Rock Run Church & Cemetery

The Rock Run Church in it's later years, probably about 1880, before the road was regraded.
This simple frame structure was located about 200 feet north of Rock Creek, adjacent to the present cemetery.
Photo submitted by Tara Vannette (It was identified on the back)

Color Photos By Stephen J. Hartzell
Taken May 25, 2001

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Go To The Complete Rock Run Cemetery Inscriptions

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For many years this peaceful little piece of land on the high bank overlooking Rock Creek was known to the people of Eden township as a popular meeting place, a place of worship and even the site of a small schoolhouse. Before the white settlers arrived it was the site of indian burial mounds. Today all traces of those things are gone, and the remnants of a small seldom-visited cemetery are all that remain.

This land was originally deeded to Samuel Heninger by the United States Government on August 20, 1821, but it is quite possible that he never lived on this land. On February 7, 1826 he sold the entire northeast 1/4 of section 4 to John Searles for $440.

John Searles was born on February 20, 1775 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. After his marriage to Jane Duncan he moved to New Lancaster, Ohio. He was drafted into the Army in 1812. A significant portion of his service was spent in the Sandusky River valley where the army had significant numbers of indian allies.

In 1820, Isaac Harrington laid out the Morrison State Road. It extended from Lower Sandusky (now part of Fremont) to Delaware, Ohio, roughly following the old army trail, which was also one of the early mail routes. In April of 1821 Mr. Searles, along with John, Hugh, Thomas and Henry Welch helped open a section of this road through Clinton and Eden townships. This provided a means of traveling to and from Fort Ball and other points more easily. (In 1821, the settlement of Tiffin had not yet been established.)

Henry Wolf, a veteran of the War of 1812, died on May 15, 1825 and was buried here. On September 28, 1828 Daniel Searles, son of John and Jane, died and was buried north of the old cabin. These would prove to be the first 2 known burials in what would later become Rock Run Cemetery. Another old grave is that of Nelly Bellamy, wife of Aaron Bellamy. It appeared to be inscribed, and has been recorded with a date that would have made it the oldest surviving grave in Seneca County, October 9, 1812. The digital photograph shown below shows what the naked eye does not, Oct. 3, 1842.

By late spring of 1830 the new family home had been completed and the family moved into it. By this time other families had begun to populate the area.

The Searles family were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal faith. The old cabin had for some time been used as a meeting house, and was a popular stopping point for preachers. On June 1, 1830 John Searles donated 1 square acre of land near Rock Creek for the purpose of establishing a Methodist Episcopal Church. The land was adjacent to the south side of the present cemetery, and also contained an old barn. The deed names a group of trustees as the holders of the deed. They were named as follows; James Herrin, William McEwen, Hugh Welch, William Murray and Joseph Richards. The making of the deed was witnessed by Reuben Williams and Hezekiah Searles, John’s son. Many of these people were eventually buried in Rock Run Cemetery.

The Tiffin Daily News of July 29, 1896 contains the following, which was part of a short biographical sketch of Robert Nichols. It helps to paint a picture of this area in the year 1831 when the Nichols family arrived here.

"The family took up their quarters in an abandoned school house which stood just opposite to where the Rock Run church now stands in Eden township. As the furniture in those days was all made by hand and the demand great by reason of so many new families moving in, they could get neither bedstead nor chairs. They slept on the benches and floor. There was one chair in the house, a present from Mrs. Searles to Mrs. Nichols. At that time a log church stood where the Rock Creek frame church is now."

Below is the land opposite Rock Run where the schoolhouse likely stood.

1862-1872
John Williams, Joseph Herrin, Henry Freese, Joseph Richards, James McEwen, Edward Richards, J. W. Searles, H. Huber, Eliza Fleet, Mary (Delray?), James M. Cole, John Thompson, D. Herrin, H. Richards, Mary McEwen, Elphonse Huss, Hannah Richards, Priscilla Cole, Isabella Richardson, Mary Herrin, William Hewlet, A. G. Searles, Thomas B. Richardson, L. Richardson, Mary Huber, Eliza A. Searles, U. Richards, Ann Sponable, Catherine Rainy, A. Vannatta, Eliza Cole, Rev. O. Pearce & wife, H. Searles, Byron Sloat, J. L. Cook, L. A. Cole, W. J. Kaul, Elis Depper, J. Vannette, R. Kemp, E. A. Searles, P. W. Searles, M. McCollister, B. Faulkner, B. Vannette, Mr. Cash, N. E. Herrin, M. Williams, M. Thompson, C. F. Searles, E. Stoner, T. Hiskey, E. Debbon, J. S. Funk, F. Fleet, George E. Cole, Mrs. E. Faulkner, Mary Kaul, Samuel Koch, Susan Nagle, Katie M. Muller, C. Vannette, Lucy Fleet, Anna Huston, Mary Derr, Maggie M. Richards, D. Derr, M. H. Koch, H. Cole, Reuben Conant, L. Usted, Jacob W. Horgert, L. H. Hefert, Luther Vannette,

The following baptisms were gleaned from the records of the Pleasant Ridge Methodist Church. They all took place at the Rock Run Church. The first 6 were performed by Rev. Charles D. Patterson, and the last 2 by Rev. J. H. Johnson.
 

The Tiffin Daily News of July 21, 1896, contained an interesting story, the text of which appears below.

"Rev. Wm. H. Guyer wrote the following note to the Upper Sandusky Chief yesterday:

Several weeks ago while walking on the streets of Tiffin I was accosted by two (men), who cried: "Hands up your money or your life." whereupon I was relieved of my money and my watch. I then said I never wanted another such a stirring experience. But how vain are all our hopes.

For while on the streets of Upper Sandusky Saturday afternoon, I was accosted by three men and ordered to march on and say nothing. I was ordered into Braun Bros. jewelry store, threw up my hands, and stood speechless, while Henry Shultz and John Paulin guarded me, as Phillip Bloom ran his hand into my vest pocket, dropped a gold watch and fastened it with a gold chain. I made inquiry and found that they were but representatives of my good friends of Rock Run and Eden Center. May Heaven bless these kind donors."

The will of Catherine Vannette, who died in 1891, expressed the wish that 6 acres of her land be ultimately turned over to the cemetery by her son Abel. (Abel's grandfather, Thomas was a devout member of the church, and an original resident of this area.) This land was located adjacent to the north edge of the old cemetery.

On September 22, 1894, The Rock Run Cemetery Association was formed for the purpose of the transaction of business on behalf of the cemetery. The trustees of this not for profit association were listed as follows: Tillman Litzenberger, Brognard Van Nette, Richard A. Colen, Charles W. Beck, & John K. Rohn. (These Articles of Incorporation, and a passbook taken out with the Commercial National Bank in June of 1937 by R. J. Beidelman, are the only records of this association I have ever found. The Articles were cancelled due to inactivity Aug. 31, 1964.)

On October 15, 1894, Abel Van Nette did transfer the 6 acres to The Rock Run Cemetery Association as a gift. However, it appears that no burials were ever made in that portion.

Another interesting fact was recounted in the 1892 Smithsonian Annual Report. In 1886 Russell J. Thompson excavated 2 of 3 indian burial mounds near this site. One of these was located about 100 feet north of the old church, and the other 2 across the creek. These 3 mounds all contained bodies of indians. Evidence unearthed there revealed that a funeral pile was formed, over which meat from various animals were cooked for a feast. After the funeral feast, the pottery and animal bones were scattered over the graves, together with pipes and other objects that had evidently been usefull during the persons lifetime. The mounds were then completed.

The skeleton timbers of the old church were still visible at the time of the WPA cemetery survey in the early 1930’s. The only possible sign of it that remains today is a shallow pit in the woods that is nearly filled with rocks.

Two graves, those of Victor A. and Elizabeth Rowland in the southeast woods, mark the site of the old log church.

With the first confirmed burial in 1828, the cemetery was heavily used beginning about 1840. It’s use became uncommon after 1900, and the last known burial was in 1938 when John Fix was buried near his parents, George and Barbara.

Over the years many of the markers have been broken, lost or discarded. It appears as though roughly half remain standing to this day. The remaining graves are known only to God.

My grandfather, Thomas Hartzell took a special interest in the care of our graves at this cemetery. At least once a year he and the entire family visited them and cleared them of their tall weeds and saplings.

Robert Hartzell found Hiram Hartzell’s marker in the woods and returned it to it’s rightful place, setting it in concrete and straightening the rest of our markers.

If you have an obituary or a biography of someone who is buried at Rock Run, or of anyone mentioned in the above article, you can submit it to me and I will post it and link it to their name.

Unmarked Graves
(Exact locations unknown)

The Rowland Graves
(Located in the South Woods, by themselves, near the former site of Rock Run Church)

Thornburgh Section
(Located on the North side in an area by itself)
East Section

Vannette Section
(Located in a partitioned area of the Main Section near the East side)
East Section

Remaining Section
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