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Showman-Edwards Cemetery is located within Mary Jane Thurston State Park off US-24, about six miles east of Napoleon, Ohio (Washington Township, Henry County).

Showman-Edwards Cemetery is listed as destroyed in Ohio Cemeteries: 1803-2003 by K. Roger Troutman, listing "stones in brush pile" as the only known information. Destroyed cemeteries are always the most difficult to find, but luckily for me Mike McMaster, one of the most helpful website visitors I've met, knew exactly where the remaining gravestones are located. We visited the cemetery on June 17, 2005.

To get to the cemetery, you have to cross a scary old wooden bridge. Not only does it look creepy, but it's falling apart! There was a sign posted to warn people not to cross on horseback, and to warn that no more than five people should cross at a time! You could see where certain parts were patched up...I just prayed I wasn't walking on a rotten piece of wood. But back to the cemetery...

After crossing the bridge, you have to brave the bloodsucking mosquitos and walk back the trail. I don't know exactly how far we walked, but if you keep looking closely through the woods on the left you'll eventually see the small stacks of gravestone pieces. There aren't many gravestones left, but I thought it was an extremely interesting cemetery to visit. I love hard to find cemeteries!

In June 2006 I received an e-mail from Anne Ellis regarding this cemetery:

"If you go to Showman-Edwards Cemetery near dusk, right when it's starting to get really dark, you just might find a black, human-like shape following you...just like it followed my friends and I! The whole area looks very creepy at dusk."

In July 2006 Anne sent me the following photo and message:

"Here's a photo we took at the bridge, either coming or going to the cemetery. Note the campfire of sorts on the bridge. As far as we can tell, there were no bugs near...not a firefly either. I've tried zooming in and I can't tell the origin."

Anne also found a plaque near a bridge in the park that has information about a man, as well as a drawing of him. She thinks this may be the shadow person she saw near the cemetery:


An enormous thank you to Mike McMaster for braving the mosquitos (and spiders-but I think it was just me who was afraid of them) to show me this cemetery! I truly appreciate all of the help he has given me with finding Henry and Wood County cemeteries.

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