East Grove Meeting House and Cemetery

Pictures taken by Jean Leeper on April 17, 2005

© Copyright 2005, 2007 and 2008

Located in Section 28 of Jackson township. In the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 28.

The meetinghouse later moved to Section 33. See second 1870 plat map below.

The red pointer is in the SE 1/4 and pointing at the SE 1/4 of that quarter of the section.

Most of the 1870 township maps have a cross to show where the cemetery may have been.

I see three possible crosses in that portion. 

A portion of a 1870 map of Jackson Township.

"Our records go back to 1656 when John Garretson came over from Holland and settled in New Castle DE.  Isaac Garretson was born in York County, Pennsylvania on 2-17-1765 of John Garretson and Mary Griest.  John and Mary were members of the Warrington and Huntington Meetings.  Isaac was educated in Philadelphia and went to work as a surveyor in a land office in Grayson Co. Virginia where he met and married Alice Paxson, also a Quaker.  Our family remained Quaker until Isaac's time when he married Alice outside the church. He was a prolific inventor and the family has several copies of his patents, one signed by George Washington and the other by John Adams.   He and Alice traded their land in Virginia for land in the new state of Ohio around 1803.  They moved there but found the conditions too harsh and moved back to Philadelphia while they were having the Ohio land cleared for farming.  They returned to their Ohio farm, in Highland County, around 1808.  Isaac then built several mills in the area and taught school in Clinton, OH.  After their children immigrated, to Iowa in 1837, he and Alice decided to move to Iowa.  Isaac died 12-13-1844.  Alice was born 5-19-1779 and died 11-13-1855.   I've been trying to find Alice's grave site for years but without success.  Some say she was buried back in Ohio or Virginia.  Some say she is buried up at Salem; but no one say's she is buried by Isaac.  Isaac was Joel C. Garretson's father.  Joel C. and his brother I. Harvey Garretson came out to Iowa from Ohio and settled on the farm in June of 1837.  Their sister Mary and her husband Duvall Henderson followed them, a bit later.  The Henderson's operated Henderson Hardware, It was believed that their closets had false ceilings to hide runaway slaves in. Their older brother John came to Iowa a bit later and lived in Salem.   Their mother and father, Isaac and Alice were left behind in Ohio, got homesick for their children, then moved to Iowa about 1840 give or take a year or two.   

I remember Robert Price as being a stepfather of the Moshers, and was probably the stepfather of Alonzo Mosher.  There were no land deeds or patents issued in Iowa until after 1840 so Price died before he had an opportunity to, purchase the land from the government.  His wife or stepchildren would have eventually purchased the farm."

Salem set off East Grove as a Preparative Meeting in 1843. It was a preparative meeting from at least 1843 - 1850. I did find in the Salem Church records membership movement between Salem and East Grove in 1850, 1851, 1852 & 1857. It sounds like in 1857 they were meeting at New Garden Meeting. I am wondering if in 1850 East Groove MM obtained monthly meeting status and was a monthly meeting until it burned and then they traveled to New Garden to worship.

The foundation stones are still to be found back in the woods of the original meetinghouse site.

From a 1925 letter of *Moses Votaw to O. A. Garretson "... Owen do you remember the Friends Meeting House that stood on the south-east corner of Father's farm? I remember it. Here was held the first school that I ever attended. It was taught by Mary Stephens, who later married a man by the name of Hobson, late in life, settled with her husband and two sons at Newburg, Oregon, where she died after a long and useful life.

I do not know how old I was when I went to this my first school held in Friends Meeting House on my Father's farm but I doubt if I was as much as five years old. I had a little book to learn in, but could not read and I believe I did not know all of my letters.

It must have been soon after this that the house was burned down one night after a spelling school had been held in it. George Tyner was awakened and saw the fire, but I do not know if anyone else saw it. ... Speaking further about the East Grove Meeting house, I have to say that it too, was moved from where it was first built on the land owned by your father, or on the Mosher place to the place where it burned down and latter being just a quarter of a mile from the corner on which stood our second hand Glendale school house. ..."(sent to me by Joel Garretson in November 2007)

*Salem Monthly Meeting - Iowa Hinshaw's EQG,Vol. 7, page 227

On 12-12-1849 Jonathan rocf Chester MM, Indiana dated 11-23-1848 and 7-18-1849 Jane B. rocf at Salem from Duck Creek Meeting dated 1-24-1849. 1859 Jonathan and Jane with children Henry L., Moses, Rachel and Calvin were rocf New Garden Meeting dated 7-15-1859.

Chestnut Hill Meeting, Lee County - Iowa Hinshaw's EQG, Vol. 2, p 210
Chestnut Hill MM in Lee County was opened 10-26-1867 by Salem MM.

Jonathan Votaw was a charter member and on 1-25-1884, Jonathan and family get Chehelem MM, Oregon as does son Henry L and family. On 2-23-1884, Moses, gets Union MM, Kansas.

Jonathan, died 1-11-1911 in Tacoma, Washington, aged 88y; his wife, Jane B. Lewelling Votaw, died 6-4-1918 in Tacoma, Washington, aged 88y, Henry L. died 12-9-1910, Tacoma, Washington, aged 61y and Moses died 8-28-1932 in Tacoma, Washington, born 1852. The information on their deaths taken from the American Friend Obituary Index. Jane was the daughter of Henry Lewelling, oldest brother of Henderson Lewelling.

This picture shows the second meetinghouse location.

Now about the journey to the first location and the cemetery,

Justin Garretson took use back about two miles from a main road in his jeep. We traveled over a old logging trail and forded a creek. There is a creek in the area called Bogue Creek. I am not sure if that is the creek we forded or the creek that the cemetery and church sit near, but up on a hill.

This area is believed to be where the cemetery was. Notice the two large rocks.

Isaac Garretson, 1765 - 1844. This replaced an old river marker.

It is believed that Robert Price who died in 1839 is buried there as is Sammie Ratliffe in 1848.

Sammie was born 1847 and was the son of Ephraim and Anna Ratliffe.

Others may have been but there are no signs of any markers.

On up on top of the hill and looking back at a fence and the hill we came up. See the logs marking out the area.

There are corner stones at each corner where the church sat.

Looking back to the west from the other side. Justin is talking to my husband.

See the pile of rocks in the lower corner.

A close up of one of the pile of foundation corner rocks.

Heading back down the hill to the jeep and the cemetery which is part of the way down.

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