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Pioneer Cemetaries of the Darby Plains 

Bigelow Prairie State Nature Preserve: The families represented in Bigelow cemetary were among the first pioneers to settle the tall grass prairie of the Darby Plains and endure the hardships of this prairie wilderness. Nine of these families were returning to the United States after having settled in Canada. During the early 1800s, His Majesty, George III, offered great inducements to the people of the United States to cross the border and establish settlements in Canada. Then when the War of 1812 broke out between the United States and England, many of these families returned to the United States.                                                 
These families included Russell Bigelow, Moses Patrick and Nehemiah Sabin, who eventually settled in the Darby Plains. Other that headed west and settled in the Darby Plains included the families of Joseph Green, Ephriam Keyes, Obadiah Janes, and Uriah Wood. Because Mr. Green was the first to complete and occupy a cabin, the vicinity became known as the Green settlement.

The McCloud settlement, founded by Charles McCloud, Sr., from Vermont, was established just east of the Green Settlement along Post Road in Darby Township, Union County. Both settlements stretched from Irwin Station to what is now Plain City, a distance of eleven miles.

Nehemiah Sabin’s tombstone documents the first known burial in Bigelow Cemetery. In 1814 this burial ground was still a small piece of prairie and unclaimed land. In July of 1815, this land was surveyed and claimed by Benjamin Hough, of Ross County, Ohio for his past military services. In November of 1816, Mr. Hough sold the acreage for $344 to Russell Bigelow who buried one son, three daughters, and two grandchildren there before he and his wife, Lucy, sold the land containing the cemetery in 1822 to Uriah Wood who is also buried there.

The last recorded burial occurred in January 1892 with the death of Miranda Kent.

pioneers fishing
Early pioneers of the Darby Plains regions undoubtedly suffered many hardships.
© TNC

Directions: Bigelow Cemetery is located in Madison County 8 miles west of Plain City on State Route 161. The preserve is less than 1/2 mile south on the west side on Rosedale Road. A short trail system and pull-off parking are present.

*Source: extracted and adapted from History of Bigelow (Chuckery) Cemetery State Nature Preserve, A Pioneer Prairie Cemetery in Northern Madison County, Ohio by Julie M. Overton, Ohio Genealogical Society.

 
Bigelow Prairie Cemetary
Bigelow Cemetary, named for one of the first pioneer families to settle in the region
© TNC

Smith Cemetary State Nature Preserve:  In November of 1816, Walter Dun of Fayette County, Kentucky, became the first owner of what is now known as Smith Cemetery. Mr. Dun was a government surveyor who did much of the early surveying in Madison County. He became quite wealthy, acquiring thousands of acres of land as payment for his services.                                      
Prior to this in 1814, Charles and Alvia Andrews came west from Connecticut to start a new life in Ohio. They joined the Converse settlement, founded by Rev. Jeremiah and Rhonda Converse who came from New Hampshire to Darby Township. In September of 1816, Charles and Alvia Andrews buried their youngest daughter Almira, who was only five years old, on this small patch of prairie, becoming the first person to be interred in what was eventually Smith Cemetery.

A major outbreak of malaria swept across the Darby Plain, peaking in 1822 and 1823, Hardly a family escaped the tragedy of this epidemic. Following the deaths of Charles and Alvia Andrews, their 14-year old daughter married Samuel Smith, Jr., one of nine children of Samuel and Sarah Smith who came to the Darby Plains in 1818. Samuel Smith Jr. and his wife Lucindia remained happily married until her early death at the age of 22 in 1832. Lucindia was buried next to her younger sister Almira. Samuel Smith, Jr. then purchased 105 acres which included the little prairie cemetery from Walter Dun, the absentee landowner living in Kentucky.

On October 15, 1834, Samuel Smith, Jr. and his second wife transferred ownership of what had become the Smith Family cemetery to the Darby Township Trustees.

Captain Eleazer Crocker Smith, was the proud patriarch of the other clan of Smiths buried in Smith Cemetery. Captain Smith and his wife came to the Darby Plains in 1832 and purchased 167 acres, built a cabin and raised 12 children.

On December 17, 1982, the Darby Township Trustees dedicated Smith Cemetery as a state nature preserve to be managed and protected by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.

Directions: Smith Cemetery is located in Madison County 2 miles west of Plain City on SR 161; proceed 1 mile south on Kramer Road, (Union County Road 42) this road becomes Converse Chapel Road (Madison County Road 41) then 1/4 mile west on Boyd Road to the prairie cemetery located on the north side. A Trail is present.

*Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources