West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 138 by Charlie Miller

Cemeteries, Cont’d

- 1864 – Pleasant Hill Cemetery laid out by Sebastian Roberts. The first burial was that of his father, Thomas Roberts, later in the year. Sebastian died in 1869 and is buried there. In 1888, it was sold by his widow to an incorporated Stock Company consisting of 10 men. It later became under the jurisdiction of the Jefferson Township Trustees.

- 1877 – Calvary Cemetery on the Lilly Chapel Road consists of 2 acres donated by John Frey. It was consecrated on November 4, 1877, by Archbishop J. B. Purcell of Cincinnati, Ohio. It remains the burial place of the local Catholic people.

Early Churches

- 1808 – The oldest church that was organized in Jefferson Township was the Foster Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Rev. Lewis Foster on the Plain City-Georgesville Road. Sometime after 1875, it was razed, and the land became the Foster Chapel Cemetery.

- 1820 – First Baptist Church, founded by Rev. Isaac Jones, who was also the founder of (West) Jefferson in 1830. The church was founded as the Little Darby Baptist Church and was located in the middle of what is now the New Hampton Cemetery. Rev. Jones died in 1840 and is buried in the cemetery. In 1848, the church moved to a new building at the end of N. Center Street, where it dead-ended at Water St. In 1887, a new building was erected on E. Main Street at the corner of S. Center St. This building stood until 1972, when the current building was constructed on Lilly Chapel Rd.

- 1833 - West Jefferson M. E. Church was established. They met at the home of David Mortimore whose cabin stood on the current site of Arbors West at 375 W. Main St. In 1862, they bought Lot No. 50 on E. Main St., the previous site of the Huntington Bank. When the current building was erected in 1922, the old church building was purchased by Mr. Halley T. Kaho and was made into the Orient Theater. After Mrs. Gertrude Kaho died in 1968, it was bought by the Central National Bank and eventually the Huntington Bank. It is now (2023) a dentist's office. In 1968, the Methodist Church united with the United Brethren Church and became the United Methodist Church.

- 1844 – Gillivan M. E. Church, organized in 1844. In 1882, a lot on the corner of U. S. 42 and Taylor-Blair Rd. was donated by Mr. E. B. Haynes, and the present building was erected. In ca. 1960, the church ceased to be used by the Methodists, and several other churches held services there. It is presently being used by the Victory Baptist Church.

- 1860 – Alder Universalist Church was erected on an ½ acre lot donated by Thomas Timmons. This church sat just south of the Foster Chapel. About 100 years later, when the Universalists left, an adjacent land owned claimed the property and demolished it.