W. P. A. Cemetery Survey - Presbyterian/ Upper Lost Creek Cemetery, Farmer Township

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

For more up to date information on the cemeteries, check out this chart on our website:
 http://defiancecountygenealogy.org/cemeteries.html)

Presbyterian Graveyard

(Upper Lost Creek Cemetery)

1. Name of cemetery:

Presbyterian Cemetery (Upper Lost Creek) in Farmer Township

2. Location, how reached:

Just two miles straight west of Farmer Center on state route #249 and reached over this route.  Also nine miles northeast of Hicksville on route 2.  (Section 19) 

3. Name and address of caretaker:

Members of the Presbyterian church and those who have relatives buried there.  For information, see Perry Hand, Farmer Center, Ohio, caretaker of Township graveyards.

Presbyterian - Upper Lost Creek Cemetery on www.findagrave.com

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

This graveyard is small, not quite an acre.  It sets directly back of the church, is not very well kept up and the shrubbery is shaggy.  It is partly fenced with ordinary wire fencing in the back; in the front, it is open.  It is surrounded by four maple trees, but none on the lot itself.  It is Presbyterian in denomination.  There are no larger markers or recent ones.

5. Name and date of first burial recorded:

William Battershell, a child in 1853, is the first grave. The Battershells used this as a private burying plot until 1865, when it was officially opened as a graveyard.

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

John Battershell, 1815 - 1895, is the most important, being an early pioneer settler and founder of the well to do Battershell family still residing in this district and in and around Hicksville, Ohio.

John Battershell at www.findagrave.com

 Thomas Cheyney, 1798 - 1865, was the earliest born man in the cemetery; nothing is known of him, however.

7. Markers of unusual appearance:

The unusualness about the markers in this graveyard is that they are all small and about the same size.  There are no large, heavy stones, at all, just white slabs and headstones.

8. Unusual epitaphs:

Again, no odd or different readings on the stones in this graveyard.  Just the usual verses.

9. Is cemetery used for new burials?

The graveyard still is used, however, not very often.  Twice in the last five years, we are told.

C. Cadwallader and C. Gish, Reporters
Consultant:  Harry Metz, R.R. #2, Hicksville, Ohio     

  
    

(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.)