Click here to view PHOTOS of Cemetery

This very old cemetery includes the graves of Joseph Butler, Sr, his wife, Elizabeth and their son, Isaac Butler. The cemetery is reported on various family trees as being "on a hill 1/4 mile east of Mohawk Dam" on the north side of SR 715 in Jefferson Twp., Coshocton Co., Ohio. If you have a GPS position finder, the coordinates of the cemetery per my Garmin (to within 17�) are N40 21.080, W 082 04.914, elev. 971

DIRECTIONS -

Follow US 36 west out of Warsaw, Ohio towards Mt. Vernon. Just before the bridge crossing the Walhonding River, take SR 715 to the right towards Mohawk Dam. Just as you pass a large brown sign announcing you are entering the recreational area (I forget the exact words), the road bends sharply to the right. The Dam is visible to the east. Now, immediately upon making the bend, you will see a yellow road sign announcing a sharp curve. PARK off the right side of the road next to the hill about 15 feet from the yellow sign. There is room, but be careful getting out of the car. A small path may be visible going up the bank. The hill is fairly steep and you have to step over several downed trees, but there are small trees to grab.

Go up the hill into the woods about 2/3 of the way up. The cemetery is normally quite visible once you are part way up as the stones and Revolutionary War flag stand up. However, I have been there in the fall, winter and spring, NOT the summer, so do not know how thick the vegetation is in mid-summer.

NB: if you enter a sharp curve in the road to the left and then a hill to the Dam, you just missed it. From the center of the Dam, a compass will point due east to the hill. The cemetery is not visible from a distance due to the forest.

TRANSCRIPTION -

Information in [ ... ] is my interpretation, etc. This is per a reading and photos taken April 26, 2003 by Scott E. Butler, a great, great, great, great grandson of Joseph and Elizabeth Butler.

Upper Row, left to Right

ELIZABETH WIFE OF JOSEPH BUTLER DIED FEBRUARY 1813 AGED 77 YEARS

[small wooden cross with plastic name plate] JOSEPH BUTLER 1742-1811

Revolutionary War veteran commemorative flag

JOSEPH BUTLER DIED MARCH 1811 AGED 69 YEARS ["Joseph Butler Sr. Marker III"; this marker is reported in the 1934 Historical Collections: Warsaw and the Walhonding Valley, page 29 to have been placed by a great, great grandson]

Lower Row, left to right

JOSEPH BUTLER, Died MARCH 1811, AGED 69 Years ["Joseph Butler, Sr. Marker II" is now lying flat on the ground and seems to be a style common in the early half of the 1800s.]

JB 1811 Ag__ 69 ["Joseph Butler Sr. Marker I" is very old. The inscription is carved deeply onto a flat stone (sandstone??) now lying on the ground]

ISAAC BUTLER, DIED APRIL 1809 AGED 28 Years. [the top part of this stone (with the inscription) is now flat on the ground; the bottom is still set in a concrete based and is upright, leaning forward.]

OTHER INFORMATION

The dates above correlate with the will of Joseph Butler and its provision to care for the two minor daughters of Isaac. Also the History of Coshocton County, Ohio by N. N. Hill 1881 mentions that Isaac Butler died in 1809 by falling off his horse and drowned in the Walhonding River.

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, WARSAW AND THE WALHONDING VALLEY

[from reproduction of Volume I, originally printed 1934, that is part of volume II, printed 1984]

Page 29 ref. Early Settlers of Jefferson Township - items in [ ... ] are inserted commentary by Scott Butler, 2002

"THE BUTLERS

" Perhaps the pioneer settler of Jefferson Township was Joseph Butler who cam from Virginia in 1803. He settled on the Washington Darling farm now called "Evergreen Farm" and built a log cabin in the present house yard of that farm. He died in 1809 [actually, 1811 per grave stone and will - his son Isaac died in 1809 per known records] and was buried on the hill back of the house. A great-great-grandson [who??] recently [this piece was written circa 1934] tore down the slab at the head of the grave [the old style slabs for Joseph, Elizabeth (?) and Isaac are lying flat now and could have simply fallen - Scott E. Butler, 2002 - also there is a very old rock shaped like an oblate spheroid with "JB 1811" carved very deeply into its large face lying between the Isaac slab and the Joseph slab] and erected a granite monument [there is one for him and one for his wife, Elizabeth Burley]. His son Isaac met death in crossing a ford near the cabin and his death is regarded as the first one in the township.

" The Indians called at the early Butler cabin occasionally and were invited to eat with them. They always accepted the invitation and usually devoured all they could and took the rest with them. One time Mrs. Butler visited the Indians as they were preparing a meal. They place an uncleaned deer, head, hair and all, in a large kettle to boil and later they cooked turnips in the broth. Mrs. Butler did not stay for the Indian feast. Many deer inhabited the forests in those days and the lower limbs of a tree near the Butler cabin was filled with hanging deer horns from these animals killed by the early Butlers.

PHOTOS

COPY RIGHT: 2003 Scott Butler