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Williamsville Cemetery is located on the east side of US-23. It's located at the end of a gravel road located south of Orange Road outside Lewis Center, Ohio (Orange Township, Delaware County). The coordinates are 40° 10' 13.62" N, 83° 1' 8.38" W.
Williamsville Cemetery is small, and it is no longer active. There are many old gravestones, including several that were moved from the Patterson-McCloud Cemetery in 1970. Many of the graves that were moved did not have markers (or the markers could not be found), which is why there are several Unknowns buried here. The cemetery is very well maintained.
I recently heard from a website visitor, Lee Ann Morris. She was kind enough to share lots of interesting information about this cemetery:
I just wanted to mention a few things about the Williamsville Cemetery you visited. My husband's family were the caretakers for many years and I actually spent my last night as a single woman in that cemetery. One of the stones pictured near the tree with all the broken stones is my husband's ggg-grandmother Edith Bosley.
The newer flat marble stones (including unknown stones) are actually from the Patterson Cemetery. These were bodies found with no stone or little information regarding the person found. Often this was just dirt or jewelry/etc as these were VERY old burials before being moved due to the Alum Creek Dam.
Also, the stones are odd in the cemetery. Stones that are laid out facing east are the original burials, and all the moved burials are facing west.
Some of the stones leaning on the tree were picked up on various trips to the cemetery in the past decade. Some are recovered from thefts and vandalism caused by local high school and college students. Unfortunatly cemetery records do not allow us to figure out where these stones belong to lay in the correct area, so mowers just place them safely against the trees. The newer stones toward the rear were only added in the past few years to replace several that were damaged by a large bush that covered at least four or five stones for years and probably were cracked or damaged beyond repair.
Also, if anyone plans on traveling to this cemetery, it is located two dirt drives north of the Wal-mart up a steep hill. Even though the cemetery is open to the public during daylight, be careful to remain near the drive as the developer is rather picky about cars on the grass. (Workers have gotten nasty with my daughters in the past for playing and picking flowers from thier great grandmothers old kitchen garden.)
I received an e-mail from Susan McDonald in August 2009:
Here's an update on Williamsville Cemetery on Route 23 in Lewis Center. The area around the cemetery is being developed. The developers had to agree to fence in the cemetery which they have done. There is now a street right off Route 23 (sorry, forgot the name) with a traffic light and a small paved area where you can park and enter the cemetery. The gate is unlocked. Just thought you could pass the update along.
A big thank you to Kate for telling me about this cemetery and visiting it with me!!
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