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Town
Swallowed
Cemetery
of Early Settlers
Newcomerstown News
-
August 16, 1964:
A quiet and
peaceful spot far removed from the roar and rush of a busy world
is usually selected as the last resting place of the community's
dead, but progress has no thoughts of the sacredness of the past
and builds its present and plans its future on the very graves
of those who were responsible for its birth.
Such is the
history of Newcomerstown's pioneer cemetery on South Bridge
Street. Originally on the edge of the small hamlet, it is now
surrounded by the hum of industry and the roar of traffic.
Enclosed by a white fence, the plot is carefully tended.
Practically all graves had markers originally, but time and the
elements have worked their will upon them and many have crumpled
and broken. Markings on others are completely obliterated or
only faintly discernable.
The first
burial in this cemetery was that of Nicholas Neighbor, who died
in 1818 and in 1819 the second burial took place, that of Mrs.
George Starker. Side by side in a row are six or seven
gravestones all bearing the name Tufford. Among those who were
buried between 1820 and 1850 are the names of Daniel Harris,
John Gaskill, Conrad Miller, Synthia Hewett, and Catherine
Bremer. |
