Old Colony Burying Ground

	Old Colony Burying Ground - Quick Facts
HSP Category	Cemetery

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:

The Old Colony Burying Ground is one of the oldest cemeteries in Ohio. It was established in 1805 when the village of Granville was settled with the first burial, an infant child, in 1806. Many of Granville's veterans from the American Revolution, the French and Indian War, the Spanish American War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War are buried in the Old Colony Burying Ground. In the old burying ground is also displayed many signed and masterfully carved monuments and gravestones that provided a history of gravestone motifs between 1808 and 1880.

WHO IS BURIED THERE OF SIGNIFICANCE?

Records indicate that there are 18 Revolutionary War veterans, 39 War of 1812 veterans, 16 Civil War veterans as well as the founders of Granville from the Licking Company.

HISTORICAL DESIGNATIONS:

National: National Register of Historic Places
State/County: State Historic Commission
Local: City Landmark

HISTORICAL MARKER:

Marker Date: 2006
State of Marker Organization: Ohio
Marker Organization: Granville Historical Society - Ohio Historical Society. Marker #21-45
Marker Text:

Old Colony Burying Ground, Marker # 21-45, Granville, Ohio

Side A : "Old Colony Burying Ground, 1805" Granville, Ohio, was settled in 1805 by the Licking Company, a group formed in Granville, Massachusetts, and Granby, Connecticut, for the purpose of emigrating west. The Old Colony Burying Ground was defined on the first town plat of Granville in 1805. Many of Granvilles pioneers are interred within this ground, and the cemetery retains its original form and most of its westward facing rows of sandstone and marble gravestones. The early settlers buried here helped to lay out this town and determined the appearance and development of the village as it is today. The first burial, the infant son of Ethan Bancroft, was in April 1806. The oldest extant gravestone is dated 1808. Eighteen veterans of the Revolutionary War, thirty-nine from the War of 1812, and sixteen Civil War veterans rest here along with ministers, farmers, industrialists, physicians, young mothers, children, and other citizens of Granville.

Side B : "Old Colony Burying Ground, 1805" The Old Colony Burying Ground has many signed and masterfully carved monuments and gravestones that provide a history of gravestone motifs between 1808 and 1880. Found within this ground are excellent examples of the work of local carvers and sculptors, including Thomas and Rollin Hughes, Manley Whipple, and the DeBow brothers. The early markers are of locally quarried sandstone, while many of the later ones are of marble, which was shipped to Granville via the Granville Feeder from the Ohio and Erie Canal. In 1886, Charles Webster Bryant recorded and numbered the location and epitaphs of all visible gravestones, providing important historic information no longer visible today. The cemetery has been called the Old Colony Burying Ground since 1912 when the wrought-iron entrance gates were erected by the Granville Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Old Colony Burying Ground was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

FUNDING:

Maintenance is funded by the Union Cemetery Board, the Township Trustees, The Granville Historical Society and friends of the Old Colony Burying Ground. The early Granville Chapter, NSDAR, Daughters funded and erected and iron and stone gate at the south entrance of the cemetery. In more recent times, the chapter helped to fund repairs on the stone wall along the sidewalk on south Main Street.

PHYSICAL CONDITION:

Property

Preserve

TOURISM:

Open to Public: Yes
Family Friendly: Yes
Hours/Days: Daylight hours
Lodging: Yes

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS AVAILABLE:

Brochures: Yes
Catalogues: Yes (www.granvillehistory.org)
Calendar of Events: Yes (www.granvillehistory.org)
Additional Information: Search YouTube, “Old Colony Burying Ground”

Acknowledgement:

The Granville Chapter, NSDAR, members clean out the flowerbeds and plant flowers as well as help clean and repair headstones yearly. The chapter also has donated grave markers for the veterans’ graves and has placed flags on each veterans’ grave on Memorial Day. Every couple of years, the chapter, in conjunction with the Union Cemetery Board and Granville Historical Society raise funds to continue headstone repair and cleaning.

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Units Overseas

Directions and application forms can be found on this page or in the Forms section of the DAR members' website.

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