Two important events coming up relating to the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio: Saturday May 21, 2022, beginning at 9:30a.m. at the cemetery - An all-volunteer clean up day ** AND** Tuesday, May 24, 2022 - 10:30a.m. an Auditor's Forfeited Land Sale at the Pickaway County Courthouse to purchase the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville

MAY 21 2022:
Sharing this information for the upcoming annual all-volunteer clean up at the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio.

Please reference contact information below for further details: 

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The Floral Hills Memory Gardens on Find A Grave

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MAY 24 2022

Location of Sale: 

207 S. Court Street, Circleville, Pickaway County Courthouse - begining at10:30a.m. for Auditor's Forfeited Land Sale for Floral Hills Memory Gardens, 

See notice below.:

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Sharing for reference purposes this link to the October 30, 2021 blog post here about the previous Auditor's Sale for the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville that was held on November 9, 2021 when there were no bids for this Active Ohio Cemetery.

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Please share the news about both of these events coming up in May for the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville, Pickaway County.  

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Your support is appreciated for this cemetery that has been without an owner for far too long! 

"Abandoned Floral Hills Cemetery back up for auction. Loved ones hope buyer can be found." - By Sheridan Hendrix - "The Columbus Dispatch" - November 8, 2021

Thanking Sheridan Hendrix of the "The Columbus Dispatch" for again providing in-depth reporting of the historical events and current conditions that have led up to the upcoming auction tomorrow, November 9, 2021, for ownership of the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville, Walnut Township, Pickaway County, Ohio. 

 The importance of bringing a greater awareness to the public about the plight of an Active cemetery like Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville simply cannot be stressed enough.  To know that it has been left "in limbo" for almost a decade should both alarm and remind us that such a sad situation could potentially happen to other Ohio cemeteries.

We can see the need for further examination to answer such questions as how does an Active cemetery become stranded without an owner who is properly caring for it occur in the first place?  Why have legal safeguards not been put in place within the Ohio Revised Codes that would prevent such a tragedy from happening?  

Any cemetery can go from one of concern to one in crisis in a relatively short period of time if problems  affecting it persist.  Cemeteries are sacred spaces deserving our respect and ongoing good care. 

So, please take out a few moments of time to read this spotlight story to gain a greater grasp of the specific issues. 

Thanking all of the volunteers who have stepped up to meet the needs of the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Pickaway County as they live in hope for the future.  May this once vibrant cemetery be granted a change of course for the better to come soon. It deserves nothing less.  

It's try and maybe try again in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio - Or, "What's a Cemetery gotta do to get a good owner?!"- The re-scheduled auction dates are announced - Tuesday, June 30, 2020 and if needed, Tuesday, July 21, 2020 for the sale of Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Walnut Township, Pickaway County, Ohio

Sharing this story from Sheridan Hendrix of the Columbus Dispatch - Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville will be up for auction on March 24, 2020. No bids for it on March 3.

 "Columbus Dispatch" reporter, Sheridan Hendrix, compiled an in-depth story :"Auction of Circleville Cemetery Dead before it Started"on March 4, 2020, the day following the scheduled Sheriff's auction at the Pickaway County Courthouse for the sale of Floral Hills Memory Gardens - and there were no bidders. 

The next date for another auction will be on Tuesday, March 24.
 

We will stay tuned for more details for what comes next should Floral Hills Memory Gardens not sell.  

SHERIFF'S SALE NOTICE: FLORAL HILLS MEMORY GARDENS - CIRCLEVILLE, PICKAWAY COUNTY, OHIO - THE CEMETERY WILL BE UP FOR AUCTION ON MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2020 - AUCTION LOCATION - 207 SOUTH COURT STREET - CIRCLEVILLE, PICKAWAY COUNTY COURTHOUSE, MAIN LOBBY 1:30P.M.

What is happening with the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio  -- should not happen to any Ohio cemetery regardless of its status; most certainly it should not be happening to one that is active.  The township should have taken it over and assumed responsibility for it when it became abandoned by its owners.  Ohio law mandates this is what should be done.  

Sharing an April 3, 2016 story in the Columbus Dispatch about the Floral Hills Memory Gardens which spotlighted the Pickaway County location and included information about the Ross County location and its plight as well.

Excerpt from: 

MATTHEW J. DeTEMPLE, Executive Director

House State & Local Government Committee

May 16, 2017

Proponent Testimony

HB 168 Modify Cemetery Law

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"Townships and Cemeteries"

"Townships maintain over 2400 cemeteries in Ohio. Township cemetery law may generally be found in Ch. 517 of the Ohio Revised Code. A township is required to have a cemetery laid out in lots, number the lots, and the township fiscal officer must keep careful records of said actions (ORC §517.06). The board of trustees is required to make and enforce all needful rules and regulations for the division of the cemetery into lots and the allotment of lots to families or individuals, and for the care, supervision and improvements of said lots. ORC §517.06 further requires that the grass and weeds in the cemetery be cut at least twice a year.

The ORC mandates that a township provide for the protection and preservation of cemeteries under its jurisdiction (ORC §517.11). While the Code states that townships may re-erect any fallen tombstones, a 1975 Attorney General Opinion (OAG 75-083) states that “boards of township trustees have a duty to repair and re-erect monuments and tombstones in public cemeteries within their jurisdiction when the repair is necessary to keep the cemetery in good repair.” The opinion further states that “a board of township trustees has a duty to repair and re-erect monuments in a cemetery that has been vandalized.”

The township may choose to enclose township cemeteries with a fence or hedge but should they do so, the township is required to keep the fence or hedge in good repair (ORC §517.11). When a board of county commissioners has enclosed with a fence all abandoned public cemeteries in the county from which remains have not been removed, the board of township trustees shall keep the fence in good repair and remove the undergrowth and weeds at least once a year (ORC §517.32).

Townships, per ORC §517.11, are charged with the protection and preservation of cemeteries under their jurisdiction. If a public cemetery or a cemetery association wishes to have a board of township trustees take over responsibility of said cemetery, the board of trustees shall accept the transfer (ORC §517.27). Furthermore, a municipal corporation may abandon a cemetery outside the boundaries of the municipality and the trustees shall assume responsibility for the cemetery (ORC §517.28)."

 

The Pickaway County Sheriff's Department has announced on its website the upcoming Sheriff's Auction of the Floral Hills Memory Gardens, which is an active cemetery with at least 672 interments:.

LOCATION OF AUCTION  IS THE PICKAWAY COUNTY COURT HOUSE AT 207 COURT STREET, CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO - MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2020 AT 1:30P.M. 

Auction Date & Time:	March 3, 2020 @ 1:30 p.m.
If Not Sold Second Sale Date:	March 24, 2020 @ 1:30 p.m.
Case Number:	2019DLT003
Address:	Floral Hills Cemetery
City:	Circleville
State:	Ohio
ZIP:	43113
Parcel Number:	M30-0-004-00-037-00, M30-0-004-00-033-02, M30-0-004-00-048-00, M30-0-004-00-038-00, M30-0-004-00-039-00
Appraised Amount:
Start Bid:	$100,853.78
Minimum Deposit:	$15,000.00
Attorney Name:	Jeffrey A. Catri
	Phone:740-474-6066

Sharing the latest news from Gravestone Transformations of Circleville, Ohio

Sharing this Facebook Page from Gravestone Transformations of Circleville, Ohio; a company that does gravestone preservation work throughout Ohio.

Tackling the larger multi-piece monuments can be tricky work requiring equipment that is appropriate for the task at hand.

In Ohio, we don't have many professionals who handle this type of work.

Please keep in mind that monument company workers' expertise lies with handling newer granite monuments.

The older marble, limestone and sandstone monuments require more attention and greater carefulness due to the age and fragile nature of the monument.
Truly, there are more cemeteries in need of immediate gravestone care in Ohio, and throughout America, than there are people properly trained, experienced, who conduct their work skillfully and honor their commitments,

AND

who always adhere to the Do No Harm best practices set forth by the NCPTT to handle their needs.

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Check out the post from July 30, 2019 for photographs and further information about cleaning and repairing a multi-piece monument.

Transforming the gravesite monument of 2nd great-grandparents and their infant daughter meant saving them

The once grand monument with a bible and prayer book carved on its top, marks the gravesites of my second great-grandparents on the Duvall side of my family.  Sadly, however, it had developed condition issues that could no longer be ignored for many reasons. It needed much more help than I alone could give it. 

My second great-grandparents were Jeremiah Duvall and Sigariah (Simmons) Duvall of Pickaway County, Ohio. 

Jeremiah, his wife Sigariah, and their infant daughter who died October 29, 1843 at age 1 day, were buried at the Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio.  

Jeremiah Duvall's parents were Benjamin Penn Duvall and Nancy (Reed) Duvall buried at Green Lawn Cemetery, in Columbus, Ohio. 

Sigariah (Simmons) Duvall's father was Stephen Simmons, a War of 1812 veteran.

The base of the Jeremiah and Sigariah Duvall monument had been severely cracked and sinking for several years. The structure of the base was compromised.  Its ability to keep the monument standing straight was undermined because of it.

  

Also, the monument needed additional cleaning. It had been a couple of years since it was cleaned with "D/2 Biological Solution".  

 

Propped up next to the monument was the small broken marker for Jeremiah and Sigariah Duvall's unnamed "Infant Daughter." It had cracked off at its base just below ground level. 

 

The photo below shows the infant's marker next to the monument several years prior to restoration.:  

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The side-by-side photos below of before and after cleaning, repairing, and the resetting work was completed, tell the story of the total transformation that took place for these two Duvall grave markers. They also received more support and protection from weed whackers and lawnmowers with the addition of an underlying concrete pad.:

(Below)

 Additional photos  

following the completion

 of all of the needed

 transformative tasks.

 

The transformation work for Jeremiah and Sigariah Duvall's monument and their unnamed infant daughter's marker was completed by:
Mark Smith, gravestone conservator and owner of 

"Gravestone Transformations.":

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 Facebook:

Gravestone Transformations

Website:

Gravestone Transformations 

REMINDER: Annual Clean Up Day at Floral Hills Memory Gardens - Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio - Saturday, May 20, starting at 9:30a.m.

If you live in the general vicinity of Pickaway County, Ohio and are looking for a great volunteer opportunity at a cemetery that truly needs help, please consider joining others who are planning on conducting clean up work at the Floral Hills Memory Gardens.   

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Contact Connie Little - 740-418-3525 for more information.  

Floral Hills Memory Gardens on "Find A Grave"

Problems Persist at Floral Hills Memory Gardens at Circleville and Chillicothe Ohio

The ongoing situations:  

Lack of ownership, no regular routine maintenance performed by paid staff for the grounds or offices, or keeping proper burial records -- these are issues that persist unresolved at Floral Hills Memory Gardens cemeteries in Chillicothe, Ross County; and Circleville, Pickaway County.  

For the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Chillicothe, the latest online newspaper report from January 10, 2016 published by Reporter, Chris Balusik, of the  "Chillicothe Gazette"includes this quotation: 

"A consumer protection lawsuit was brought against the owners in 2012 by the AG's office due to the high volume of similar complaints, and people have periodically banded together independently to perform maintenance on the property when they felt it was lacking. 

Robertson, who said the AG's office was only concerned with those who had spent money on products and services they had not received and not about the upkeep of the property, lauded those who have volunteered and said it's disgraceful they had to do the work themselves."

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There is a Facebook Page dedicated to the Floral Hills Memory Gardens location in Chillicothe with the following description: 

"A sad neglected Cemetery that is being forgotten by our leaders. 

The owners have abandoned it and the Township refuses to care for it.

The Attorney Generals Office has filed suit against it....but it sits in the hands of the legal system unkempt.

A cemetery that is located at 4284 US RT 23 Chillicothe, OH 45601. 

The owners Joseph Miller filed CH 13 after fleeing to Nevada, his partner Ronald Downey has fled to Michigan. Neither has left any means of upkeep and care of the grounds and are refusing to honor any of the prepaid services that have been purchased thru the cemetery.

 Attorney General filed a suit against the 2 owners in May 2012, with nothing of any significance being done to get a resolution to the problem. One of the items Mr Miller is trying to do is surrender the property in lieu of taxes owed. 

By ORC the property would then be handed over to the Township that the property is located. (Huntington Twp, Ross County). 

The problem is Huntington Twp has refused to accept responsibility for the grounds due to the trustees claiming they are not financially able to maintain the grounds, they also state the have seeked guidance thru their "Prosecutor" and have been advised that they do not have to take it. 

With all legal issues aside ..it is the attempt by this group to bring this tragic situation to the public and clean up the Cemetery grounds and find a resolution to further maint. of the grounds."

There are 3,348 interments at: 

Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Chillicothe on "Find A Grave"

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Regarding Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville, Ohio, the latest details include the following from Connie Jones, volunteer at the cemetery:

"I'm hoping someone can help me. I organize the volunteer clean up activities at  Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville Ohio. 

There is an office building there where cemetery records are kept and the roof is crumbling.  I have gotten one of the local funeral homes to buy me all the supplies to replace it, but now I'm looking for someone who could help replace it.  If anyone has any ideas please please let me know.  Thank you."

"We are just volunteers who try to keep thing looking good there for the  families who can't. 

We need man power and tools."

Connie can be contacted at cslittle4450@gmail.com

who says:  

"Yes at this time I just need the roof done, and I'm the only 

contact at the Oliver-Cheek Funeral Home in Ashville who brought me the 

supplies for the roof -- I just need volunteers."

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So, volunteers are needed to complete the roof work.

There are 476 interments at: 

Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville on "Find A Grave"

A May 14, 2016 clean-up at the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville is being planned.  

Volunteers are needed, but there is no electricity or water available at the cemetery, and also it is bring your own supplies.     

Side-by-Side Photo Comparisons Help Tell the Story of How Cleaning Methods Work on Gravestones

Thanks to a neat free website called quickpicturetools I am having a great time with formatting and saving my before and after cleaning photographs of various gravestones that I have been collecting.  

If you are anything like me, you don't have a lot of software on your computer, so a free website that actually works can really help where you can try your hand at producing side-by-side photographs and adding in some text with them.  It takes a bit of experimenting and practicing with the program, but a person can get the hang of it in a short period of time and save their creations directly to their computer, flash drive, cloud, etc. 

Below are a couple of photographs of the same monument taken about 19 years apart.

 They are of the Jeremiah and Sigariah Simmons Duvall monument at the Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio. 

The photograph on the left illustrates what the monument looked like before I had done any cleaning at all to it.  I'm sure it was my first visit to the cemetery to see it. 

The photograph on the right was taken July 16, 2015 after using D/2 Biological Solution to clean the whole monument.

There had been some water and brushing sessions on the monument over the years, however, water alone does not stop biological regrowth.  So, improvement on the monument was only marginal. 

I am hoping the Duvall monument will look as good or perhaps even better when I return to visit it next year than it did right after its 2015 cleaning. 

Reminder from "Clean Up Floral Hills Memory Gardens" -- Clean Up Scheduled for "Clean Up Circleville" will be on May 18th, beginning at 9:00a.m.

"Clean up for Circleville will be on May 18th.

It is still needed and all help will be appreciated. 

Chillicothe location will not have anymore volunteer scheduled events until we are sure of your safety."

"The Circleville address is 17544 Little Walnut Road, Circleville, Ohio. It will be at 9am."

Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Circleville has 320 interments listed for it on "Find A Grave" with 16 outstanding gravestone photograph requests.

Spotlighting Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio

I visited Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio on July 19, 2012.  I found evidence of the aftermath of the violent thunderstorms that had rolled through the area not long before.  There were tree branches down in the cemetery. Some limbs were cracked from tree trunks and hanging down which were awaiting removal.  

Most of my time at Forest Cemetery was spent walking around in Section 11 where my Duvall family is buried - Jeremiah and Sigariah (Simmons) Duvall and some of their children and other family members.  

Fortunately, the tree nearest to many of the Duvall gravesites had only a couple of cracked branches that were still attached to it.  Thus, no damage was done to any of the grave markers or the large Duvall monument.

Below are a couple of photographs taken that illustrate the cracked branches on the tree near the gravesites of my Duvall ancestors buried at Forest Cemetery:

Link to video about thefts and damage at Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio

Please click on the title above for a WBNS 10-TV report about recent thefts and damage at Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio. This was brought to my attention by Beth Santore. Thank you Beth. Hopefully, the perpetrator(s) will be caught and prosecuted.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=65528951228&h=zH1Zz&u=Xgw7Y&ref=mf

More before and after cleaning views of Jeremiah Duvall & family tombstones at Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio

Please click on title for a slide show (from Photobucket) of the Jeremiah and Sigariah (Simmons) Duvall family members tombstones. Some shots show before and after cleaning views. All burials are in Section 11 at the Forest Cemetery (located on Court Street in Circleville, Ohio - Phone#: 1-740-474-4401)

View of Jeremiah and Sigariah Duvall stone before and after cleaning

Before (left) and after (right) photographs of the Jeremiah and Sigariah (Simmons) Duvall tombstone at Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio.

Cleaning on original tombstone by Linda and Ron Ellis in September of 2005.

Notes:

Duvall, Jeremiah , died Jan 13, 1875, aged 60 ys 7 ms 2 ds and Sigariah Simmons , wife of Jeremiah, died Oct 13, 1903, aged 79 y 2 m 3d Duvall Bible records and the Pickaway County Probate records show that Jeremiah Duvall died January 13, 1875. However, Forest Cemetery records show January 22, 1886. So, apparently he was buried somewhere else prior to that date and then reinterred.

Bible records show his date of birth as June 11, 1814.

Jeremiah Duvall Bible records her date of birth as August 5, 1824 (not 10 Aug 1824). They were married January 19, 1843.

Jeremiah Duvall's license reads:
The license of Jeremiah Duvall as an Exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church is hereby renewed by order of the Quarterly Meeting Conference of South Bloomfield Circuit, Lancaster Ohio Annual Conference. Dated September 20, 1873 and signed by W. L. Harvey, Presiding Elder.

Sigariah Simmons Duvall died October 13, 1903.

Jeremiah and Sigariah (Simmons) Duvall are my great-great grandparents.