 The title of this "Story in Stone" reads like the name of a big-city law firm --Rinaldo & Rashland. However, that couldn't be further from the truth as this contrived moniker has never graced a "hung shingle" in our fair city and is simply the combination of names of two complete strangers buried nearly next to one another in Mount Olivet's mysterious Area M. Fittingly this specific location is also known as "Strangers Row." We seldom know anything about people whom we call "strangers." When researching individuals in this particular sector of the cemetery, I have to be "lawyer-esque" in approach looking extra hard to find out things about my subjects. This includes a careful cross-examination of relatives, residencies and past employments to attempt to paint a better picture of my subject. I may even find out things about their relationship with the law as well. With two names, Rinaldo, a first name, and Rashland, a last name, I immediately had the vision of a law office in mind, and immediately thought of the practice of those in the profession hanging their proverbial "shingles." An online search for an early visual showed me the law office of our fifth US President, James Monroe, whose grandson and other descendants rest in our cemetery. I also thought of the alleged law office of our most famous legal duo in Frederick history annals. These two were not only "in-law," but were also in-laws, more specifically, brothers-in-law.  James Monroe's law office on Charles Street in Fredericksburg, VA  Faux law office (above and below) on N. Court St in Frederick said to have been the home of Francis Scott Key and Roger B. Taney. The building was constructed in the 20th century long after both men had died.  In researching their lives, I had the opportunity to compare and contrast two individuals —one a humble carpenter, and the other a former actor turned lecturer. These two men were not related, and never met one another. They did not reside in the same town, yet they experienced life in the similar time period of history being born immediately after the American Civil War, and surviving into the Roaring 1920s, with one actually making it to the Great Depression. One of our subjects traveled the country in his vocation, while the other may not have ever ventured out of Frederick County or Maryland to my knowledge. One worked with talented hands wielding tools, while the other had a mouth and tongue that paid the bills by way of words, verse and prose as his work accoutrements. Both encountered life struggles --one had financial woes, while the other had problems with alcoholism. Each died suddenly, and not in the confines of one's own home or a hospital room. Their surprising deaths made headlines in the local newspaper while likely talked about by countless local residents not knowing either decedent personally. Last of all, neither subject had funds of family to purchase them a proper grave space. Charity led them to their respective, final resting places in Frederick's Mount Olivet Cemetery and not elsewhere. Now, permit me tell you the stories of Rinaldo & Rashland.  Rinaldo C. Walters He was born on February 28th, 1868 and given a masculine Italian name (with German and Latin roots) which crudely translates to "wise power." Rinaldo was born in West Virginia, the oldest of six children to parents John Wesley Walters (1833-1916) and Annie Cecelia Pampel (1845-1928). Berkeley County was the likely home of Rinaldo's birth and paternal relatives as some records infer. Rinaldo spent his youth in both Frederick City and Shepherdstown, WV. and likely received little advanced schooling. He did, however, learn a trade — that of his father. He would work as a carpenter for the balance of his life, while his maternal uncles (Henry and David Pampel) would make their mark crafting iron instead of wood. The Pampels' father, Frederick (1800-1876), hailed from France and this surname can still be seen on several existing iron grates throughout town. We will look into their story at another time.  1880 US Census showing Walters family living in Shepherdstown, however the 1870 census shows Rinaldo living with his parents in Frederick City.  Frederick News (Aug 22, 1908) Rinaldo and his parents would eventually move to Frederick in the early 1900s and lived on West Patrick Street according to an obituary for Rinaldo's youngest sister, Violet, who died in Baltimore at 20 years of age in August, 1908. We also learn from this obit that three other siblings lived in Baltimore at this time (Ira, Eugene and Mary "Mamie"). I also saw records that another brother, Harry, married in Boston and eventually lived in New York City. Violet would be laid to rest in Mount Olivet's Area K/Lot 26. Interestingly, I found two other family members here in a lot where Violet never received a gravestone. Charles L. Walters, an infant nephew of Rinaldo and Violet (and son of brother Ira) had been buried here in February, 1896. Sadly, the child died on his first birthday. Twenty years later, on March 11th, 1916, Rinaldo's father (John W. Walters) would be buried here next to Charles.
 1910 US Census showing Rinaldo living with his mother on North Market Street In the first decade of the twentieth century, Rinaldo is listed as working as a carpenter in a blacksmith operation. This could likely have been the Pampel Foundry, once located on West South Street. Regardless, this would be the last census record I could find for our subject as he was living with his mother at the time at the family home on North Market Street. Meanwhile, Rinaldo's father was residing in the county home at Montevue. In 1915, he is listed as a blacksmith in a Frederick City directory and his exact address was 210 West Patrick Street.  Rinaldo Walters as he appears in the 1915 Frederick City Directory Not much else can be found out about Rinaldo. He never married or had children. But, what Rinaldo did have was a drinking problem that included legal intervention from time to time. This comes from reading a few newspaper mentions, in which the issues were related to alcoholism and public drunkenness. From the article below, you can surmise that our subject certainly didn't pick the best location in Frederick to pass out.  Frederick News (April 10, 1908) A newspaper article from 1919 states that Rinaldo was living on East 5th Street. The 1920 US Census backs this claim up by showing Rinaldo as a boarder of widow Jane Renner at 128 East 5th Street. Interestingly, a next door neighbor was William R. Diggs, namesake for the municipal pool located off West All Saints Street and the limousine driver for prominent banker, et. al. Joseph Dill Baker (namesake of Baker Park).  By 1928, Rinaldo is back to being called a carpenter in the Frederick City directory and can be found living closer to Diggs Pool than Mr. Diggs, himself, as he was residing as a boarder at 26 West All Saints Street. This would be the year that Rinaldo's mother would pass as well. She is not buried in Area K with her husband, daughter and grandson, but rather in Baltimore where she had lived her final years with a granddaughter.  Frederick News (Feb 20, 1928) I failed to find our subject in the 1930 census, although he died in 1934. I surmise that he was a patient at the Montevue Hospital located northwest of town on West 4th Street extended towards Yellow Springs on a road destined to hold the name of Rosemont Avenue. This institution was built in 1870 and catered mostly to wayward men giving it the moniker "The Tramp House." One year after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and ushering in the Great Depression, Montevue served an array of transients including what have been described as "idle vagabond paupers, a recent class of professional vagrants, transients or "tramps" often sought out almshouses like this and jails for temporary room and board."  The Montevue Home and Hospital in the late 19th century along Shookstown Road in foreground Either by design or heavenly provenance, Rinaldo C. Walters had already found himself here as a resident since around 1928. As you may recall, his father lived his final years at Montevue as well. And here is where our life story ends for a well-marked "stranger" in Mount Olivet's "Strangers Row." Apparently, he was on his way either to, or from, Frederick City, but was found in an adjoining field.  Frederick News (March 28, 1934) My surprise lies in the fact that he was brought to Mount Olivet for burial in a pauper's lot. Perhaps this was dictated by family, as he did receive a gravestone, something his sister and father don't have. I would assume that he would have typically been buried in the "potter's field" at Montevue, a burial ground for hospital residents which we have discussed in an earlier "Story in Stone." 
 Frederick Post (March 31, 1934) Frederick E. Rashland A month ago, I wrote about two other "strangers" in Mount Olivet's Area M that bookend the grave of Robert L. Downing, one of the greatest stars of the theatrical stage in the late 1800s. To Mr. Downing's left, is buried Eli G. Jones, MD (1850-1933). This man practiced for over 50 years, selecting methods he found truly useful from conventional medicine, Physio-medicine, Biochemic, Homeopathic and Botanical (Herbal) medicine. Dr. Jones wrote many excellent articles and books including Cancer: Its Causes, Symptoms and Treatment (originally published in 1922), in which he describes specific and different approaches to each type of cancer then known laying great stress on individualizing the course of treatment for each patient. The story of Dr. Jones directly led me to learn who the decedents were who occupied graves to his immediate left. The nearest grave monument belongs to Rinaldo C. Walters, whom we just chronicled. However, the nearest individual (in a grave) and actually placed beside the mortal remains of Dr. Jones is one Frederick E. Rashland with no marker or monument. I would soon learn that Rashland had an acting career like Robert Downing, but was nowhere near as famous. However, on a smaller stage in the field of education and oratory later in life, Mr. Rashland had quite the reputation that brought many to see and, most particularly, hear him. Funny how a man intent on leaving his mark on communities throughout the country with his talents, is buried in a cemetery without anything to mark and identify his final resting spot and an adventurous life seemingly well-lived.  Area M (aka "Strangers Row") with the grave monument of Rinaldo C. Walters visible to the left and that of Dr. Eli G. Jones to the right. (Frederick E. Rashland is buried between them). Frederick E. Rashland was born a year and three months before Frederick carpenter Rinaldo C. Walters. This occurred somewhere in New York on November 12th, 1866. I have experienced hardships in trying to find any specific information on this gentleman prior to the 1890s. From later census records, I learned that his father, John Rashland, was a traveling salesman from Baltimore, and his mother was from France. I found City Directories from 1890 and 1895 that show Frederick Rashland as an actor living in Syracuse.  My only source of information prior to the US Census of 1900 has been newspapers which further talk of our subject's profession as an actor. The earliest I found was from 1891.  Arcadian Weekly Gazette (Dec 30, 1891) In 1894, Fred Rashland starred in the lead role in a comedy play entitled "The Private Secretary." A review of a performance in Hamilton, Ontario specifically called him out for his "grotesque" portrayal.
The clipping below introduced me to the woman I would eventually learn to be Rashland's wife. Anita Richards of Perry, New York, was born July 14, 1873 and would go by the stage name of Anita Leslie in her early years as an actress. The couple would marry on August 11th, 1898.  Perry (NY) Record (Nov 20, 1896) Fred's big break seems to have come around the time of his nuptials as he was cast in a play titled "The Air Ship," billed as a farce comedy. This impressive traveling production would play to audiences around the country. I found advertisements of it being performed on stages in the northeast, mid-west and far west including: Anaconda, Montana; Dallas, Oregon; Laramie, Wyoming; Boulder, Colorado; Spokane, Washington; North Platte, Nebraska and Vancouver, British Columbia. 
 This musical may have been prompted by widespread reports of a mysterious airship seen flying over California in Nov-Dec 1896 and throughout the Midwest in April 1897. It was something of a precursor to the UFO sightings of the postwar era, although most of those who saw the airship assumed it was the creation of a human inventor rather than an extra-terrestrial craft.  In his blog, Voyages Extraordinaire Scientific Romances from a Bygone Era, Canadian author Cory Gross wrote the following about this particular musical: "Dubbed "a musical farce comedy," it tapped into both the public fascination with powered flight and the Klondike Gold Rush, which were the current affairs of the year. Samuel Langley had just made two successful flights with steam-powered model aircraft in 1896, which flew almost a mile after being launched from a catapult. Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, became interested in possible military applications and began funding Langely's experiments. Meanwhile, a pair of civilians, Orville and Wilbur Wright, were only a few years off from their historic flight in Kitty Hawk. As the quest for the air was going on, hundreds of thousands of treasure-seekers clawed their way to the Klondike River in the Canadian Yukon Territory in the quest for gold. Unfortunately, by the time stampeding prospectors finally made their way across the treacherous Chilkoot Trail in 1897, most of the good sites had already been claimed. The North West Mounted Police - precursors to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - acted quickly to ensure a peaceful and orderly gold rush, but hardship and hunger still plagued the Stampeders. Those who could eke out gold from the river bed and the hills became fabulously wealthy. Dawson City came to be called the "Paris of the North" and, practically overnight, the largest city west of Winnipeg."  "The Air Ship" illustrations appearing in an 1899 review from the Jan 16 edition of the Fort Wayne Gazette "J. M. Gaites' musical opened with an inventor flying his airship to Alaska and discovering a lake whose shores were literally coated in gold. Sadly his heavy-laden craft went down on the way back, along with all knowledge of the lake's whereabouts. Undaunted, the inventor's nephew decided to try his hand at aeronautical adventure. Reaching Dawson City with a farcical crew of comic characters and buxom beauties, they eventually manage to find the gold and return home in a harrowing thunderstorm. Critics decried what they perceived as a lack of plot, the show being carried by the music, dialogue, and effects. That is a familiar critique even today. Audiences, on the other hand, loved it. After its initial run in New York, The Air Ship went on tour and continued drawing full houses well into the 1910s. Of particular note were the air ship itself flying through the thunderstorm and the wintry scenes in Dawson, many celebrating these as masterful and as realistic as one supposes that a stage play can get. With the advent of The Great War and the widespread use of military aircraft, attitudes towards fanciful flights from before the Wright Brothers changed. Like with Jules Verne and Georges Méliès, the public was no longer interested in Scientific Romanticism. The hard reality of industrialized warfare dashed those aspirations. J.M. Gaites' greatest fame still lay in his future though, writing Vaudeville routines for the Marx Brothers."  Carlisle Evening Herald (Aug 26, 1899) It seems as if "The Airship" had made its run by the summer 1899, but a few more shows in the Mid-Atlantic region were performed late in the year and early 1900. In the late summer/fall of 1899, Fred Rashland could be found in another production called "The Wyoming Mail." I had found mention of this in respect to a performance in Carlisle, PA, but our subject was well-acquainted with the imagery of the west that this production portrayed as he had recently traveled it. I found the Rashlands the following year in the 1900 US Census in Nettie's hometown of Perry, New York. The two are both listed as actors and living with Mrs. Rashland's parents, Albert and Eleanor Richards.  The Rashlands in Perry, (NY) in the 1900 US Census Apparently the two were conducting their own productions that year under "the shingle" of the Rashland-Leslie Theater Company. The brief article below informs the public that the couple were canceling shows for the spring season due to a personal illness experienced by Nettie, but they were not sidelined for long. By 1903, they were traveling together performing benefit shows. One such was called "A Modern Match" and was performed in the greater New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut region.
From exhaustive newspaper research, I noticed a shift beginning in 1909, during a permanent residency in New York City. The twosome are not acting on stage, but Fred Rashland now possesses a Ph. D. and is working for Columbia University, or so say a few articles I read. He seems to be instructing elocution and oratory skills and is held on retainer by neighboring New York and New Jersey public school systems to train students in this fine art. Of particular interest is his inferred work under philanthropist Helen Gould.  Punxatawney Spirit (PA) Nov 28 1910
 Providence (RI) Evening Bulletin (Oct 6, 1914)
These lectures kept Fred busy throughout the decade, and into the next. Sadly, this line of work would be responsible for his death. More shocking than that statement is the fact that he would die here in Frederick County! More on that in a moment. In 1920, the Rashlands were living on Mount Vernon Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rashland's occupation was listed as instructor.  1920 US Census with the Rashlands in Philadelphia
I was able to spot the tandem in the 1925 New York State Census. At least in June of that year, they were living in the boarding house of Emma Chapman, a 46 year-old nurse. This was located at 72 Washington in Binghamton, New York.  1925 New York State Census showing the Rashlands living in Binghamton And that brings us to Frederick Rashland's final "curtain call" here in Frederick County. The year was 1926 and the couple were supposedly residing at 100 Third Street in Washington, DC. Lectures and benefit readings were being performed in regional schools in the winter and spring months leading up to the fateful day of May 27th. On this occasion, Mr. Rashland would make an impromptu visit to the Walkersville School and offer his services for a lecture. As you will learn, the performance was never made.  Walkersville School (c. 1934)
 Wash Herald May 29 1926  Frederick E. Rashland's interment card for Mount Olivet   Frederick Rashland's visit to Frederick, Maryland would be a permanent one for his mortal remains. As I've said at the outset, he would be buried here at Mount Olivet in Area M. He preceded Rinaldo Walters, Dr. Eli G. Jones and fellow actor Robert L. Downing to the grave. I wonder if he knew Downing at all in the realm of acting? Regardless, I was fascinated with the story of this gentleman, however, I would further learn of two evocative anecdotes involving the seemingly struggling actors. The first involves Nettie's plight in Frederick. It is said that sympathizing friends helped Mrs. Rashland bury her husband in our fair cemetery. "Strangers Row" had been set for that same reason, however very few in this location have back stories like him, and Dr. Jones and Mr. Downing as I have shared. More mimic that of Rinaldo Walters. Mrs. Rashland found herself with no money, and decided to stay. I would learn that she was aided by our local Sisters of the Visitation here in Frederick. I didn't have time to explore this more fully, but I couldn't recall seeing any ties of this couple to the Catholic Church per se, or even religious at all. However, they did appear to be a bit crafty in terms of performing benefits with the seemed end game of benefitting themselves even if it was for daily survival. It seems that Nettie Rashland lived here through the Great Depression era. In 1931, a Frederick City Directory shows her living at the Colonial Hotel at 2 East 2nd Street and working as a waitress. A newspaper article the following year announced that fortunes were about to change for the former actress. Her name would appear on the front page of the Frederick Post.  1931 Frederick City Directory  Frederick Post (February 2, 1932) This was quite mind-blowing to me so I decided to go down the rabbit hole and found a follow-up article and the actual patent design in the 1932 edition of the Official Gazette of the US Patent Office.  Frederick News (March 5, 1932)
Unfortunately, that's as far as I got with the patent. I couldn't find anything further and don't know if the Visitation Academy received the money or not for Mrs. Rashland's invention of the first non-glare automobile headlights—something all of us certainly appreciate to this day. I could not find Nettie Rashland in the 1940 US Census, but I would learn that she spent the years around that time living at the Montevue Home. I wonder if she knew Rinaldo C. Walters, the man who would be buried next to her husband in 1935? Nettie requested the opportunity to move into a veterans' nursing home for women by proving that she was the daughter of a Civil war veteran. This was in Oxford, New York and was the same home her mother had lived in until her death in 1925.  Nursing home application from November, 1944 for Mrs. Rashland found on Ancestry.com Anita (Richards) Rashland would be accepted for residency at the New York State Relief Corps Home in Oxford. She died four years later at age 75 on September 11th, 1948 and is buried at the New York Veterans Home Cemetery at Oxford in Chenango County. Like her husband, she didn't have to pay for her burial spot either.  The last piece of information I "dug up" on this tandem is from a biographical history of citizens of Perry, New York. One such individual written about was Arthur Richards, Mrs. Rashland's father and veteran of the Civil war. I took a moment to read it and an article I had found on the man from a 20th century paper. I was saddened to read a bit about how our acting couple could have been involved in a case of "elder abuse" regarding Mrs. Eleanor Richards after the death of her husband. It reads as follows:  October, 1917 obituary of Albert Richards from Find-a-grave.com from an unidentified Perry, NY newspaper "RICHARDS, Albert - Private. Born 4 June 1832 in Claremont, NH, the son of Edward & Sally (Densmore) Richards. He was married 5 Oct 1854 in Perry, Wyoming Co., NY to Eleanor A. Wilcox, born 26 April 1835 in Warsaw, Wyoming Co., the daughter of Jerome Wilcox. They were married by Eben Francis, a Universalist pastor. Albert enlisted 1 Oct 61 at Perry, NY, a 29 year old Wagoner. Mustered in 7 Dec 61 as an Artificer. In 1862 he accompanied Capt. Lee and his sister on a visit to Bull Run battlefield. While on a scout off Newport Barracks he discovered the sawmill that became so useful to the Battery. Reduced, date not stated. Re-enlisted 1 Jan 64 at Plymouth, NC. Captured 20 April 64 at Plymouth, NC. Held captive at Andersonville, GA, Charleston & Florence, SC. While in Florence he had nothing to eat for three days and had meat to eat only three times during his stay. Paroled from Florence Stockade 10 Dec 64 at Charleston, SC. Arrived 16 Dec 64 at the General Hospital, Annapolis, MD. Sent to St. John's Hospital at Annapolis, MD. Sent home on a furlough. It was at this time he was carried off the train on a pillow - a mere skeleton. Later he returned to the battery when recovered. Transferred 28 May 65 to Battery L, Third NY Artillery. Mustered out 7 July 65. Discharged 17 July 65. After the war Richards lived in Perry and for many years ran the steamer Gypsy carrying picnic parties on Silver Lake. Albert joined the John P. Robinson GAR Post 101 on 21 Aug 1897. His widow Eleanor Richards gave the bulletin board that stands in front of the Universalist church. In later years her daughter, Nettie, married an actor, Frederick Rashland. They came to Perry and took the mother back with them to New York City. It is alleged they were looking for what little money the mother might have. At any rate, the poor little woman was found deserted on a doorstep a few days later by a former Perry boy who saw that she was placed in the Oxford Home where she died a few years later on 10 Aug 1925 at the age of 90. The Richards lived in a little house at 37 Lake St. and is where Mr. Richards died on 16 Oct 1917. Both are buried in Hope Cemetery at Perry." A sad story indeed, but the validity is not proven as far as my research took me. It does hold some credibility however based on the day to day financial struggle of this ever-transient couple to find work for survival, including Fred Rashland's final proposed performance in the Frederick, Maryland vicinity. It also speaks to the possible remorse that Nettie felt when her patent for the non-glare automobile headlight was certain to yield a great payout. Maybe that is why she gave the money to those who had helped her in her deepest hour? It would be a decision that would explain why she died penniless and continuing to rely on the charity of others for her residency at our Montevue home, followed by the Oxford Nursing Home, and finally her final resting spot four and a half hours away by vehicle, some 230 miles, from that of her husband's in Mount Olivet. In keeping with our theme about "hanging up shingles," I will leave you with this quote from Italian actress and model Monica Bellucci: “I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?”  "Strangers Row" or Area M, final resting place for Rinaldo C. Walters and Frederick E. Rashland
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