Historic Woodlawn Cemetery

08/08/2026

Walter Franklin Snyder was a pioneer in modern public health whose work helped shape sanitation standards across the United States and beyond. Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Snyder began his public health career with the Toledo Department of Health before moving to Ann Arbor in the early 1940s. There, he joined the University of Michigan School of Public Health and became one of the founders and first executive director of the National Sanitation Foundation (now NSF International). He championed a groundbreaking partnership among government, industry, and public health professionals to create science-based standards that continue to protect food, drinking water, consumer products, and public health worldwide.

Snyder's influence is still felt today through NSF International's global leadership in standards development, product testing, and certification. His remarkable contributions are also honored through the Walter F. Snyder Award for Achievement in Attaining Environmental Quality, presented annually by the National Environmental Health Association and NSF International to recognize individuals whose outstanding work has advanced environmental quality and public health.

He died in 1965 and is buried in section 35.

08/04/2026

We've been in the news! Check out these local news spots highlighting the teen tree program and the history that lives on at Woodlawn.

https://www.wtol.com/video/news/local/re-tree-toledo-program-cultivates-future-environmental-leaders/512-42424dd3-56bc-48eb-9a26-0e16b94e3524

https://www.13abc.com/video/2026/07/31/local-teens-graduate-re-tree-toledo-urban-forestry-teen-tree-training-program

https://www.13abc.com/video/2026/07/31/historic-woodlawn-cemetery-is-place-explore-both-history-nature

The cemetery is the final resting place of tens of thousands, including many of Toledo’s most famous residents.

07/27/2026

Did you know one of Toledo’s greatest business success stories is buried right here at Woodlawn Cemetery?

Adolf Brand (1841–1916) helped transform his uncle Rudolph Brand’s liquor business into an industry powerhouse. After Rudolph’s death, Adolf partnered with Guido Marx to expand R. Brand & Co., whose headquarters stood at 30 Monroe Street. Together, they built the nation’s first U.S. bonded warehouse and imported fine wines from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Before long, R. Brand & Co. had become the largest wine wholesaler west of the Atlantic Coast—even surpassing Chicago and Cincinnati.

But changing times reshaped the business. As Ohio moved toward Prohibition, the company was sold to its employees before ultimately closing its doors in 1916.

Today, he rests in section 25.

07/17/2026

Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1827, Guido Marx emerged as one of Toledo's most prominent businessmen and civic leaders during the city's rapid growth in the late 19th century. He trained in the import-export trade through his father's business, he immigrated to the United States in 1848 after the failed Prussian Revolution. Three years later, he and his brother settled in Toledo as part of the wave of German political refugees known as the "Forty-Eighters," opening a grocery store.

Marx soon turned to larger ambitions. After founding the German-language Toledo Express, he sold the grocery business and, in 1860, purchased an interest in R. Brand & Co. Following Rudolph Brand's death in 1865, Marx and Brand's nephew, Adolph, assumed control of the firm. Through aggressive expansion and regular buying trips to Germany, Spain, France, and Hungary, Marx established R. Brand & Co. as the largest wine wholesaler west of the Atlantic Coast while also championing the emerging Lake Erie wine industry.

His business success launched an equally distinguished public career. Elected to Toledo City Council in 1869 and the Ohio Legislature in 1871, he also represented Ohio at the 1873 Vienna Exposition and later served as a judge of alcoholic beverages at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
In 1875, Marx was elected mayor, becoming Toledo's first mayor of Jewish heritage. During this period, he commissioned the construction of the city's impressive four-story Italianate R. Brand & Co. headquarters at 120–124 St. Clair Street, a landmark reflecting both his company's prosperity and Toledo's commercial ambitions.

President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Marx U.S. minister to Chile in 1877, placing him in the midst of the War of the Pacific between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. He remained a respected businessman and public figure until his death in 1899 at age 72. The company he transformed into a regional powerhouse survived for nearly two more decades before closing around 1916, when Ohio's adoption of statewide prohibition ended the legal wine trade.

He is buried in section 25.

07/10/2026

If you've admired the Lucas County Courthouse, attended classes at Scott or Waite High School, or wandered through the Old West End, you've experienced the work of David L. Stine. For more than fifty years, he helped shape the look of Toledo, designing many of the civic buildings, churches, and grand homes that remain among the city's architectural treasures.

He arrived in Toledo in 1877 after studying architecture in Chicago. Stine quickly established himself as one of the city's leading architects. His work reached beyond northwest Ohio as an associate architect for the Wyoming State Capitol, but it was here in Toledo that he made his greatest impact.

Among his most celebrated commissions were the Libbey Glass Company Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and Edward Drummond Libbey's Scottwood Avenue mansion, two projects that reflected Toledo's emergence as the Glass City. By the time of his death in 1941, Stine was widely known as the "Dean of Toledo Architects"—a fitting title for the man whose work continues to define the city more than a century later.

He is buried in section 3.

07/04/2026

As we celebrate our nation's independence this Fourth of July, we honor the courageous individuals whose service and sacrifice have preserved our freedoms.

Today, we recognize a few members of our cemetery community for their military service:

🇺🇸 Christian Albert was a Union Army solider who received the highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for bravery. He served as a Private in Company G in the 47th Ohio Infantry Regiment from 1861 to 1865.

🇺🇸 Isaac R. Sherwood resigned as a probate judge in 1861 to enlist in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War, rising from private to lieutenant colonel in the 111th Ohio Infantry and earning a brevet appointment as brigadier general for his distinguished service at the Battle of Franklin. He served through the Carolinas Campaign until the war's end in 1865, after which he began a long career in journalism and public service, including multiple terms in the U.S. Congress.

🇺🇸 James B. Steedman served as a Union general during the Civil War, leading troops in major battles including Battle of Chickamauga and Battle of Nashville, where his bravery helped protect Union forces and contributed to important victories. He rose to the rank of major general and earned recognition for his courageous leadership, especially at Chickamauga, where his actions helped prevent a devastating Union defeat.

🇺🇸 Henry G. Neubert Colonel Henry G. Neubert (1842–1890) was a Toledo native who left high school to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s first call for volunteers, rising from private to captain in the 14th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and later serving as a colonel in the Ohio National Guard. After the war, he became a successful Toledo merchant and civic leader, supporting veterans' causes and helping establish Memorial Hall before his death in 1890.

06/30/2026

Urban Forestry Teen Tree Students recently met with our Stream Restoration Team at Woodlawn Cemetery. Students toured the stream restoration with members of Ohio EPA, City of Toledo and local contractor. They learned the aspects of the restoration, how it relates to restoration activities throughout the city, and what to expect in the future.

06/28/2026

Please join us for a very special America 250 tour at Forest Cemetery on Friday, July 10th at 11:00 AM. Join docents Robyn Hage and Amy Stone as they take you on a one hour walk through Toledo's oldest municipal cemetery notating Toledo's original pioneers who helped forge the early years of our city. A special stop will include the dedication of a new headstone for one of Toledo's longest unsolved crimes dating back to 1912. Hage will also have a new book, 250 Toledoans Remembered, for sale in honor of America's birthday.

06/26/2026

Take a look! WTGV 13 Action News recently covered our Stream Restoration Project and what it means for the Toledo community and Lake Erie.

https://www.13abc.com/2026/06/24/woodlawn-cemetery-stream-restoration-project-aims-benefit-people-wildlife