from the 1874 Atlas of Benton Township - Hardesty;
cemetery shown at top center
The existence of the Old Trinity Church Cemetery is referred to in the history of
Trinity Evangelical Church of Elliston, Ohio, published in 1932:
"Church Cemetery - On July 27, 1864, eighteen men bought a plot of ground on the
farm now owned by Peter Bittner, for a burial ground. They all paid an equal amount.
The balance ($6.75) was paid by the Ev. Protestant Trinity Church of Benton.
The cemetery was to be the property of the church, but people who paid the required sum,
even if not a member of the church, could use the cemetery. [On] May 11, 1872 the
old cemetery along the Toussaint [Old Elliston] was started by Benton Township. In
1884, the cemetery across the road [Elliston] was started, and finally the old church
cemetery on Bittner's farm was discontinued."
According to the 1874 Plat Map of Benton Township, the cemetery was along what is now
Moline-Martin Road, west of Packer Creek, one mile north of Elliston.
There are about a dozen deaths recorded in the records of Trinity Church prior to 1872.
Some were noted as being buried at Elmore, others have no notation. According
to The History of Ottawa County and its Families, the remains from Old Trinity
Church Cemetery were removed and reinterred at Elliston Cemetery.
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