Claibourne Cemetery - Richwood, Ohio
Posted by: 
Mr. 0
N 40° 23.742 W 083° 16.960
17T E 306273 N 4474179
A relatively large Churchyard cemetery in rural central Ohio.
Waymark Code: WM2F2C
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 10/22/2007
Views: 53
Claibourne Cemetery is associated with the Bethlehem Church, or was at least. The Bethlehem Church was established in 1848 by Reverend John Pests, as a society of Methodist Protestants. At that time they worshiped in school houses, and whatever other temporary gathering areas they could find. Eventually in 1855 a permanent church was erected. The church still stands today, however it has been abandoned for quite some time.
The cemetery surrounding the church is still active and holds over 1,000 graves. Some date back to the mid 1800's from when the church was started.
The cemetery also has 2 mausoleums. One is older and appears to only be used to store groundskeeping equipment. The other appears very new, and is a large beautiful building.
The headstone that I chose to include a closeup of it somewhat plain on its own, however a separate marker nearby caught my eye. The headstone reads "Village Blacksmith. Chauncey A Wurtsbaugh. 1886 1960" Near it is a concrete pillar with a small anvil painted gold on top.