The Medina County Cemetery Preservation Society is a partner organization of the Wayne County Cemetery Preservation Society. Both groups are comprised of local citizens who are committed to protecting the welfare of our cemeteries. These cemeteries are critical pieces of our heritage and our history. Unfortunately they are under constant attack – be it by the forces of nature or by individuals who have no respect for the final resting place of our ancestors. Cemeteries and tombstones are not personal property to be sold, farmed, paved over, built upon or destroyed. MCCPS and WCCPS are involved in numerous projects including the researching, restoration, and maintenance of many cemeteries but also in educating the public about the threats these burial plots face and what can be done to help save them. It is our primary goal to document everything we possibly can to preserve it for future generations. Every year the older stones become less readable and what we record today might be unobtainable in the future otherwise. These cemeteries need our help and we must remain both steadfast and vigilant in our efforts. We must be proactive in not only recording information about these cemeteries but also in watching over them for those who might trespass against them.
The Medina County Cemetery Preservation Society is committed to the following:
Protecting cemeteries from those who would do them wrong.
Cemeteries – large and small – need to be watched and monitored to ensure that they aren’t being violated or encroached upon. Vandalism (headstones broken or knocked over) is the easiest to spot but even more dangerous are the slower, sneakier methods used to destroy cemeteries. We need to watch for tombstones disappearing and cemetery borders being compromised by development and farming.
Locating lost and forgotten cemeteries in Medina County.
You can’t protect what you don’t know exists. We want to find any and all burial sites and then make sure they don’t end up lost again – or disappear entirely.
Documenting cemeteries; specifically tombstone inscriptions, unmarked burials, layout maps, and cemetery histories.
This includes written documentation and digital photographs. Each tombstone needs to be recorded. Ideally, we’d like to get a digital photograph of each one as well. Each cemetery is a puzzle. Very few of them are complete. What we’re trying to do is gather up all the pieces we can and put them back together. The headstones are only part of that puzzle. Sexton’s records and WPA maps can show crucial pieces of information regarding unmarked graves and cemetery layouts. Obituaries and family sources can also be very helpful in reconstructing a cemetery’s `burial roster’. Many cemeteries have a story to tell – separate from those of the individuals buried there. Was there a church there? Did there used to be a village at the crossroads? Was this an old family homestead?
Making this information available to those who need it.
Researchers need to be able to have easy access to accurate and reliable information about these cemeteries. Documentation is great but you need to get the information out there so people know what is available and where they can get it when they need it.
Educating the public about cemeteries, the threats they face, and the laws that are on the books to protect them in the State of Ohio.
Working with government officials and property owners to do the right thing when it comes to cemeteries.
Township trustees, farmers, church pastors……..whomever. They have all played the villains in any number of cemetery desecration stories. The thing is that the majority of them aren’t the problem – just a few that ruin it for everybody. Those that wish to destroy cemeteries need to be prosecuted and those who wish to do the right thing need to be commended. MCCPS wants to work together with elected officials, property owners, historical societies, and volunteers to do right by our county’s cemeteries.