Sharing a one year report from the Huntington Township Trustees regarding their work at the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Ross County and a link to their video.

 Sharing from the Scioto Post.:

"Ross County Township Proud of Year’s Work
on Large Abandoned Cemetery"

By

 Kevin Coleman

 -

 09/04/2025

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt.:

"Huntington Township, Ross County — 

After about 12 years of neglect and legal wrangling, the bankrupt Floral Hills Memory Gardens off US 23 south of Chillicothe was handed over to the township…which is proud of what they have been able to accomplish for it over the last year.

"The Huntington Township trustees reviewed their progress on the large cemetery in a special session on August 19th, 2025, and trustee John Cottrill outlined the situation afterward with me.
(Hear him in his own words in the below video interview.)"

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSVIEwobuiU

Update regarding Floral Hills Memory Gardens - Looking ahead as the Huntington Township Trustees assume responsibility for this beautiful Active cemetery in Ross County, Ohio.

Definitive news is finally unfolding that confirms that the Huntington Township Trustees in Ross County, Ohio are assuming responsibility for the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in their township.  

For well over a decade the Huntington Township Trustees have persistently refused to take over Floral Hills Memory Gardens -- an Active cemetery that was abandoned by its owners who committed crimes against it and the lot owners -- and fled the state avoiding to pay the taxes owed on the cemetery.  

Now in 2024, after at least a decade of the cemetery being maintained solely by volunteers, the court in the county agreed the cemetery is a public cemetery and therefore it belongs to the township.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sharing this link to the latest story by the Scioto Post about the take over of Floral Hills Memory Gardens by the Huntington Township Trustees.

Huntington Township Trustees -- Approx. 8 minute Youtube video interview. 

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David Robertson is mentioned in the video. 

David has been at the forefront since Floral Hills Memory Gardens was first abandoned and has continued on regular basis to mow the grounds.  He was able to enlist groups of volunteers from various sources when needed to handle the needs of the cemetery. He has been an inspiration for others who seek to save a cemetery when perhaps no one else steps up to stay steadfast and follow that same path.    

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Below is a link to the Facebook Group: "Clean Up Floral Hills Memory Gardens". :

https://www.facebook.com/cleanupfloralhills

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Floral Hills Memory Gardens on Find a Grave

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Conclusion.:  

The Huntington Township trustees are wished all of the best with their duties assuming all of the responsibilities of this Active public cemetery with over 3,000 burials.  

The trustees are going to need all the support, financial and otherwise, they can garner from the community and beyond to assure they will be successful to do right by the cemetery itself and for those whose friends and families rest in peace on its sacred grounds.  

***

Yes, this reality has been a long time coming for Floral Hills Memory Gardens; thus in the end, the wait for it to arrive needs to be well worth it for all concerned.  

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Announcing the next "Informational Meeting" regarding Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Ross County, Ohio - Hosted by Mr. David Robertson - Friday, March 29, 2024 - 2:00p.m. - 4:00p.m. - Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library - Northside Branch - Myers Meeting Room

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

CLEAN UP FLORAL HILLS MEMORY GARDENS ON FACEBOOK

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library

Northside Branch

550 Buckeye Street

Chillicothe, Ohio 45601

Myers Meeting Room 

Clean Up Floral Hills Memory Gardens Most Recent Announcement for an upcoming public meeting at the Ross County, Ohio Court House - March 21 2024 - 4:30p.m. till 7:00p.m.

Sharing this announcement posted on the "Clean Up Floral Hills Memory Gardens" Facebook Page on March 17, 2024. 

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Sadly, although coming the closest ever to achieving an agreement with Huntington Township in Ross County to accept and assume responsibility and ownership of Floral Hills Memory Gardens, any agreement to do so fell apart before the end of 2023.  

Thus, leaving this Active and public cemetery in its decade+ long limbo that it has been stuck in through no fault of its own. 

This situation directly impacts lot owners of course and truly anyone who visits and cares about this cemetery!  

*****

There have been several posts per year appearing on this blog alone; as well as those by newspaper and TV reporters from many central Ohio news outlets about the plight of Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Ross County, Ohio bringing greater public awareness to this situation and alerting them that other cemeteries in Ohio could end up in the same or similar situation.

 ***** 

This cemetery is now, in my estimation, Ohio's longest Abandoned yet Active Cemetery in the state - having no legal owner to maintain it or Register it with the State of Ohio for close to 13 years! 

This sad predicament should never happen to any Active Cemetery in Ohio. 

*****

*****

"Anyone interested in a Public Meeting in an Auditorium complex with PowerPoint presentation to show what is happening with Your Cemetery?

This is the amount of paperwork filed with the Clerk of Courts since Dec 20th, 2023 (shown on the cemetery's Facebook Page) in an attempt to get $54,566.07 of Your Cemetery’s money.

I think the public needs to be aware of what is going on.

This needs to be Specifically in a Public forum with actual Discussions with the public and a truthful Question & Answer period.

Let those who know inform you…and you Will Not need a lawyer to be heard!

All money in the Trusts should only be allowed to go to Huntington Twp. so Your Cemetery has the best chance of Survival, Growth & Improvements."

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Here is the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Ross County on Find a Grave for further reference. 

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Sharing this story about Salt Creek Township, Muskingum County, Ohio - Despite the Struggles to maintain its cemeteries, this township resolves to honor its moral duty commitments to them.

Sharing from the Zanesville "Times Recorder":
"An Eternal Burden: Townships Struggle with cemetery upkeep"

by Chris Crook

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

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Rock Spring Cemetery in Salt Creek Township, Muskingum County, Ohio lists only 61 burials on the website "Find A Grave."  

Unlike with the Huntington Township in Ross County, Ohio, which flatly refuses to take over the long orphaned Floral Hills Memory Gardens, the Salt Creek Township trustees in Muskingum County have not abandoned the small size cemetery despite it posing a financial burden to them.:

Excerpts:

"There are more than 150 cemeteries scattered across Muskingum County that are cared for by townships or municipalities. For some townships, that care can become a burden.

By law, should an organization wish to divest itself of a burial ground, the township in which it is located takes over care of the property — even if it has no desire to do so.

In the case of Rock Spring Cemetery, that responsibility falls on the Salt Creek Township's sole full-time employee and trio of township trustees."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Steven Bradley is a township trustee for Meigs Township in the southeast corner of Muskingum County. The township's pair of workers care for two cemeteries.

"We only have two, but looking down the road, you might end up with all of them," Bradley said, referring to cemeteries that are maintained by churches now but could end up under the care of the township in the future. "We tried to pass a cemetery levy, but it failed. If we got more, we'd have to put another on."Bradley doesn't consider taking care of the cemeteries in his township to be a burden, but notes cemetery maintenance isn't just about mowing. "The biggest thing is trying to keep the stones plumb and working on that is a pretty heavy job," he said.Townships are supposed to keep a fence around each cemetery. Meigs Township has a pair of fences to replace on it's to do list."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"It is all an unfunded mandate from the state" says Connie Fink, Ohio Township Association president and Springfield Township trustee. "We can't make our own laws, how we operate is totally dictated by the state legislature. We can only do what they tell us."  That includes taking over cemeteries when the church supporting them disappears — or even if they no longer feel like maintaining them themselves.

"It puts a major burden

 on some of the smaller

 townships that maybe 

don't have full time employees," Fink said. 

"So it falls on trustees, 

or pay someone else to do it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

All Ohio Townships should be aware

of the ability to put

 to the voters in their township

 a continuing levy that includes 

cemeteries with fire, police,

 and EMS, and NOT placing

separate cemetery levies on

 the ballot to the voters for passage

 as stand-alone levies

 which are more vulnerable

 and more likely to fail.

~~~~~~~~~~~

  

Spotlighting the Old Huntington Cemetery in Lorain County, Ohio & Hattie Pratt - The "Blue Girl"

Sharing photos of various scenes to be found at the Old Huntington Cemetery in Huntington Township, Lorain County, Ohio that were taken on Sunday, July 16, 2017.

Hattie Adele Pratt's name was inscribed on a tall black granite monument there as was her brother's and parents' names on the other sides.  

It is one of the newer monuments at the Huntington Cemetery.  

However, an original white marble marker was found in an outbuilding with Hattie's name carved on it that has sparked a lot of mystery about her real final resting place.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

From the Huntington Township Website:

"Three year old Hattie Pratt was the subject of an Archibald Willard painting named “Blue Girl”. 

Hattie died of diphtheria in 1862 at 3 years of age.  The painting was done from a photo a few years later. 

There is an obelisk in Huntington Cemetery inscribed with the four Pratt family names: Benjamin - father; Alta - mother; Jerome; Hattie.  

What is believed to be Hattie's headstone was found under a post of an outbuilding on the Pratt farm in the 1990's and is currently on display at the Huntington Historical Society Museum."

 

 

The 7 photos below are views of the monument

for the Pratt Family:
Hattie Pratt, Jerome Pratt, 

and their parents - Benjamin and Alta M (Houghton) Pratt

Hattie Pratt was the subject for the "Blue Girl" painting

by Ohio's famous artist, Archibald M. Willard.