The townships of Fayette Co.: Perry Twp. - Spotlight News Article - August 16 2019

"The townships of Fayette Co.: Perry Twp."

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The three cemeteries being maintained by Perry Township Trustees as of August, 2019.: 

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Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery

(Above)
Pvt. William Limes - War of 1812

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(Below)
Harvey Limes

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Cochran Cemetery
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Sugar Grove (Methodist) Cemetery

Cemetery Thieves Strike Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery - Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio

It has been brought to my attention today that a large and heavy iron planter that had been part of the grave plot for the local Terrell Family for over 100 years was removed and stolen from the Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery in Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio.  

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The Fayette County Sheriff's Department has been alerted to the theft. 

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Photograph below taken by Gail Allen in 2013 showing

the heavy iron planter at the Terrell gravesites that was

recently removed and stolen

Photograph below courtesy of Linda Jean Limes Ellis

The small red square seen at the back on the right of the photo below

is where the Terrell iron planter sat.

Photographs below courtesy of Jerry Tuttle

 

 Orla G. Terrell

 Elizabeth Terrell

Photograph below by Linda Jean Limes Ellis

The Grave Marker of Harvey Limes at Walnut Creek Cemetery, Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio -- What a Year After a D/2 Biological Solution Application Can Do for This Early Ohio Gravestone!

I am very pleased to share this three photo comparison of how the Harvey Limes' grave marker looks today 14 months after D/2 Biological Solution was applied to it with a soft bristle brush and a lot of rinsing.  

No power tools or power washers were used to bring out the life, with its surface left intact, of this stone that was erected in 1839.

Remembering Veterans of the American Revolutionary War Buried in Ohio.

Pausing to remember and honor the veterans of the American Revolution. Specifically speaking, remembering those early patriots who are buried in our Great State of Ohio.  

One way to search for their burial records is to access the free "Ohio Revolutionary War Veterans Index" found on the Ohio Genealogical Society's website! 

Pvt. Joshua Wilson, buried at the Walnut Creek Cemetery in Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio.

Lingering Thoughts: Walnut Creek Cemetery in Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio -- Potter's Field and Outstanding Tombstone Photo Requests on "Find A Grave"

Sharing some recent photographs from Richie Wilson whose grandfather is Richard Wilson of New Martinsburg and the Perry Township Trustee who is the caretaker of the Walnut Creek Cemetery near the village. 

Richie mentioned that the back area of the Walnut Creek Cemetery is "Potter's Field."  I didn't know that!  There are no visible gravestones there.  I do not know if written records exist that details the names and other information about those buried at "Potter's Field" at Walnut Creek.  Hoping that if someone does know, we can learn more about it.  

In the meantime, below are links to Walnut Creek Cemetery followed by the photographs shared by Richie Wilson.

Walnut Creek Cemetery on "Find A Grave"

17 Open Requests on "Find A Grave" for for Walnut Creek Cemetery for grave marker photos 

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Two Photos Below:

The cleared away section in the rear of the Walnut Creek Cemetery where there is a Potter's Field area. 

 Below:

Partial view of the newer front section of Walnut Creek Cemetery

Walnut Creek Cemetery - Perry Township - Fayette County, Ohio - July 17, 2015

 

  Views above of the Harvey Limes gravestone both after cleaning and beneath it taken before cleaning.

 

 

 

  William Limes military marker below.  

The first photograph was taken following cleaning and the photograph beneath it was taken prior to cleaning.

 

 

 

Ohio Historic Inventory Completed at Ohio History Connection's Preservation Office for Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery in Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio

Sharing the pages of the Ohio Historic Inventory that were filed for the Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery in Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio.  

Walnut Creek Cemetery has been assigned its identification number with the Ohio History Connection (formerly Ohio Historical Society).  The number is Fay0018009. 

A link for further information about the I-Form for the Ohio Historic Inventory.

The Walnut Creek Cemetery is listed on Find A Grave. Currently, 378 interments are listed for it on this website.

Paying A Return Visit to Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery, Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio

I paid another visit to Walnut Creek (Quaker) Cemetery in Fayette County a few weeks ago to check on my Limes and Doster gravesites.  The cemetery grounds were a bit better maintained than what I witnessed during my visit one year ago.  Dead grass and weeds were not piled up high obscuring  gravestones in the older section.  

There was still some weed overgrowth between many of the gravestones, especially those in close groups -- most markers which have long been in need of one type of repair or another including cleaning, repairing, and re-setting -- none of which will ever be done by the trustee responsible for the cemetery's maintenance since the only legal responsibility the township has is to mow the grounds and hopefully rake up afterward at least once or twice a year.  

It is anyone's guess the number of gravestones at Walnut Creek Cemetery that have now sunken out of sight.  

I did some cleaning with water and Orvus soap on the Athaliah (Doster) Limes gravestone, as well as the Levi and Mariah (Doster) Ellis gravestones. (See below.)  

Fortunately, the William Limes (War of 1812 veteran) grave marker is a replacement and did not require any more work than brushing off the dirt and rinsing with water.   

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Above:

Athaliah Doster Limes' grave marker after cleaning with Orvus soap. 

Above:

Athaliah (Doster) Limes' grave marker after cleaning with Orvus soap and her husband, William Limes'  War of 1812 marker to the left.

(Also close up view of William Limes' marker below.) 

Above:

Levi Ellis' gravestone after cleaning and removal of dark orange biological growth.

Below:

 Mariah (Doster) Ellis' gravestone after cleaning and removal of dark orange biological growth.

Above: 
George Washington Knedler's gravestone

Above: 
A grouping of stones that include those for George Washington Knedler, Sarah Binegar, and Evangeline Ellis, that need cleaning, repairing, and resetting, and much better clean up of encroaching weeds around them. 

Above:
View of a wired together small gravestone that needs cleaning.  I was not able to read the inscription.

Above:
John Doster's broken grave marker lying sideways on the ground near the William Limes marker.  

 

Above:
Sarah Binegar's gravestone sitting upside down in a group of gravestones. 

 Above:
Evangeline Ellis' badly deteriorated grave marker.

Thanking the "Record Herald" Newspaper of Washington Court House, Ohio for Printing My Letter Regarding Walnut Creek Cemetery in Perry Townhip.

Sharing my letter to the editor:

Letter to the Editor

January 6, 2014

 

To the Editor:

 

"My reply is to Tonya Tuttle whose letter appears in the “Record-Herald” on January 2, 2014 regarding Walnut Creek Cemetery in Perry Township. I am the “friend up north” mentioned in the November 27, 2013 story submitted by Gail Allen. I live near Cleveland, Ohio.

 

Please know also, that I have indeed “dug deeper”, however, and unfortunately I saw what I consider the real issue with my own eyes during my last visit to Walnut Creek Cemetery in early August, 2013. It was my yearly visit to the gravesites of some of my early Fayette County Limes and Doster ancestors. 

 

I expected the cemetery would need to be mowed as that would not be unusual, however, I was not prepared for the shock seeing weeds and wild grass that were taller than some of the largest monuments that sit atop high bases. Several flat markers and downed gravestones were completely obscured beneath dead weeds and grass left from earlier cuttings. I had to brush off thickened matted clumps to locate my great-great-great grandfather’s War of 1812 marker I had installed for him.

 

My first visit to Walnut Creek Cemetery was July 10, 1981 with Dr. Bill Limes and his wife, Rose, of Washington Court House. I have cherished my photographs from that visit. Dr. Limes was so pleased to take me on tour of the cemeteries where his Limes ancestors were buried in Fayette County. Sadly, Dr. and Mrs. Limes have since passed away. I’m sure they would be quite saddened to see the current deteriorated state of Walnut Creek Cemetery. They would have never imagined it could happen. The Hulda Limes stone Dr. Limes pointed out has now disappeared.

 

Since that time, I try to make yearly visits to these gravesites and have seen first-hand the results of the year after year decline of the regular care at Walnut Creek Cemetery; particularly at the older sections in the rear of the property and down the hilly slope abutting Walnut Creek Road. Many earlier settlers of Perry Township were buried there with family surnames of Doster, Ellis, Jury, Limes, and Todhunter to name a few.

 

As with every visit, I took several photographs at Walnut Creek Cemetery during my August 2013 trip. On August 16, 2013, I wrote a letter and sent it with my photographs to Mr. Richard Wilson, the Perry Township trustee whom I have communicated my concerns to regarding Walnut Creek Cemetery on several occasions over the years. I wrote to voice my latest concerns about the abnormally high weeds and overgrowth that were much worse than I had ever seen there in the past.

 

As I later learned from another Perry Township Trustee, the 3 trustees’ arrangements are such that each one handles their own cemetery and the other two handle theirs. Thus, Mr. Wilson has been the only trustee handling the mowing at Walnut Creek Cemetery. I also had learned that the other two township trustees have sought extra help from the Probation Department when needed, however, Mr. Wilson does not seek the same assistance.

 

I followed up with a phone conversation to Mr. Wilson and learned of his recent illness. He stated he would see that the weeds encroaching around and in between the gravestones would be cut.

 

By the middle of September, I inquired with Gail if she could be so kind to take some photographs at Walnut Creek Cemetery if she was in that area. I knew she had been photographing gravestones at other Fayette County cemeteries as a volunteer. I wished to have a clearer idea if indeed the overgrown weeds were cut down by that time.

 

Gail’s Walnut Creek Cemetery photographs of September 30 included an overflowing trash can and row upon row of larger monuments and gravestones covered with chopped up dead weeds that were cut down. In other words, the live overgrowth I contacted Mr. Wilson about was cut in the past 6 weeks, but had not been removed and hauled away as should have been done. As you know from Gail’s story, she took it upon herself to proceed further after her first visit to ensure those piles were removed. 

 

The probation department was contacted and she personally worked with them raking and removing the piles of dead weeds on October 18, for no pay of course. I appreciate greatly her taking the extra steps that went beyond my original request to take photographs. A few days prior, Gail attended the October Perry Township meeting and provided a well-prepared presentation to visually document Walnut Creek’s worsened condition, and state that she and others were concerned because of it.

 

I feel Mr. Wilson neglected to have provisions put in place for continuing care of Walnut Creek Cemetery during his absence; which evidenced by the cemetery’s poor condition as stated above, he did not do.

 

If the other two township trustees could garner extra help to maintain their cemeteries when needed, then Mr. Wilson should have sought that assistance as well rather than let the cemetery’s grounds become overwhelmed with tall weeds and wild grass, including around the entrance gate itself and other areas like the driveway.

 

I have spent countless hours over the years at several cemeteries in Ohio cleaning overgrowth around my ancestors’ gravestones, washing them, and photographing them afterwards . However, I was not prepared for the towering stalks of weeds and wild grass that I had to walk around during my August, 2013 visit at Walnut Creek Cemetery. The lack of regular care was unmistakable and made more glaringly accentuated by the forlorn landscape of toppled and broken tombstones lying amidst other leaning markers encrusted in aged lichens rendering the inscriptions unreadable.

 

Walnut Creek Cemetery is Fayette County’s oldest active cemetery. It is one with a proud Quaker history having started informal meetings in Perry Township that led to establishing Fayette County’s first house of worship in 1809. Veterans from as early as the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 are buried there. It remains an integral part today of Perry Township and Fayette County. Its condition and appearance reflect the values and character of those who are responsible for it and the residents who reside near it.

 

Speaking for myself and those interred at this historic burial ground, I appreciate your husband’s work and that of others at Walnut Creek Cemetery, whether it was done with or without pay, Tonya. Hopefully others will be inspired to volunteer as Gail did. I would encourage area Eagle Scout groups to make it a clean-up project, for example. Walnut Creek Cemetery’s dignity and respect needs to be restored to its grounds and gravestones to properly honor those who chose it for their final resting place."

 

Sincerely,

 

Linda Jean Limes Ellis

Photograph of the Hulda Limes' stone below marking her final resting place at the Walnut Creek Cemetery that has has been missing for along time.

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Sharing Scenes of Walnut Creek Cemetery After Clean Up of October 18, 2013

Sharing photographs from Gail Allen taken during the course of the October 18, 2013 clean up at Walnut Creek Cemetery in Perry Township, Fayette County, Ohio.  

Below, bags of wrapped up trash sit on the ground after emptying the once overflowing trash can; the only one at the cemetery.  

Next, we see Gail's truck loaded with 18 bags of cleaned up debris found in the trash can and raked up from mostly the older sections in the back of the cemetery.  

  Following these two photographs, are scenes of the the older sections of Walnut Creek Cemetery that were taken as the cleaning project progressed.

This area includes burials of some of the earliest area pioneers from families such as: Carothers, Doster, Ellis, Jury,  Limes, Moon, Rees, Todhunter, and Waln.  

Many veterans of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Civil War were laid to rest in the back neglected section and are now mostly visited only by those placing flags to honor them on Memorial Day each year.

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Many thanks again to Gail for taking the all important photographs, and participating in the raking work; going one step beyond the general clean-up with uncovering many buried stones and photographing those individually. 

Thanks also to the Fayette County Probation Department for extending their services to help with the raking and bagging.   

Looking ahead, the long-term goal of course, is for the Perry Township Trustees to "pick up the ball from here" and schedule regular maintenance work at Walnut Creek Cemetery and stick to it!! 

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 (Above)

 Uncovered gravestone for Elizabeth Howe

 (Above)

 Uncovered gravestone for Joseph Rees

 (Above)

Uncovered gravestone of Anney Bennet, wife of B. 

 (Above)

Uncovered gravestone of Lewis R. Doster