TOWNSHIP: Granger
LOCATION: probably north side of Medina Rd. (SR-18); east of Ridge Rd. (SR-94)
CURRENT OWNER: private
ACCESS: private
STATUS: inactive
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF BURIALS: 1
ONLY KNOWN BURIAL: April 8, 1819 – Jesse Perkins
ORIGINAL LOT#: Lot 5
TOWNSHIP, RANGE: T3N: R13W
What is known about this gravesite is entirely from two local history books:
As quoted in Pioneer History of Medina County by N.B. Northrop, 1861:
“Jesse Perkins, a worthy young man, came into the township in 1818, was taken sick when living at the house of Mr. John Turner, then in Copley, where he died April 8, 1819. His remains were brought to Granger and interred in Lot 5, and his was the first grave in the township.”
As mentioned in W.H. Perrin, J.H. Battle, and W.A. Goodspeed. History of Medina County and Ohio, Chicago: Baskin & Battey, 1881, pg. 642
“Jesse Perkins, a worthy young man, came into the settlement in the fall of 1818, and was taken sick when living at the house of Mr. John Turner, then in Copley, dying there in April, 1819. His remains were taken back to Granger, and were interred on the farm of Anthony Low, near the “Smith road”. His was the first grave dug in the township.”
The majority of Lot 5 is the located in the area of the northeast corner of the intersection of State Routes 18 and 94. A small section of Lot 5 was on the northwest corner also. The gravesite would have been somewhere in one of these areas. That area of Route 18 was formerly considered part of the Smith Road – portions of which still bear the name both to the west and east. Given that the grave was described as being near the “Smith road” there is a chance that it has been paved over with the expansion of the roadway since.