Storm of 1902   
    On Sunday evening, October 12, 1902 between 6 and 7 o'clock, a terrible storm swept through the southern and eastern parts of Quincy and Adams County, almost destroying Greenmount Cemetery. The storm was first referred to as a hurricane, but later newspaper accounts talked of cyclonic winds.
   Greenmount Cemetery suffered extensive damage. No part of the cemetery escaped the fury of the violent winds. Of the hundreds of soft maples, cottonwoods, birches, oaks, pines, etc - at least 500 of them in all that made Greenmount one of the most attractive cemeteries in this area - none escaped either total or partial destruction. It will take a hundred years to replace some of the grand oaks that were destroyed.    The ground throughout the cemetery was covered with twisted tree trunks and branches. It was almost impossible to walk ten yards in a straight line before the path was obstructed. Scores of tombstones were overturned, but not a single stone could be found broken. Flowers placed on the graves by loving family members were scattered over the grounds. Hanging in the broken trees were a piece of matting, a child's dress, materials from houses, fences and barns to the west and many other things.

Greenmount Cemetery heavly damage of fallen trees
and over turned headstones.

    The Rev. J. C. Kramer, whose Salem congregation is largely from the southern section of Quincy, was out bright and early the day after the storm, visiting the unfortunates and doing all he could to care for them. The damage to Greenmount Cemetery touched the pastor's heart. The destruction to the beautiful grounds, in which he has laid to final rest so many of his people, affected him deeply.
    The white Italian marble, "Peace", possibly the finest example of the sculptor's art in the city, was not damaged. It stands on a pedestal over the grave of Michael von Kukemezey, a major of the Hungarian army, who died here in 1888.
    The column nine feet in height that stood on a pedestal over the grave of Rev. Simon Kuhlenhoelter, pastor of Salem church, who died in 1882 , was blown over by the winds. The monument and the stone coping around the lot cost Salem congregation $ 3,000. The monument can be replaced at a small cost and with no damage.

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