St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery in Darby Township, Union County, Ohio

I am fascinated by cemeteries.  I like to walk through a cemetery and read gravestones while I imagine how the people buried might have lived their lives.  In the case of St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, I do know the histories of a lot of the people.  I can walk down the rows and smile at stories I have heard.  I also find myself crying at the heartbreaks that many of the people.

St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery is one of my favorite cemeteries.  My husband has many family members who are buried here.  And, I have done extensive genealogical research on the families at St. Paul.  So, I am very familiar with the histories of the people buried here.  There are stories of parents who lost children much too soon.  One man crossed the flooded creek in 1913 to bury his newborn son alone.  Some families moved mothers and children from St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery in 1899 because this location was closer to visit than Neudettelsau.  There were tragic accidents that took youth much too soon.  And, there are burials of people who lived very long and prosperous lives.  Here is a peek at the history of St. Paul Cemetery.

ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CEMETERY
St. Paul Lutheran Church was founded at Chuckery in September 1893.  It soon became necessary to establish a cemetery for the congregation.  But, the land at Chuckery was not suitable due to the high water table.

St. Paul Cemetery is on land that was purchased by St. Paul Lutheran Church.  This land was purchased on January 17, 1899 from Gottlieb and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Burns.  The original tract of land contained 1.45 acres of land and cost the congregation $37.50.  This tract of land was (and still is) adjacent to the Mitchell (Robinson) Cemetery, the first cemetery of Union County.  The area that both of these cemeteries is located on is a gravel bank that rises above the Big Darby Creek.  This land was also once used by local Indians as a burial ground.

The first officially recorded burial in St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery was that of Andrew Greenbaum, a stillborn child of Andrew Greenbaum (Gruenbaum) on February 2, 1909.  It is important to note that there are burials that predate this burial.  However, either these burials were not recorded in church records or are reinterments.  The reinterments happened when people relocated loved ones from other cemeteries to St. Paul.

On February 17, 1974 an additional three acres of land was purchased for the cost of $2,400 from William and Mary Burns.  In 1985 the Cemetery Turf Fund was established with a bequest from Dr. Lorenz Nicol.  In July of 1993 a flag pole was erected on the edge of St. Paul's Cemetery.  This was donated to the church by VFW Post # 3320.  The flagpole was dedicated by Pastor Hubert Rausch on July 4, 1993.

Today, St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery remains the only burial ground for St. Paul Lutheran Church.  The cemetery is open to any person who has been baptized or confirmed a member of St. Paul.  This right is extended even to former members who have moved away.