Volunteerism Opportunity to help photograph the Northampton Cemetery in Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Ohio.

 

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The Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society and Museum on Facebook

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Sharing a link to the Northampton Cemetery in Cuyahoga Falls, as it appears on Find A Grave.

Henry Casey Camp honors Clark County honors it last Civil War veteran - News story from the Wilmington News-Journal

Henry Casey Camp honors Clark County’s last Civil War veteran

TAKE NOTE -- From the Hillsboro Times-Gazette - Highland County, Ohio

***TAKE NOTE***

"The cemetery restoration group FOG (Friends of Greenwood) will present a program on the cleaning and restoration of headstones at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Hillsboro Cemetery. FOG volunteers John Glaze and John Willis will present a hands-on program on the techniques and care of headstones, especially the older ones. Participants should wear comfortable clothing, walking shoes and bring gloves and a folding chair.  The public is encouraged to attend. For more information call 937-393-3392."

A link to the Williams County, Ohio W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps is now listed on the right sidebar of the blog.

A link to the the Williams County W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps collection on Flickr has taken its place among those listed for other Ohio counties on the right sidebar of the blog.

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The Williams County Recorder's Office provides PDF versions of these maps for viewing.  

Their website also presents a wonderful introduction to this map collection with an extensive history of the "Works Progress Administration's Veterans' Graves Registration" - a title and description associated also with the individual veteran's graves cards that are even more commonly located at Ohio Recorder's offices.  

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The Williams County W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps possess particular points of interest to keep in mind.:

 For some maps, the page number, normally shown in the lower right corner, is missing due to being cut off the page.  

For some other maps, the page number area is darkened enough that it could not be read.

Also, please note that even the smaller cemeteries have their own page; not the typical 2, 3, or 4 smaller cemeteries to a page. Thus, this fact eliminates the need for a "Multiple Townships/Smaller Cemeteries" album in this collection of maps. 

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Williams County, Ohio is the most northwestern county of the Buckeye State.  

In fact, there is a Northwest Township in Williams County.:

The map image below is from the "Lay Me Down To Rest" Youtube series created by the Williams County Public Library for the Columbia Cemetery in Northwest Township.: 

Northwest Township, Williams County, Ohio

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The following townships comprise Williams County.:

Brady, Bridgewater, Center, Florence, Jefferson, Madison, Mill Creek (or Millcreek), Northwest, Pulaski, Saint Joseph, Springfield, and Superior. 

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Sharing a link to the Williams County, Ohio Public Library's "Lay Me Down to Rest" announcement from January, 2021 about their then upcoming Youtube Video Series hosted by Local History Assistant, Denver Henderson.  His visits included overhead and ground level drone footage that augment the historical commentary he presents for each of the 63 cemeteries in Williams County.  These short but most certainly engaging and educational videos are well worth watching for anyone interested in leaning more about Williams County, Ohio cemeteries!  Each video virtually puts the viewer in the setting of the cemetery while the W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Map page created for it some 90 years ago reminds us of its unique history.  

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Below is a link to the main page for the "Lay Me Down to Rest" videos.: 

Williams County Cemetery Videos by the Williams County Public Library

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Below are examples of Williams County cemeteries with unusual characteristics.: 

West Buffalo Cemetery straddles two townships: Florence and Saint Joseph.:

Clarksville Cemetery in Saint Joseph Township is reported to be the oldest cemetery in Williams County.:
View the Williams County Public Library's Youtube Video for the Clarksville Cemetery.

Below is a newspaper article about Clarksville from "The Crescent News" dated July 9, 1976 from neighboring Defiance County.: 

Clarksville Cemetery shown on Google below: 

The source remains unknown for the origin of this faint photograph added to the map page by an unknown person, and at an unknown time. It shows an older marker, and two similar ones seen to the right of it, placed left of the Legend at the bottom right-hand corner of the page.  

However, it is quite possible the marker is for Thomas Wilson who died November 25, 1831. 

The top image is shown with inverted colors.:  

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The W. P. A. Cemetery Plat Maps for Olive Branch Cemetery in Mill Creek (AKA Millcreek) Township and the Brim Cemetery in Superior Township have the black coffin symbols similar to the ones shown below that denote a veteran's burial plot location (a coffin symbol ⚰ ). :

However, sadly the veterans' names are missing.:

  

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So as we move along exploring the Williams County W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps, we learn they hold their share of mysteries woven as threads within the decades of histories.  What a treat it is to try to solve them along the way!

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Sharing from the Urbana Daily Citizen - Oak Dale Cemetery tours are Oct. 21-22 = 2022 - Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio

Oak Dale Cemetery tours are Oct. 21-22

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Oak Dale Cemetery on Find A Grave

Christine Limes Simmons - age 103 - passes away in Missouri

Christine Simmons: Christine was preceded in death by her mother Bernice, father Lewis, and her beloved husband of 59 years, RW. She is survived by her daughter Jan (Erwin) Pellant of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and her son, LJ (Judy) Simmons of Fenton, Missouri; granddaughters Kathy (Pellant) Reed and Jennifer Pellant of Council Bluffs; grandsons Luke (Hanna) Simmons of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Josh (Elizabeth) Simmons of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is also survived by eight great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held at Lindley Funeral Home, Chillicothe, Missouri, on Saturday, September 17, at 11:00 a.m. Family visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m. one hour prior to service. Burial will be held at Rural Dale in Trenton, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Rural Dale Cemetery Association (455 SE 63rd Ave, Laredo, Missouri, 64652).

A link to the Tuscarawas County W.P.A. Plat Maps is now on the right sidebar of the blog

A link for the Tuscarawas County, Ohio W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps is now on the right sidebar of the blog.

This collection of cemetery plat maps follows the same format used for other Ohio counties, such as the pages being numbered.  Also, in the lower right-hand corner is the outline box of Legend of Wars;  History; and acre size for the cemetery.  

Noting, however, that the Cemetery Locator Map is missing from this collection.  

Penciled in numbers added to the right of the cemeteries names on the Cemetery Index Page refer to their numbered locations are shown on the county map.  

Similar to the other county maps listed on the right sidebar of the blog, these map pages are showing at 24%-25% in Microsoft Office Picture Manager.  Enlarging the size to 50% should enable easier viewing of the veterans' names, as well as other information including any penciled in notes.  

There are several pages containing penciled in notes. These now fading additions could appear in various places on a map page so be on the look out for them!  See a couple of examples below.: 

    

As I moved along working with this set of maps, I found myself considering many of them as a form of "map art"!   So, I took out some time and placed  frames with a touch of color around a few just to see what they would look like!  

I'll share some here:

Below is page 120 with two cemetery plat maps - both for Oxford Township.  The cemetery on the left - Pleasant View Baptist Cemetery - shows the veterans names in a single column listing to the right of the map.  

The cemetery on the right - King's U. B. Cemetery - has fewer veteran burials.  Their names are placed within the map itself with a connecting line to the gravesite.  

Thus, it can be easy to overlook seeing some veterans names when they are placed inside the map in smaller size print.   

There was one eye-catching notation that stood out quite glaringly on page 40 - the name "Miss Elizabeth Weaber" on the Addenda Page for Unknown Veteran Burials at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Dover.  

After further research, Elizabeth Weaber's gravesite was located! This is due to the invaluable work by Scott Harmon, City of Dover City Cemeteries Superintendent, who dug deeper into the Maple Grove Cemetery original handwritten burial records.  

As it turns out, Elizabeth Weaber's surname was spelled as the more common surname of "Weaver" in their records. That important discovery enabled Mr. Harmon to visit the gravesite of Elizabeth Weaber where he so kindly took photos.  His photos and research, in turn, enabled me to create a Find A Grave memorial for Elizabeth Weaber.   

See below for the gravesite photographs and burial records by Scott Harmon.

Thanking the Tuscarawas County Public Library for sharing the New Philadelphia obituary for Elizabeth Weaber.: 

Also, thanking Lori Smith of the Tuscarawas County Recorder's Office, for sharing a scanned copy of the original veteran's registration grave card for Elizabeth Weaber.: 

Below is a side-by-side of pages 13 and 23 both in Sandy Township.  

Page 13 shows "Pleasant Valley or Old Methodist Cemetery" with 3 veterans names.

Page 23 shows in capitol letters: "VOID" SEE PLEASANT VALLEY CEMETERY".  The cemetery is identified as Old Methodist Cemetery. The same 3 veterans names are shown on page 23 as those on page 13.  

Find A Grave lists this cemetery today as the Sparks Cemetery.   

Zebulon P. Sparks is shown as one of the 3 known Civil War veterans buried at this remote cemetery.:   

David Rasler is shown as David Resler – Page 142 – United Brethren Cemetery in Sugar Creek Township.  

He is the only veteran on page 142.  

Find A Grave has his surname spelled as “Rasler", and the original grave marker is engraved with his surname of "Rasler".: 

Below is the W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Map for Bunker Hill Cemetery.  The location of this cemetery is shown as partially located in 3 townships.:  Sugar Creek, Franklin, and Dover. 

Working with these maps, in particular, was a twist and turn adventure; and I feel a rewarding one! 

It is my hope that others will feel these W. P. A. Cemetery Plat maps are a treasure trove of historical value having lasting usefulness worth saving for the future.

My special appreciation to Krista Horrocks, Project Reviews Manager of the State Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio History Connection, for sharing the PDF file of these maps; and to John Kolb, Secretary and Co-Editor of the "Lorain County Researcher" newsletter of the Lorain County Genealogical Society, a Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, for his assistance in converting the map images in this large collection.