W. P. A. Cemetery Survey - Hill Cemetery, Delaware 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 more up to date information on the cemeteries, check out this chart on our website:
 http://defiancecountygenealogy.org/cemeteries.html

Hill Cemetery

Delaware Township 

1. Name of Cemetery:

The Hill Cemetery, Delaware Township, so named because most of the persons buried in it are named Hill.

2. Location, how reached:

On the bank of the Maumee River, five miles west of the city of Defiance, Ohio, and half a mile or more just northof Route U.S. #24, a blind end road leads back to this graveyard and the river from the main highway.  It is a at the eastern start of the horse-shoe bend in the river.  This graveyard is not very well known.

3. Name and address of caretaker:

A. J. McFeeters, Sherwood, Ohio 

Photo from www.findagrave.com

5. General description, size, appearance, etc.:

This graveyard is kept up by the trustees of Delaware Township.  It is fenced in with plain wire and has a wooden gate kept locked.  The grounds have not been well kept up this year, are weed grown and much brush has piled up in it.  It sets on a hill back in a field about a hundred feet from the river bank and contains about half an acre of ground, which is well wooded with walnut and pine trees.  It is not a church cemetery and is controlled by the trustees of the township.  It never was much used.  There are only twenty five marked graves in it.

6. Name and date of first burial recorded:

George Mast, a seven year old boy, buried in 1859, is the oldest marker in the graveyard.

7. Names of important persons buried there:

Two old Civil War veterans, one named Hill and the other Duck, seem to be the only persons of any note buried there.

George Duck, veteran - www.findagrave.com

7. Markers of unusual appearance:

The markers are mostly all old white slabs, although in the last ten years, the Hills have erected two modern granite markers to their family.

8. Unusual epitaphs:  None

9. Is cemetery used for new burials?  Yes.

C. Cadwallader and C. Gish, Reporters

Consultants:

Mrs. L. C. Kretzer, R. R. #7, Defiance, Ohio

Mr. A. J. McFeeters, Sherwood, Ohio