In 1856, Owen Stanley decided to move his affiliated families from England to the United States. They settled in the northern part of Dayton, purchasing several farms in Harrison Twp. with others in Mad River, Butler and Wayne townships.
When Owen and his wife died, Levi and Matilda became king and queen.
The Dayton gypsies lived on their farms during the summer and roamed in the south during the winters. The wealthy families made money in horse trading and fortune telling.
If one of their tribe died while gone from Dayton, they shipped the body, in a beautiful casket, back to Woodland Cemetery.
Matilda died in Vicksburg, Miss., in January of 1878. She had suffered with cancer for two years. Her body was embalmed and transported to Woodland Cemetery’s receiving vault. All gypsy tribes were notified of the funeral arrangements. National and local newspapers advertised the event. There was a great interest in the occasion. Spectators came from all over the country.
The Rev. David Berger of the United Brethren Church of Dayton who “for many years ministered to the Gypsies in spiritual things” read a paper about them to the Dayton Historical Society. The paper was printed in the Dayton Daily Journal on May 23, 1898. He wrote, “It can but rarely occur that royalty finds sepulture in Republican American soil, or that an American clergyman is called to officiate at the funeral of a queen.”
The crowd was estimated to be 15,000 to 25,000. The gypsies numbered in the hundreds and were from the United States, Canada, and England. A thousand carriages paraded from downtown to the cemetery.
Berger stood on a plank across the open grave to avoid the crush of the crowd and led the service. A quartet from the First United Brethren Church sang and the casket was placed in the family vault.
The plot is marked by a 20-foot granite column topped by a white marble figure.
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