"Cemeteries in Genealogy Research" - with Krista Horrocks presentation - November 19 2024

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Thanking Krista for all of her extensive research on the topics that impact cemeteries and the preservation of them, particularly here in Ohio, ranging from stressing the importance of documentation, understanding how the Ohio Revised Codes (laws) impact Ohio's cemeteries, and the importance of researching burial records including the W.P.A. individual veterans' grave cards, and the companion records mostly popularly known as the W.P.A. Cemetery Plat or Plot Maps that are most often found on county Recorder's websites.  Krista points out on the Ohio map the counties where we are still looking to find those cemetery maps for that county.  The Civilian Grave Cards at the O.H.C. are also discussed in this presentation.

How protecting and preserving our ancestors' gravesites helps let their legacies live on through the generations that come after them.  We can do our part to grant them the respect they deserve and to ensure they are not forgotten.

Thank you to the Ohio History Connection and to the Ohio Genealogical Society -- Ohio's most respected resources for Ohio history and Ohio genealogy -- for facilitating this presentation to the public.  Krista Horrocks' presentation is important for all of us researching our ancestors' lives.  Krista does a wonderful job of bringing it all together in a comprehensive manner on this vast subject, thus enhancing our education and answering so many of our questions.  

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Below is a link to the useful handout for Krista's presentation.:
https://www.ogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/CemeteriesforGeneaologyResearch_20241119_Reference-List.pdf

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Echoes Extra: This Place of Silence - Ohio’s Cemeteries and Burial Grounds - The Ohio History Connection - Krista Horrocks

The book:  "This Place of Silence Ohio's Cemeteries and Burial Grounds" 

The Fayette County W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps have been added to the right sidebar of the blog.

 The Fayette County W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps have been added to the right sidebar of the blog. 

Fayette County, Ohio is comprised of the following townships.: 
Concord, Green, Jasper 
Jefferson, Madison, Marion
Paint, Perry, Union, Wayne
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Fayette County is part of the VMD = Virginia Military District in Ohio.
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Fayette County was formed on March 1, 1810, from portions of Highland and Ross Counties.
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This collection of W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps is complete with its Cemetery Index Page, and a 1940 Fayette County Road Map with Legend.

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The original .pdf scans are located at the Fayette County Recorder's Office.  They were scanned as individual pages, (Search type “Book / Page”, Book Type “Cemetery Plat").

Thus, some maps do not have their map page number listed on them but the numbers are included in their titles in these .jpg images.

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It appears that these W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps were created in 1924 which pre-dates the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) era of the 1930s, however, the  "OFFICIAL PROJECT NOS 465-42-3-467 & 665-42-3-232" identification is affiliated with them. 
See excerpts from the Fayette County Genealogical Society's publication below. (I am unsure if it is still available for sale by the society).:

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The Evans Cemetery in this publication includes information that it may actually be located in Clinton County. 

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On the W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Map for the Johnson Cemetery shown as being in Union but possibly Marion Township.:

The following interesting additional information was included that states the "Grave of Elizabeth D. Carr wife of Martin Carr 100' East of Fence Line of cemetery in wheat field." 

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Fayette County is mostly a rural county with a great number of small family cemeteries that were still in existence 100 years ago that may have vanished by today.

The main purpose of these maps was to document the burial sites of veterans and are companion records to the individual veterans graves registration cards. However, as we see in the collection of these cemetery maps and some in other Ohio counties, there are any number of reasons to reference them. It is good to consider that unexpected hidden gems just might be there awaiting our discovery if we only take those extra steps to uncover them.

Cemetery Grant Award Recipients for Fiscal Year 2025 announced by the Ohio Department of Commerce

The Ohio Department of Commerce has provided the listing of the recipients for the Fiscal Year 2025 Cemetery Grant Awards. 

"More Than $100,000 in Grant Funding Awarded to Ohio Cemeteries to Support Maintenance and Training"

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Every year since this program began the "repair and reset monuments" reason under "Notes" has been increasing. 

I feel this fact demonstrates that there is a real need at Ohio's cemeteries for the repair and resetting of monuments and markers. We applaud this program being in place for Ohio's Registered / Active Cemeteries.

We must keep in mind, however, this grant is never awarded to the following categories of cemeteries in Ohio:

•  Inactive/Unregistered cemeteries (no burials in past 25 years.
•  For Profit Cemeteries
• Burial grounds deemed to be family cemeteries per Ohio Revised Code. 
  
  
  From what has been ascertained, the family cemeteries are Inactive and thus Not Registered. 

In Ohio, Cemetery Registration is key in order to obtain at least some of the protections afforded to cemeteries in Ohio.  

Many of Ohio's earliest cemeteries are long inactive - meaning no burials in the past 25 years.  

Because they are Inactive and closed to new burials they do not qualify to be Registered.  Thus, they are disqualified from the benefits afforded to their Active/Registered counterparts.  Someone who has a complaint regarding one of these categories of cemeteries cannot bring their complaint to the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission to review and act upon such complaints.  Sadly, these marginalized cemeteries deteriorate further and rely on volunteers and interested parties to advocate for them and work to keep them from falling into further decline. 

Neither time, nor Ohio laws, preserve and protect the Buckeye State's earliest and most vulnerable cemeteries.  Too much history has already been lost and the general public should be made aware of this sad situation before more decay and vanish.