Oak Lawn Cemetery, Woodsfield, Ohio

 

            Cemeteries frequently have unique histories. Some begin as the collective burial site of a family – the family cemeteries. Monroe County, Ohio has many such cemeteries. Others begin as community burial sites. Many of these community cemeteries are associated with a church such as the St. Sylvester cemetery in Woodsfield or the Buchanan Church Cemetery located about 5-miles west of Woodsfield on State Route 78. Still other cemeteries such as the Steed Cemetery located about 2-miles south of Woodsfield near the intersection of Ohio State Routes 800 and 26 do not appear to have been affiliated with a church. Buchanan Church Cemetery and Steed Cemetery appear to have been close-contemporaries of the Pioneer Cemetery with the date-of-death of their first residents being 1811 and 1836, respectively.

It is a much easier task to identify or speculate about the beginnings of a cemetery based on records, newspaper accounts and/or the dates on tombstones found there. It is difficult to identify a date when a cemetery ceased to be used for new burials, however, unless the date of the most recent internment is used. Even that date is uncertain because of the possibility of unmarked graves.

Oak Lawn Cemetery appears to be a community cemetery with no specific church connection. In the late 1800s, the Steed and Pioneer cemeteries were becoming full and a new cemetery for Woodsfield was needed. In the late 1800s, perhaps about 1893 (date of the earliest burial found) Oak Lawn Cemetery was opened. It has since grown to 48-acres and is still an active community cemetery for Woodsfield and surrounding areas.

Oak Lawn is organized into Sections A thru I. Each Section is divided into Lots. Each Lot is divided into individual Graves. The chart above shows the organization of the cemetery. Record books maintained by the cemetery contains all of the data regarding individuals buried there. These record books have been photographed and put onto CDs. These CDs are available to the public and can be purchased from the list of available CDs found on this website. The list can be found by going to the index and clicking on the title, “Books on CDs,” or by clicking here.

 

Photographed from Oak Lawn Cemetery Office Chart by R.E. Harrington

 

                Last modified 10 July 2012 by reh