For considerably more than half a century after Athens Township was settled, the dead were buried in the old grave yard northwest of town, which was set apart for that use by the trustees of the university in 1806. The place never was ornamented to any extent, and for many years past only a few forest trees have given it their grateful shade. Here, a little apart from their surviving friends, rest the fathers of the village.
The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock’s shrill clarion or the echoing horn
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.”
In January, 1864, the citizens of Athens feeling the need of a more beautiful burying ground, organized the Athens Cemetery Association, with a capital stock of $4,000, divided into shares of $100, which was incorporated under a general law of the state. An eligible site was selected west of the town, and a purchase made of twelve acres, which has since been tastefully laid off into winding walks and drives, and handsomely ornamented with shrubbery. Some appropriate and costly monuments already adorn the new cemetery, which is a place of pleasant resort for the residents of Athens, and is a credit to the town. The organization is officered as follows: Calvary Morris, president, H. J. Topky, secretary, A. B. Walker, treasurer, and Calvary Morris, J. W. Harris, J. H. Pratt, W. P. Johnson, and Jesse Van Law, trustees.
The citizens of Alexander township have recently begun a similar improvement by the addition of several acres to their former burying ground at the Cumberland Presbyterian church, near Hebbardsville. The addition is neatly laid off into lots with avenues and walks, and ornamented with shrubbery. It is to be hoped these examples will be followed by other towns and townships in the county. The appropriate burial of the dead and proper care for their resting place by the living, is a mark of Christian civilization, and the universal attention now given to, the subject in this country, indicates a pleasing change in public sentiment. Beautiful cemeteries are scattered over the country, some of them, very celebrated, and soon no, enterprising town will be without one. Lucretius says of the earth:
” Omniparens, eadem rerum est commune sepulchrum..”
The parent of all, she is also the common sepulchre. Let our burial places, therefore, be beautified with the “greenery of nature,” and let the adornments of art be added to please the senses and soothe the feelings of the living.
Cemeteries hosted at Access Free Genealogy:
- Canaansville Cemetery
- Frost Cemetery, Rome
- Lottridge Cemetery, Carthage
- Old Cemetery, Troy
- Orange Christian Church Cemetery, Carthage
- Troy – Bethany Methodist Conference Church Cemetery
- US Route 50 Cemetery, Carthage
Following Cemeteries hosted at Athens County, Ohio Tombstone Transcription Project
- Murray City Cemetery
- Mash Family Cemetery – New Marshfield
- Unknown Cemetery
Back to: Athens County, Ohio