W. P. A. Cemetery Survey - Tamarack Cemetery, Milford Township

The Works Progress Administration was formed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in reaction to the Great Depression as a means of employing Americans and stimulating the economy.  Established in 1935, one of the projects of the W.P.A. was to conduct Historical Records Surveys, one of which included finding information on cemeteries and the graves of veterans.  The W.P.A. was disbanded in 1943, but the historical information provided on these surveys continue to be of interest and are, thankfully, preserved.

In this series, some of the general surveys of Defiance County cemeteries will be shared, transcribed as written with a few punctuation and/or spelling changes for readability.  The surveys were probably done around 1936.

For further information on these cemeteries, check out our website HERE.

Tamarack Cemetery

1. Name of cemetery:

Tamarack Cemetery - no one knows how it acquired its name.

2. Location, how reached:

This small and old graveyard is three and three quarters miles southwest of Edgerton, Ohio and a mile east of the St. Joe River.  It is on an old gravel road and hard to find.  Going south out of Edgerton, Ohio on state route #49 to the bridge across the St. Joe River and turning east at the first cross road.  This winding road will reach the graveyard.  There is an old abandoned church across the road from the cemetery.  It is in section #12 of Milford Township and on the Paul Krill farm.

3. Name and address of caretaker: Ray Kanes, Milford Center, Ohio

Photo from www.findagrave.com

4. General description, size, appearance, denomination, fencing, etc.:

This cemetery is noted only that some of the oldest people in the district are buried here, many of their birth dates being in the 1700s.  It is fenced in with ordinary wire and has a locked gate.  There is one tree on the lot.  It is kept mowed, but hasn't any shrubbery (and) is quite out in the open.  Formerly, fifty years ago, it was affiliated with the church across the road from it.  This church is not now used. The Milford Township trustees built the fence around it.  It contains one acre of ground.

5. Name and date of first burial recorded:

Mercy Lloyd, 1855, was the first gravestone.

Mercy Lloyd - www.findagrave.com

6. Names of important persons buried there; for what noted:

The Lloyds, Mercy, wife, mentioned above and her husband, Martin, 1778 - 1874, are the only ones known. 

Mary Spangler, 1786 - 1869, is another person buried there.

Mary Spangler - www.findagrave.com

 In the memory of people now living in this community, nothing is known of either of the two names mentioned.  Paul Krill, on whose farm the graveyard is located, is an Illinois man and bought the place twenty years ago.  No relatives of the persons buried here are known.  The pride of this township alone keeps up the graveyard, unlike the Colored Cemetery in Highland township that was buried under a straw stack, Mr. Krill and his neighbors keep this old graveyard alive.

7. Markers of unusual appearance:

All the markers, twelve in number, are white slab ones and the reading, especially the script, is undiscernable.  The names and death dates were hard to make out.

8. Unusual epitaphs: Undecernable.

9. Is cemetery used for new burials?

This graveyard has not been used for forty years.

C. Cadwallader and C. Gish, Reporters

Consultant: Paul Krill, R.R. #1, Edgerton, Ohio