Dicks Creek Cemetery, one of the oldest surviving cemeteries in Warren
County, is the final resting place for many of the original settlers
in the Blue Ball area. It was established in 1810 when Joseph
Parks and his son, Robert,
donated a parcel of ground on Union Road for a church and an acre of
ground adjacent to it for a cemetery. Revolutionary War Veteran, Joseph
Parks who died 12 Apr 1814, is the 1st known burial in the
cemetery.
From various sources , we know of 133 burials
in the cemetery. Gravestones for 88 of them have been located and photographed.
This last known burial in the cemetery is said to be that of Bruce
Mell in the 1920s.
The cemetery is the final resting place for Seven Revolutionary War
veterans (one of the highest concentrations in Warren County) Joseph
Parks, Robert Boal, Joseph
Green, Andrew Karr, James
Wilson, John McMeen and
John Bryant. It is also the
final resting place for Civil War soldiers
John Logan and Theophilus L. Todd.
. Gravestones remain for all of these patriots except the gravestone
for Joseph Parks.
The area around the cemetery is experiencing rapid growth spurred by
the relocation of Middeltown Regional Hospital to Union Road, north
of State Route 122. At least for now, the cemetery appears to
have been saved from any encroachment from these developments.
A wood fence has been built along the back line of the cemetery and
so far the cemetery has been spared from the loss of land from the widening
of Union Road. We are grateful for the efforts of Bob
Young, Franklin Twp Trustees and many others who have looked after
the interests of the cemetery.
|
| Location: |
- Opposite 3023 Union Road (Grace Baptist Church) less
than 1/2 mile south of State Route 122, Franklin Twp, Warren County,
Ohio
[surrounding land has since been incorporated into the city of Middletown]
- "Ohio Cemeteries 1803-2003"
by the Ohio Genealogical
Society , Cemetery #12224
- Coordinates:39° 29' 22"N,
84° 19' 01"W
- TRS: Range 4 North, Township 3 East,
Section 33
|
| Links: |
- USGS
GNIS - Dicks Creek Cemetery; FID #1039705
- Google
Map at coordinates 39° 29' 22"N, 84° 19' 01"W
- TopoZone
map at coordinates 39° 29' 22"N, 84° 19' 01"W
- Warren
County Auditor for Dicks Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery
[see county aerial
map of the property]
- The 32.7 acre Grace Baptist Church
campus is located across the street from the cemetery on the West
side of Union Road, Property
Account #2304487, Parcel ID 07034760050
- Aerial
Image of the cemetery location from Windows
Live Local - looking west across Union Road towards the Grace Baptist
Church [click on the compass points for views from different angles]
- Range
4 North Township 3 East Section 33 from Warner's 1867
Warren County Ohio Wall Map showing the Presbyterian Church
- The Franklin Chronicle, Franklin, Ohio, Thursday 22
Oct 1931 - "Seven Graves
of Revolutionary Soldiers to be Marked by Patriotic Society."
- "Residents,
officials balk at talk of moving cemetery; Dicks Creek Cemetery is home
for the remains of veterans of Revolutionary War, Civil War"
by Ed
Richter, staff writer, The Middletown Journal, Tuesday, March 20,
2007
- "Developer
opposed to moving cemetery"
by Ed
Richter, staff writer, The Middletown Journal, Friday, March 30,
2007
|
| Transcriptions: |
- D.A.R. Turtlecreek Chapter & Warren
County Historical Society (available at the Historical Society Library)
- Early Vital Records Volume 4, page 10
- Warren County Genealogical
Society
- Chester & Betty Dunn surveyed
the cemetery in 1986 and 1987, working from a 1983 boy scout project,
which contained a grid map showing the relative location of the
various stones. Their results of their work was published on page
420 to 423 of Warren
County Cemetery Records Volume 7 [also see their on-line Name
Index]
- Dana
Palmer, Theresa Baughman and Alex ??? visited the cemetery in
Nov 2003 to photograph all extant gravestones in the cemetery. These
photos have been added to the Society project to collect digital
images of all Warren County gravestones and will be incorporated
in a future update of their cemetery books. All their photos have
been added to this web site.
- Other Known Transcriptions
- "Epic of Blue Ball Ohio"
published 1978 by the Blue Ball Historical Society, pages 90 &
91 contains a listing of 83 burials in the cemetery
- In September, 1995, Opal
Barret privately produced a book listing Dicks Creek burials
with a grid map to show the relative location of the various stones
Copies are available for viewing at the Warren
County Historical Society and at the Warren
County Genealogical Society
|
| Variant Names: |
|
| Comments:
|
- 19 May 2009 by John
Apgar
"My mother Mary Ross Apgar and her sister
Janet Ross Johnson did extensive research on the Ross
family. Alexander Ross is our stopping point on that
side of the family. What we are lacking for him is his place of birth
(country of Origin), his parents, emigration date to the US. We know
he traveled to Brownsville (Redstone) in Pa, then moved with his inlaws
to Franklin in Warren County . He served in the Rev War, at Battle of
Brandywine, Paoli (captured), and Whiskey Rebellion. My mother, Mary
Ross Apgar visited the Warren County Courthouse and examined their records
in person. It was from there that she discovered Alexander Ross
(1755-1809) and his wife, Nancy Ann Ross, were buried
in Dicks Creek Cem. There is no gravestone, as it may have been destroyed
or removed over the years. We also have references from the Kidner family
(an in law from one of Alexander's children) that he was burried there."
|
