Cemetery Name

Hill Graveyard

Township

Status

First Known Burial

General Condition

Tombstone Condition

OGS Cemetery #

Location:

The Hill Graveyard is an inactive (1.465 acres), overgrown cemetery located in a wooded area on the north side of ravine located west of Schlottman Road and east of Baxter Road, very close to the Warren - Clermont County line. At one time, Baxter Road extended eastward to Schlottman Road (formerly called Williamsburg Pike) and provided access to the cemetery. That eastern part of Baxter road was abandoned sometime after 1903, causing the cemetery to become landlocked.

Coordinates:

STR/ VMD

Property Account:

Parcel ID:

Map:

• USGS GNIS National Mapping Information for Seyforth Cemetery (Feature ID 1066318)
• TopoZone map at coordinates 39° 16' 28"N, 84° 14' 04"W
• 1842 Deed from Philip Hill to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church
• WPA Plat of Hill Graveyard
• Aerial View of Hill Graveyard
• Warren County Auditors Record for Account #2635980 , Parcel ID 1601300040 - 0.5448 acres held by Hamilton Twp Trustees
• Aerial Map from Windows.Live Local
• Beers History of Warren County pages 607, 614 and 623

Cemetery History

This cemetery is mentioned in some of the earliest references to burials in Hamilton Twp. Beers History of Warren County says "Hill’s Graveyard, on the hill near the Clermont County line, was used for this purpose as early as 1800, in which year there was buried J. Hill, as shown by the rude headstone". The Beers History also refers to the cemetery in discussions of early settlements and early churches of Hamilton Township. 

On the 23rd of May 1842, Philip Hill transferred 1 acre and 33.75 poles of land to the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church for $1 and the public good for the special purpose of a burying ground and meeting house. The deed is recorded in Warren County Deed Book 25, page 287. The Warren County Auditor lists the property as a 1.465 acre parcel which can be seen in the aerial image obtained from the Warren County GIS Department.

A plat of the cemetery (created by the WPA during the depression) shows 176 plots arranged in a 22 rows containing 8 plots each. The only grave identified on the plat is that of Jno. Simonton, a civil war veteran. Based on where the Jno. Simonton grave is positioned, it would appear that the WPA has the plat upside down.

Cemetery Transcriptions

• D.A.R. Turtlecreek Chapter & Warren County Historical Society (available at the Historical Society Library)
  • Early Vital Records Volume 4, page 16 [26 burials for deaths from 1841 to 1890 for the cemetery under the name "Rosebud Acres"]
• Page 702 in Volume 2 of GATEWAY TO THE WEST [Greeneville, OH: Anita Short & Dale Bowers, 1978] has an undated transcription (by Mrs. Gordon M. Hower) which records 30 burials for deaths from 1813 to 1890.
• "Monument Inscriptions prior to 1900 from Cemeteries in Clermont County, Ohio, Vol 10" lists 36 burials found during a ca. 1959 reading of the "Hill Private Cemetery" by the Beech Forest Chapter D.A.R. They list the cemetery as being in Goshen Twp, Clermont Co.
• About 1999, Jim and Mary Baldwin who live nearby, read the cemetery and recorded 20 burials, one of which was not in either of the above listings.
• On 19 Aug 2000, a group visited the cemetery in conjunction with a reunion of the descendants of Adam Simonton of Ohio and found all of the Simonton tombstones [except Ann Simonton] noted in previous readings of the cemetery.
• Warren County Genealogical Society
  • Not currently in one of their 12 cemetery books but the results of the following readings will be added to the next edition of Volume 5
    [see online index]
  • On 3 July 2003, Kim Wilmes, Chuck Griffin and Arne Trelvik visited the cemetery on behalf of the Warren County Genealogical Society and found the gravestones listed below.
  • On 7 Jun 2006, Larry W. Collins visited the cemetery on behalf of the Warren County Genealogical Society and photographed all extant tombstones. Larry unearthed additional stones not found during the 2003 visit.

Gravestone Images

Gravestone photos for the Warren County, Ohio Virtual Cemetery Project are being posted to the Warren County OHGenWeb Project
To view images ===> Hill Graveyard
To submit images ==> email to Arne H. Trelvik at atrelvik@gmail.com [please send high resolution digital images if available]