Saturday, August 22, 2009

History of Columbiana County's Earliest Cemeteries

The following is from an article from The Morning Journal in 1999. It is from special edition and rather lengthy. You can find the entire document HERE.

HISTORY WRITTEN IN STONE
MORNING JOURNAL Sunday, August 22, 1999

Voices from the past
The ghosts of history haunt our cemeteries

Burying the dead is an early necessity for every society, and Columbiana County which Began being inhabited in the 1700’s, was no different. Early settlers buried family members on their own farms and many of those graves can still be found today.
Later, as churches became prevalent, their yards became sacred burial grounds.
As the various settlements in the county grew into villages and cities, however, most towns organized their own cemeteries, usually along the main street of town. But, as these town grew, they usually outgrew their cemeteries and saw a greater need to devote the acreage to commercial ventures. Thus, many of the ‘in-town’ cemeteries were moved to hillsides outside of the business district. The moving of these cemeteries added much to local folk lore and these stories, along with the tales of the famous and heroic persons buried in these grounds help weave the rich history of Columbiana County.
This special Millennium Commemorative section looks at some of the oldest and most historic of our county’s cemeteries.