Transcription contributed by Arne H Trelvik 7 Sep 2003

The History of Warren County Ohio
Part IV Township Histories
Washington Township by Samuel Harris
(Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)

Page
706

While the county was yet devoid of churches near which seemed the most appropriate for the last resting-place of our departed friends, private or family graveyards were common.

There is near the house of John B. McCray a family burying ground, laid out by John Barkley at a very early date, Mrs. Masterson, his near relative being the first buried there.

George McManis laid off a cemetery on his farm, about one mile west of Clarksville. It was nearer the residence of Thomas Emily than his own; hence, it is known as the Emily Graveyard. Milton McManis, a young man, son of George McManis, was the first person interred there. A great many are buried there, but of late years it is not used as a place of burial.

Timothy Titus donated the grounds for the Union Church and graveyard. His daughter, Rhoda Titus, was the first interred in the latter. Great numbers have since been buried there, and it still remains a popular place of burial.

Olive Branch Methodist Episcopal Church has a well-filled graveyard on the church lot, Jordan Drake, a young man, being the first one buried, about 1823; Mrs. Isaac Stutsel, about 1824; then a young woman named Almira Houston, who was killed by falling from a swing.

The Wilkerson Graveyard was established by James Wilkerson, on his farm on “The Knobs” (Springhill) as a family graveyard. Thomas Deakin, his son-in-law, was the first buried, in 1811, and Solomon Reel the next.

In the yard of Bethany Church (Baptist) is a public burying ground. The first civilized person buried in the township was a runaway slave from Kentucky, who was found sick in the forest by William Smalley, cared for by him and buried on the bank of Todd’s Fork from Smalley’s house in the fork of the Bull Skin and College Township roads. This was a short time after Smalley settled, perhaps 1803 or 1804. The washing of the bank of the stream for years exposed the bones, and, about 1860, the skeleton was exhumed by Dr. Francis M. Wilkerson and is most probably in his possession at this time.