Exploring Almost Forgotten Gravesites in the Great State of Ohio: Happy Fourth of July, 2025! Happy Hunting for the final resting places of American Revolutionary War Veterans who were buried in Ohio!

Friday, July 4, 2025

Happy Fourth of July, 2025! Happy Hunting for the final resting places of American Revolutionary War Veterans who were buried in Ohio!

The Ohio History Connection is spearheading the campaign to document the locations of the gravesites of American Revolutionary War veterans who lived in Ohio, at least for a time, and died and were buried here. It is a massive and worthy endeavor that will benefit all of us, and future generations to have this knowledge. We will not be able to count the ways how the information will aid genealogists searching for their ancestors.

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Reflecting on the years of the Great Depression - the 1930s - we cannot help but think of another most worthy effort to document veteran burials in our Great State and beyond. During that decade the project provided employment to those who needed it. They were tasked to visit and document the locations of veteran burials from all wars, starting with the American Revolutionary War. Take note that the American Revolutionary War veterans are designated as number 1 (the number in the circle) and ending with World War I - which was the latest war to have been fought at the time this work took place. Thus, that war was simply known as the "World War" on those records.

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Below is my rendering of two key elements for what I often identify as the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) Cemetery Plat Maps. It was also shown as Veterans Graves Registration. The cemetery plat maps (sometimes referred to as "plot maps") are companion records to the individual veteran grave registration cards that are well known to genealogists who are researching specific veterans.

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As we inch closer to the 2030's we find that these older records can now serve as a foundation for moving forward with this program sponsored by the Ohio History Connection's Preservation Office which has done valuable work with such projects as the OH-I Form that has been featured here in several posts.

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Reference.:

“These are the very first veterans of the United States of America,” said Krista Horrocks, historian and cemetery preservationist with the Ohio History Connection. “This project is about reclaiming those stories and ensuring the stories of these Ohioans who directly contributed to the founding of our country are remembered for generations to come.”

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Below is a listing of some of the best presented W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps by Ohio Counties (i.e. Recorders, G.I.S. Departments, etc.) that can serve as a starting point to visiting the cemeteries and contributing to the Ohio-250 project of documenting American Revolutionary War veteran gravesites and photographing gravesite markers in compliance with it.

WPA CEMETERY PLAT MAPS THAT CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET:

ASHTABULA COUNTY.:

https://ashtabulacounty.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/attachmentviewer/index.html?appid=6803e693312f4fe58d4054661c4e1875

BELMONT COUNTY.:

Main Page.:

“Plat Book Page”

https://belcogis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=82fce8bbf16a4da2ab377be8247d27dc/

Clicking on a map and it links to the entire 171 page WPA Cemetery Plat Map Book with Index and Locations Unknown – Listing veterans names and their wars but no cemeteries because their burial locations are unknown.

https://www.belcogis.com/DataDownloads/WPA%20Cemetery%20Plat%20Book.pdf

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY:

Champaign County, Ohio cemetery plates, veterans' graves registration, works projects administration

Authors:

Ohio Genealogical Society. Champaign County Chapter (Added Author)

Format: Books/Monographs/Book with Digital Images

Language: English

Publication: Urbana, Ohio : Ohio Genealogical Society. Champaign County Chapter, [198-?]

Physical: 100 leaves. : ill., maps.

Subject Class: 977.1465 V3

Link Below:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/664005?availability=Family%20History%20Library