Schell Cemetery

(May also be known as Free Cemetery)

This cemetery is not well known in Miltonsburg, Ohio. It has been completely neglected for many years. Trees probably 40 years old or older are in the cemetery. The cemetery is located at the crest of a small hill and is within a quarter mile northwest of Miltonsburg just off of Monroe County Road # 2.  It is almost inaccessible but if you are willing to fight through about 100 yards of green-briar, blackberry, raspberry vines, weeds and trees, one can get to it.  The shortest access is from Monroe County Route # 2, the northern branch of this road.  For further orientation, if you continue on this branch of Rt. # 2, you come to the St. John's Catholic Church within about half a mile. The easiest way to find this cemetery is to start from the intersection of Ohio State Road # 145 and the northern leg of Monroe County Rt. # 2, north of Miltonsburg. Proceed along Tr. # 2 for perhaps 0.1 mile. Look for a metal pump house or shed on the left of the road. Near this metal shed are several above-ground gas meters. The cemetery is immediately behind this shed and on the top of the hill about 100 yards. (See below for additional information regarding the location of this cemetery.)

This cemetery was probably larger at one time.  Green briar, blackberry and raspberry vines make it difficult to explore. At the top of the hill are several yucca plants. These plants are frequently found in cemeteries. The number of these plants suggests a possibly larger cemetery at one time. I found only three stones, two of which were readable. However, because of the density of briar vines, I did not explore extensively. Because of the decades of neglect, it was not possible to discern any boundaries of the cemetery.

The chart below is the approximate orientation of the cemetery. The top of the chart is approximately north. The numbers in the grids of the chart correspond to grave markers. The monuments in the cemetery, albeit only three, are oriented, relative to each other and to the north, approximately as they appear on the chart below. The reader is cautioned not to assume anything about the boundaries of the cemetery based on the chart except for the approximate orientation of the markers.

Below the picture, the numbers are repeated along with all of the readable information copied from the stones.

This cemetery is located at latitude N 39^o 50.099' and longitude W 081^o 10.161'. This latitude/longitude reading was made at the Francis F. Schell monument. The ground level elevation of the cemetery was 1344 feet above sea level.

Please direct any questions and comments to Richard Harrington

Schell or Free Cemetery

3

2

1

This picture probably needs some explanation. First, the photographer was probably facing southwest but that was hard to tell. A line drawn from the leaning monument near the upper left of the picture (this stone appears as a disc on top) through the monument at the right of the picture may point about north. Don't take these directions too seriously. In addition to these two stones, a third stone once stood on the square base located between these two. The square spire stone now lies near the base of the tree on the left of the picture. I could not tell if it was readable or not. The green plants in the picture are the yucca plants.

#	Stone Information
1	[This is the monument with the circular or disc shaped top that is still standing at the left third of the picture above.] Margaret wife of ? Schell March 28, 1815 - Oct 18, 1886
2	[It is likely that this stone may still be readable. Some tools would be needed to turn it over to look for inscriptions.]
3	Francis F. Schell son of ?? Schell d. Jan 1, 1871 (this could have been 1861 or 1851) aged 21 yr 3 mo 12 days

Details relating to the location of this cemetery:

There are at least two small, old cemeteries near Miltonsburg, Ohio. (There is also a large, active cemetery about one quarter mile south of Miltonsburg on Ohio Route # 145 that is not discussed here.) The Un-named Cemetery is at the south end of Miltonsburg. The other cemetery, named the Schell Cemetery or Free Cemetery, is located at the north end of Miltonsburg. Both are on Monroe County Road # 2. The following provides details for locating these cemeteries.

Route # 2 begins a few miles to the southeast of Miltonsburg, Ohio as a road running to the northwest off of Ohio Rt. # 800.  Rt. # 2 intersects Rt. # 145 just south of Miltonsburg and becomes the same road with Rt. 145 heading north for maybe half a mile.  This combined road (Rt. # 2 and Rt. # 145) is the main road running through Miltonsburg.

At the north end of Miltonsburg (in the direction of the town of Malaga) Rt. # 2 splits off from Rt. # 145 and continues in a northwesterly direction toward Calais, Ohio.  In fact, that is one way to get to Calais.  It is this northern branch of Rt. # 2 that goes by the St. John's Catholic Church.

The Schell Cemetery at the top of a hill guarded by greenbrier, blackberry, raspberry, weeds, and small trees, is located on the northern branch of Rt. # 2 that goes by the Catholic Church and on toward Calais.

The Un-named Cemetery is on the southern branch of Rt. # 2 that leads back toward Woodsfield and intersects Rt. # 800.

Chart, photo, and data from stones provided by Richard Harrington e-mail: Richard Harrington

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