MIDDLETOWN, OHIO
History & Genealogy
History of Mount
Pleasant Church
Madison Township Bicentennial Sketches
1799 - 1999
by George C. Crout
The oldest house of worship in
continuous use by the same congregation in the state of Ohio is that of
the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. It sets on a hilltop above Poasttown.
But its congregation is older than the brick building. 
The Mt. Pleasant group was a direct offspring of that first church in the
Miami Valley founded at Columbia, now part of Cincinnati, on Jan. 20,
1790. The church site was located on a knoll just off Turkey Bottom Road,
opposite the present Lunken Airport. Rev. Daniel Clark was the first
minister. One group from the church founded a church at Trenton, and the
log structure erected housed the first Baptist congregation in Butler
County. It was built on Michael Pearce's land, who also donated additional
land for a cemetery. Elder Stephen Gard was the leader, and married one of
Pearce's daughters. In 1995 the City of Trenton acquired this site, and
established a small founder's park there at the intersection of State
Street and Hamilton first Conference of Baptist churches was held in 1799.
The Elk Creek Church was admitted in 1800. A few of its charter members
had come from the Browns Run area, but it was a long way to travel in
pioneer times. Around 1815 those Baptist living northeast of Trenton began
to worship at the homes fellow churchmen, holding special open air camp
meetings in the summer at the burying ground site on a hilltop, now north
of Thomas Road. Land was given the congregation adjacent to the cemetery
by the Lucas family, which had a land grant awarded for service in the
Revolutionary War. The first person baptized was Samuel Lucas. The church
used the mouth of Browns Run for this ritual.In 1819 the congregation decided to build a log church, typical of that of the day. Members scouted out tall trees with a diameter of 12 to 14 inches to produce logs the size needed for a 20 by 30 foot meeting house. After rolling in the logs to the site. the men gathered with their tools-  -broad
axe, adze, frow, auger and saws-- and raised a building, Using no nails in
construction, its being pegged together. A puncheon ceiling was laid on
the pole rafters above to form an attic. Here brothers who came from a
distance to worship on the week-end slept overnight, while the women were
guests in the homes of nearby Baptists. Services were usually held once a
month, when the circuit rider came around.Elder Wilson Thompson, who left his autobiography, was called as pastor. This noted minister of the frontier was known to preach to crowds of 400 to 500 people at camp meetings. The Baptist Association admitted the Mt. Pleasant Church at its convention at Springfield in 1819. At the time it listed 37 members; messengers: David Stephens and Samuel Lewis. Elder Thompson guided the Mt. Pleasant group's rapid growth and by 1836 a new building was needed. With bricks burned on the site, the new church was erected. Some of the church furniture. including its pulpit was built by a local cabinet maker Thomas Wilson, whose name is still remembered in that of Middletown's oldest memorial home. Mt. Pleasant church served as host to the Miami Baptist Association for the years 1841, 1856, 1872, and 1879. The church is still active, but it became best known for its hosting of an old-fashioned Decoration Day service each year since 1888. The oldest known burial ground in Madison Township is likely the one at Mt. Pleasant, a hilltop overlooking the valley in which old Poasttown is located. From time immemorial, the spirits of the honored dead have dwelt there. Archeologists have discovered ancient ashes from campfires and human bones of ages past, indicating people once used the hilltop for religious ceremonies and burial of their dead. All the names are gone, except the generic ones of Mound Builder and Indian, save one. Pioneers recalled Chief Tom Killbuck who lived along Elk Creek and befriended the early settlers, as being buried at Mt. Pleasant, but his simple creek-bed memorial flatstone rock is gone. In this cemetery also rests those early families such as Lucas, Selby, Banker, Hinkle, Barcalow, Gephart, Mills and others. Dr. Eldon A. Huchison. whose pastorate began at Mt. Pleasant in 1914, and ended with his death in 1981 once recalled that he had conducted services in the church with interment in the cemetery for soldiers of the Mexican War, The Civil War, the western Indian wars, the Spanish-America War, the Philippine insurrection, both World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam wars. |
Mount Pleasant
Cemetery
This is not a complete
listing of this cemetery
Last Updated 08/24/2008
|
NAME |
DATES |
TOMBSTONES |
| ADAMS Brent C | 1891 - 1955 | |
| ADAMS Ledford W | 1915 - 19XX | |
| ADAMS Lorraine R | 1917 - 19XX | |
| ADAMS Marlene | 1937 - 1960 | |
| AGNOR Andrew P | 1873 - 1952 |
 |
| AGNOR Emma L | 1875 - 1950 | |
| ANDLOWER Mary | Died 10-2-1865 | |
| ARGO Andrew | 1885 - 1948 | |
| ARGO Martha | 1875 - 1952 | |
| ARMSTRONG Bertha | 1900 - 19XX | |
| ARMSTRONG Mayme L | 1901 - 19XX | |
| ARMSTRONG Walter | 1892 - 1959 | |
| ARMSTRONG William | 1879 - 1958 | |
| BACK Joshua T | 12-03-1975 10-12-1998 |
 |
BACK Joshua Taylor
 |
12-03-1975 10-12-1998 |
 |
| BAKE Edmond L | Died 2-17-1875 | |
| BAKE Elizabeth | 1847 - 1941 | |
| BAKE Jacob | Died 12-21-1886 | |
| BANKER Alice M dau of John S & L | Died 1-28-1858 | |
| BANKER Anna | 1879 - 19XX | |
| BANKER Catherine wife of Jacob | 1820 - 1893 | |
| BANKER Charles M | 1885 - 19XX | |
| BANKER Charley D son of D W & J A | Died 5-04-1860 | |
| BANKER Claude R | 1883 - 1950 | |
|
BANKER David
soldier
|
1843 - 1902 | |
| BANKER David | Died 1-25-1862 | |
| BANKER E L | 1862 - 1939 | |
| BANKER Eliza L wife of Peter | 1834 - 1920 | |
| BANKER Emma J | Died 2-20-1896 | |
| BANKER F | 5-18-1874 | |
| BANKER Flora dau of P & L | 1-03-1857 8-02-1858 | |
| BANKER Flora J | 1851 - 1936 | |
| BANKER Harvey | 1862 - 1940 | |
| BANKER Infant of Benjamin & Elizabeth | 2-01-1851 2-01-1851 | |
| BANKER Infant son John S & Laurina L | 11-07-1853 11-07-1853 | |
| BANKER Jacob husband of Catherine | 1813 - 1897 | |
| BANKER James E wife Mary V | 1859 - 1942 | |
| BANKER Jane
dau of David & Mary McDell |
Died 8-14- 1833 | |
| BANKER Joseph wife Elizabeth | Died 2-05-1837 | |
| BANKER Joseph | Died 9-23-1844 | |
| BANKER Julia dau of H & S, wife of David | 1887 - 1889 | |
| BANKER Karl V | 1899 - 1846 | |
| BANKER Lee E | 1887 - 19XX | |
| BANKER Libbe dau of Jacob & Catherine | 1845 - 1896 | |
| BANKER Lida P | 1879 - 1928 | |
| BANKER Lucy | 1890 - 19XX | |
| BANKER M Jane | Died 4-14-1933 | |
| BANKER Mary wife of David | Died 9-27-1825 | |
| BANKER Mary V | 1868 - 1899 | |
| BANKER Morrell | 1885 - 1857 | |
| BANKER P G | 1880 - 1957 | |
| BANKER Peter P | Died 12-21-1862 | |
| BANKER Sallie A | 1864 - 1950 | |
| BARBER Mary E dau of J M & Elizabeth McFarland | 1867 - 1898 | |
| BARBER Milton S | 1848 - 1934 | |
| BARBER Sarah E wife of Milton S | 1860 - 1943 | |
| BARDES Louis G | 3-04-1854 8-16-1855 | |
| BARKALOW Daniel son of H & Elizabeth | Died 9-07-1841 | |
| BARR Marion B | 1858 - 1933 | |
| BARR Sarah C | 1870 - 1942 | |
| BARR William H wife Sarah C | 1862 - 1947 | |
| BAXTER Sue Pitts wife of Burke W Baxter | Died 1950 | |
| BEAM Eliza M wife of Martin M | 1837 - 1927 | |
| BEAM Hannah A | 1837 - 1926 | |
| BEAM John W | 1835 - 1917 | |
| BEAM Martin M
|
1833 - 1918 | |
| BEAM Tabitha E | 1862 - 1910 | |
| BELL Clarence | 1898 - 1932 | |
| BELL Daniel | 1872 - 1913 | |
| BELL Edward | 1878 - 1957 | |
| BELL Elizabeth | 1884 - 19XX | |
| BELL Ira | 11-19-1886 3-08-1887 | |
| BLEVINS Alice | 5-17-1845 11-25-1933 | |
| BLEVINS Edith | 4-21-1932 8-10-1952 | |
| BLEVINS Joseph | 9-13-1871 10-26-1944 | |
| BLEVINS Lealon | 4-14-1910 4-11-1931 | |
| BLEVINS Mary | 10-07-1845 6-20-1937 | |
| BLEVINS Mildred L |
 |
|
| BLEVINS Nancy | 11-17-1870 11-28-1943 | |
| BLEVINS Paul | 1931 - 1944 |
 |
| BLEVINS Walter D |
|
|
| BOWLUS Harry M | 1884 - 19XX | |
| BOWLUS Lavina J wife of Harry M | 1871 - 1952 | |
| BRANDENBURG Charles | 1909 - 1987 |
 |
|
BRANDENBURG Dan E
WWII |
11-19-1919 9-11-1989 |
 |
| BRANDENBURG Dan E | 1919 - 1989 |
 |
| BRANDENBURG Olive H | 1911 - 1998 |
|
| BRANDENBURG Virginia I | 1926 - XXXX |
|
| BREEDING Carolyn Louise | 2-05-1937 4-26-1947 | |
| BROWN Mary A | Died 3-04-1879 | |
| BROWN Susan wife of William | Died 1-23-1870 | |
| BROWN William | Died 2-21-1841 | |
| BURRINGER Lois V | 1903 - 1945 | |
| BYRD Donald L |
 |
|
| BYRD Henry | 4-07-1913 10-08-1991 |
 |
| BYRD Vickie L |
|
|
| CASSEL Baby | Died 8-16-1953 | |
| CARVER Charles M | 1885 - 1931 | |
| CASSIDY Clovie E | 1906 - 19XX | |
| CASSIDY John G | 1900 - 1950 | |
| CHILDS Burns L | 1891 - 1947 | |
| CHILDS Clarence | 1859 - 1916 | |
| CHILDS Kittie G wife of Clarence | 1860 - 1922 | |
| CHILDS Raymond G son of Clarence & Kittie | 1888 - 1890 | |
| CLAIR Vernon S | 5-27-1936 3-24-1942 | |
| CLARK Rodger | Died 1-16-1943 | |
| CLAWSON Bertha Bell | 1877 - 1947 | |
| CLENDENIN Carl | 1928 - 1937 | |
|
CLENDENIN Robert B
|
9-17-1919 11-06-1991 |
 |
| COFFMAN Ada Ann | 1867 - 1934 | |
| COFFMAN Charlie W | 1865 - 1956 | |
| COX Allen H |
 |
|
| COX Anna Corinne | 1899 - 1900 | |
| COY Tiffany | 7-17-1991 7-17-1991 |
 |
| CROUT Clem V | 1865 - 1927 | |
| CROUT Infant dau of H & M | Died 11-12-1916 | |
| CROUT Martha A wife of Clem V | 1861 - 1942 | |
| CUNDIFF Brach C | 1909 - 19XX | |
| CUNDIFF Wanda L wife of Brach | 1912 - 1954 | |
| CURLEY Edna L wife of William | 1885 - 19XX | |
| CURLEY William E | 1880 - 1950 | |
| DeGROAT James B son of Wm & Mary | Died 8-31-1860 | |
| DeGROAT Mary Jane wife of Isaac | Died 4-25-1858 | |
| DeGROAT William B son of Wm B & Nancy | Died 5-31-1852 | |
| DeGROAT William B wife Nancy | Died 7-29-1853 | |
| DeGROAT William Harrison son of Wm B & Nancy | Died 1860 | |
| DERICKSON David M | 1864 - 1905 | |
| DERICKSON Margaret J wife of David | 1853 - 1955 | |
| DEY William L | 1882 - 1953 | |
| DINE Elizabeth (mother) | 1830 - 1886 | |
| DINE Joseph H | 6-23-1862 2-22-1896 | |
| DINE William | 1-04-1821 XXXX | |
| EISELE Henry | 1863 - 1938 | |
| EISELE Homer E | 1889 - 1951 | |
| EISELE Naomi H wife of Homer | 1888 - 19XX | |
| EISELE S. Rebecca wife of Homer | 1862 - 1928 | |
| EMMERICK Phillip | 1849 - 1927 | |
| ETTER Alpha | 1874 - 1958 | |
| ETTER Dora E wife of Alpha | 1880 - 19XX | |
| EVANS Edward E son of S & W | Died 7-03-1876 | |
| EVANS Martha J wife of William | 1878 - 1929 | |
| EVANS Richard S | 1907 - 1913 | |
| EVANS Wilda sister of Richard | 1911 - 1913 | |
| EVANS William S | 1865 - 1948 | |
| FAUST Clarence | 1879 - 1958 | |
| FAUST Helen Banker | 1883 - 19XX | |
| FINKBONE Catherine dau of John W & Elizabeth | Died 7-20-1852 | |
| FINKBONE Eliza Ann | 1862 - 1955 | |
| FINKBONE George W | 1867 - 1953 | |
| FINKBONE John Jr | 1856 - 1901 | |
| FINKBONE Lucy Jeanette dau of John & Mary | 1896 - 1898 | |
| FINKBONE Mary E wife of John | 1858 - 1944 | |
| FINKBONE Mary E wife of George W | 1876 - 1935 | |
| FINKBONE | ||
| FINKBONE | ||
| FINKBONE | ||
| FISHER Anthony A | 1898 - 1960 | |
| FISHER Lura A wife of Anthony | 1952 - 19XX | |
| FLINSPACH Charles | 1862 - 1931 | |
| FINSPACH Clara | 1868 - 1929 | |
| FLOYD Infant son of Theodore & Susan | 11-25-1876 12-02-1876 | |
| FORD Edward | Died 1-26-1839 | |
| FRANCIS Jacob | 11-25-1793 7-21-1890 | |
| FRANCIS Joseph | Died 12-20-1874 | |
| FRANCIS Lydia wife of Joseph | 12-31-1798 12-25-1833 | |
| FRANCIS Maggie M dau of Lewis & Emmer E | 3-21-1880 | |
| FRANCIS Maria wife of Jacob | 8-28-1811 2-05-1892 | |
| FRANCIS Martha A wife of William | Dates gone | |
| FRANCIS Mary E dau of Lewis & Mary | Died 8-06-1873 | |
| FRANCIS Rachel dau of Jacob & Lydia | Died 12-14-1882 | |
| FRANCIS Rebecca dau of Jacob & Maria | Died 9-16-1857 | |
| FRONGIA Arnita (Brandenburg) |
1941 - 1994 |
|
| FRUWALDT Hattie E wife of John | 1875 - 1956 | |
| FRUWALDT John | 1874 - 1948 | |
| GARRETT | ||
| GEPHART (GEBHART) | ||
| GRAVES John S Obit | 1909 | |
| GELBY | ||
| GILBERT Harold E | ||
| GILBERT Alice A | ||
| GILLESPIE | ||
|
HALL James A
|
||
| HOLLAR Billy D Jr | ||
| HOLLAR E T | ||
| HUNTSBARGER Peter Obit | 1917 | |
| HUNTSBARGER Sarenia Obit | 1942 | |
| HUTCHENS Eva Mae | ||
| SELBY Tunis Obit | 1924 | |
| WRIGHT Andrew Scott | ||
Identified as a Veteran with a
veterans tombstone or found through research
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