The Graveyard Getaway

Last week my mom, sister, niece, and I went on a two day trip we called the Graveyard Getaway or Cemetery Crawl or Dead Drive, depending on whom you ask.

Our trip began at the Waldschmidt Cemetery in Camp Dennison, Ohio, the final resting place of my fifth great-grandparents Daniel and Catherine Selllers Price and fourth great-grandparents Jeremiah and Elizabeth Wiggins Price.  Germany, as the settlement was originally called, was founded by German immigrant Christian Waldschmidt.  The Price (or Preisch) family were among the second wave of settlers in Germany.  Camp Dennison was built during the Civil War on the land of Nimrod Price, Daniel and Catherine's other son.

Our next stop was Troutwine Cemetery in Lynchburg, Ohio.  My great-grandparents, Jesse and Mary Shaper Dudley, great-uncles Lewis and Thomas Dudley, and uncles Everett and Mitchell Donaldson are buried there.  Jesse's sister, Jane Dudley Setty, is also buried nearby.  My second great-grandfather, John Shaper, is supposedly buried there as well, but his grave must be unmarked, since I have never been able to find it. 

From Troutwine, we headed to Lynchburg to try to locate the former home of Mary Shaper Dudley.  We checked out the address on Broadway where she lived at the time of the 1930 census.  My mom didn't think it was the right house, but then she hadn't yet been born in 1930.

Our next destination was the Masonic Cemetery in Lynchburg, where my great-uncle Absalom Dudley and his wife Christena Tomaske Dudley are buried. 

After a restroom break at the Lynchburg Public Library, we headed south to the Sardinia, Ohio Cemetery.  My second great-grandparents, Peter and Margaret Kincaid Ballein are buried here.  I took a closer look at their gravestone and noticed that there is a GAR symbol and an emblem of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  I'm ashamed I hadn't noticed this before!

I was excited to visit the old section of the cemetery, where I recognized the names of the brave people who operated the Underground Railroad in Sardinia, including Matthew and Paul Reed Kincaid, brothers of my third great-grandfather, Samuel Kincaid.

Next, we headed west toward Mt. Orab and then a little south.  Following directions provided by a distant cousin, we located a church which had once been the Shiloh Methodist Church, where my second great-grandmother, Sarah Steward Ogden, was a charter member.


We then travelled a little further to the Warner Cemetery.  Of course, my family doesn't recognize it by that name.  We call it "that cemetery where the car got stuck in the ditch when we were kids."  This old cemetery doesn't have a lane through it, so you park just off the road and keep your fingers crossed.  My second great-grandparents Santford and Sarah Steward Ogden, great-grandparents James and Rosa Ogden Davis and uncle Nelson Davis are buried there. 


After lunch, we headed southeast toward the Wardlow Cemetery.  Buried here are my fourth great-grandfather Samuel Wardlaw, my third great-grandparents Levi and Abby Hall Wardlow, my second great-grandparents John R. and Lulu Dunn Wardlow, my great-grandparents Hite and Elma Wardlow Ballein, and my grandparents James Quincy and Esther Ballein Davis.  I took pictures of all of the stones in this cemetery.  When my mom came up with the title of this blog, Leaves and Branches, I immediately thought of the big, old tree in this cemetery.  I took several pictures of it and will replace the picture of some random tree I have been using on the blog with our Wardlow "family tree."

After a sleepless night in a hotel bed, we continued our journey by heading to the Arnheim Cemetery.  According to some family trees on Ancestry.com, my third great-grandfather, Robert Dunn is buried there.  Correction . . . according to some inaccurate family trees on Ancestry.com, Robert Dunn is buried in Arnheim Cemetery.  No gravestone for Robert there, but we found the grave of John and Lulu Wardlow's daughter, Emma Wardlow Weis.

And on to Russellville, the town founded by my fifth great-grandfather, Russell Shaw.  We first stopped at the Shaw Cemetery and guess what we found?  The gravesites of Robert and Elmina Shaw Dunn!  So, if your records indicate that Robert and Elmina are buried in Arnheim, please be advised that they are actually buried in the Shaw Cemetery.   Of course, Russell Shaw and his wife, Johanna Reynolds Shaw, are also buried in the Shaw Cemetery.

Our last stop was the Russellville town square, where there is a monument to Russell Shaw.  This was a deeply emotional and moving experience for my delightful niece, who is pictured below.

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