshman School, is an organizer of the Hollow Earth Festival scheduled from April 13 at Symmes Park. He hopes Kramer finds the Bonnels, but even if he doesn't, he said it's just "really great to have kids interested in history.

"When you have kids interested in history, you want to encourage it as much as possible, and hopefully, they'll carry it on," he said. "It's a really great project and hopefully this will work out."

The Hollow Earth Festival is to benefit Symmes Park, in hopes of revitalizing it into something more useful and usable. The name comes from the Hollow Earth Monument at the park, which is a recognition of the Hollow Earth theory originated by Capt. John Cleves Symmes, who died in Hamilton.

Funds generated from the Hollow Earth Festival, which will run from noon to 4 p.m. on April 13, he said will be reinvested into the park to "kickstart at rejuvenation of a really historic space in downtown Hamilton." He hopes it could have amenities suitable for older kids, like teenagers.

"We really want to make it a vibrant park, like they did with Millikin Woods," he said.