W. P. A. Cemetery Survey - Noble and Tiffin Cemetery or Webb Cemetery

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)

Noble and Tiffin Townships Cemetery

(Webb Graveyard)

1. Name of cemetery:  

Called the Webb Graveyard, however, the official name is The Noble and Tiffin Twps. Cemetery.

2. Location: 

Located in Noble township a half mile from the Tiffin twp. line, and on the east bank of the Tiffin River, on the Forest Webb farm.  Three miles north and two west of Defiance County court house in Defiance, O.  Reached the easiest over route #15, going northwest from Defiance, going through Brunersburg, and taking the first right hand road to the north a mile out of Brunersburg  Then on this road exactly one mile to the Webb saw mill, here a lane runs back to the river and the cemetery is at the end of this lane.

3. Caretaker:

Christ Burr, Route #2, Defiance, Ohio.  This cemetery is now kept up by the Noble Twp. trustees, formerly Tiffin and Noble Twps. - both kept it up.

Photo from www.findagrave.com

4. Description:

This cemetery is a very pretty and well kept one setting on a small reise of ground along the eastern bank of the Tiffin River, and on its north is a ravine.  It contains about four acres of well kept and mowed yard.  About two thirds of the cemetery is laid out in lots.  There is a small plot of around an acre that is still to be plotted.

It is fenced in on the south and east sides with an ornamental iron fence and an iron grill archway is over the main entrance, which reads 'Noble and Tiffin Townships Cemetery.'  It is surrounded also with many large trees, mostly oak and hickory.  There are a few evergreen trees in good condition, and all the shrubbery is kept well trimmed.  The graveyard has many large and expensive markers and some quite well known persons are buried here.

5. First burial:

Odiah (Obadiah) Webb, born in the year 1770 and was buried here in 1849.

Obadiah Webb at www.findagrave.com

Now also comes John Partee whose birth date goes back to 1765 and is the oldest on record in Defiance County birth records.  He was born in the old country.

But the first grave is in 1844 of a small Partee child, one year old, named Reuben.

Reuben Partee at www.findagrave.com

 John Partee died in 1849 and was a soldier in the Indian army of Anthony Wayne in 1794.  He never did leave this country after the Indian fightings, and it is said he married an Indian squaw.  He has relatives living in this district today.  Note: Authentic proof for the above sketch of John Partee is lacking; his relatives alone claim this account is true, but history does not record it.  C.C.

6. Important persons:

By far, the most important person buried here is Miss Sarah Prueser, who died Sept. 8. 1936.  Miss Prueser was one of the oldest and best loved teachers of the town of Defiance.  For forty-five years she taught school in the city of Defiance and was principal of the North Defiance grade school for thirty six consecutive years.  She was sixty seven years of age when she died. But Miss Prueser's greatest note is that she was recognized as a nationally known poetess.  Her one bird book called 'Our Door-yard Friends' is known and read by all bird lovers in the United States.  Miss Prueser was mentioned this Spring by this writer under famous people living in Defiance County.  Her father and mother are both buried in this graveyard.

Sara Prueser at www.findagrave.com

Other well-known names of the district are the Partees, Deepes, Neudenhausers, and Webbs, all first settlers and pioneer Noble Twp. farmers.

7. Markers:

Both the old time mosiac slabs and the new granite ones are kept up in good shape.  None are outstanding or overly unusual; some are quite large and expensive.  The younger generation of Partees have three very fine ones, also the Prueser markers are fine, large, red granite ones.

8. Epitaphs: None particularly noticeable.

9. This graveyard is still used as much today as ever before.

Cecil Cadwallader and C. Gish

Consultant: Forest Webb, Route #2, Defiance, 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.)