W. P. A. Cemetery Survey - Kahlo Cemetery

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.

*Another name for this cemetery was the Gnadensburg Cemetery

Kahlo Cemetery

1. Name of cemetery:

The Old Kahlo Cemetery

2. Location, how reached:

It is situated on a high bluff on the east bank of the Auglaize River in East Defiance, Ohio.  Two blocks south of the Hopkins Street River Bridge and at the end of South Summit Street.  The grave yard is back of the street and is reached by a weed grown path from Summit Street.  The Baltimore and Ohio railroad bridge across the Auglaize River runs almost above it.

3. Name and address of caretaker:  None

Photo from www.findagrave.com

4. General description, size, etc. :

This cemetery comprises about five acres and was first started in 1852.  It was a Lutheran graveyard in the beginning, but later changed to a private one for people of the Kahlo family who kept it up until about 1910 when the last descendant was buried there. 

The names are mostly all Kahlo, Miller and Floehr.  However, after the establishing of the new part of the River Side Cemetery in the 1880s, many bodies were transferred from here to the new grave yard which is across the river and about one mile upstream.  Today the whole thing is in dilapidated condition, markers torn down and broken up.

5. Name and date of first burial recorded:

Mary Karnes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Karnes, 1854   

Lydia Karnes, earliest Karnes tombstone there now - 1852.  www.findagrave.com

6. Names of important persons buried here; for what each was noted:  None

7. Markers of unusual appearance:

The markers are old and written in German, most of which are ...(missing words).   

8. Unusual epitaphs: 

None are worthy of note, most of them reading 'Rest in Peace' or 'Asleep with Jesus' or 'Here lies Mary, beloved daughter of ...' and 'Gone, but Not Forgotten.'

9. Is cemetery used for new burials?   No

C. Cadwallader and C. Gish, Reporters

Consultant: James Trompe, Defiance, Ohio