"Planning To Eradicate Old Cemetery Lot

WAYNESBURG - The Greene County court has indicated that it will approve abandonment of the old East End Cemetery in Waynesburg as a means of cleaning up what has become a community eyesore.

Representatives of two patriotic organizations were assured in a hearing Monday that the remains of those buried in the cemetery would be properly preserved in another burial plot and that a suitable marker would be erected. The graves of at least two Revolutionary War soldiers are among those in the cemetery, which has not been used for almost a century.

The hearing was held on a petition submitted by trustees of the First Methodist Church of Waynesburg which owns the burial plot. The Methodist Episcopal Church purchased the land in 1806 and used it as a church burying ground until about 1863.

The cemetery, covering nearly an acre of ground is located between Liberty and Porter streets, just north of High street. It has become overrun with weeds and most of the weather-worn grave markers have long since toppled.

The church proposes to remove the grave markers, clean off and grade the lot, and re-inter in the Green Mount Cemetery any bodies which may be found.

A suitable marble marker carrying the names of all persons known to have been buried in the East End Cemetery, will be erected on the lot at Green Mount.

Representatives of the John Corbly Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Christopher Gist Chapter, Daughters of the American Colonists, were present at the hearing Monday. They suggest that the death dates be included on the marker with the names, and also that an indication be given on the marker where permanent records could be found on those buried in the cemetery.

H. D. Freeland, who attended the hearing as a representative of the church trustees, indicated the church would be willing to cooperate fully with the two patriotic oragnizations.

Judge J. I. Hook named Mrs. Harriet Sayers Mitchell, Mrs. Donald R. Jacobs and Miss Grace Morris to a committee representing  the DAR and AC. They will work with the trustees in carrying out the plan.

Members of the board of trustees, in addition to Mr. Freeland, are Willis Fox, Dr. D. P. Greenlee, R. Clovis Wright, Clyde Cooper, Kenneth Milliken, Dr. Lester Moston, Allison Phillips and John Conklin.

Church officials are uncertain what disposition will be made of the land after the bodies have been transferred. Monuments in the graveyard will be preserved and, if desired, will be turned over to the descendants of persons buried in the cemetery.

The list of the 60 persons known to be interred there was compiled from grave markers which are still legible and from historical records.

One is Thomas Slater, a Revolutionary War veteran who died in 1841 at the age of 82. He was the first owner of the land on which the oldest part of Waynesburg is located. The other soldier of the Revolution who lies there is Thomas Kent, who died in 1835 at the age of 81.

Judge Hook indicated that he had a personal interest in the matter since his great-great-grandmother, Charlotte Hook, was among those buried in the cemetery.

He indicated he will hand down an order in the near future officially approving abandonment of the cemetery."