Uptown Westerville’s little known next door neighbor: Olde Methodist Cemetery.
Walk down West Lincoln Street just one block north of Uptown Westerville and you’ll arrive at a small cemetery that has occupied this ground, bordering the Otterbein University campus, since 1849. Established by the local Methodists with the eastern half reserved for church member burials, Lincoln Street Cemetery became more commonly referred to as Olde Methodist Cemetery. Drawing little attention today, this graveyard includes the final resting places of the two pioneer families after whom the town’s settlement is named: the Sharps and the Westervelts. Among the 255 known burials are 22 Sharps and 26 Westervelts (through marriage, not all carry the Sharp or Westervelt last name).
Pam Allen, Historian at Church of the Messiah United Methodist, and I met in early 2024 to discuss the lack of an official record of who is buried here and the fact that so many gravestones had become unreadable. By 2026, a much more complete roster has been compiled and shared with the City of Westerville and the Westerville History Museum. Over 160 gravestones have been safely cleaned. The Find-a-Grave website has been populated with all 255 burials and included are obituaries, marriage licenses, census reports, pictures and other historical documents discovered along the way. The project concluded with the old weathered small entryway cemetery sign being replaced with the 8th Ohio Historical Marker awarded to Westerville by the Ohio History Connection.
Olde Methodist Cemetery is located at 66 West Lincoln Street. Uptown Westerville is visible in the back of this photo.Before gravestone cleaning……and after.View from a different angle. Before……after.Westerville Community Guide, May/June 2026. Written by Derrick McPeak, Special Events and Projects Manager for the City of Westerville.When Olde Methodist Cemetery was established in 1849, there was just one church in the village affiliated with Methodism: the Methodist Episcopal Church which is today Church of the Messiah United Methodist. That’s why the cemetery is connected to this particular church of the three current United Methodist Churches in Westerville. Church of the Master United Methodist was originally the United Brethren Church. Church of the Saviour United Methodist was originally the Evangelical Church. Through past mergers the Methodist Episcopal, United Brethren and Evangelical Churches across the United States became the United Methodist Church.Church of the Messiah United Methodist, 51 North State Street.
Some befores and afters of individual cleanedgravestones (the last burial was in 1956)…
Jennie Love (age 6) was the first gravestone cleaned. It’s located at the western edge of the cemetery. The lamb at the top of the stone means innocence and was often found on the gravestone of a child. There are 62 children under age 18 buried at the cemetery. Across from Jennie are the four Hall children. Eli, Fanny and Jerusha all died on different days in September 1848. Mary’s date of passing is unknown.Thomas Ingalls, a founding trustee of the Westerville Methodist Episcopal Church, was a Veteran of the War of 1812. There are 24 Veterans interred at Olde Methodist: War of 1812 – ten, Civil War – twelve, Spanish American War of 1898 – one, World War I – one.Julia Ann Dickson Sharp is the oldest dated grave at Olde Methodist. She died in 1834 which is 15 years before the cemetery was established. Her grave was likely moved to this plot from perhaps the Sharp farm or from the North State Street cemetery that was relocated when buildings housing the current Cinda Lou Shop and Pure Roots Boutique were constructed.Charles Coppedge, a Veteran of the War of 1812, and his wife Sarah (whose name is engraved on the reverse side) are among the 31 burials that were not on museum rosters.The weeping willow tree on Minerva Westervelt’s gravestone can mean mourning. It can also mean hope for new life since a severed willow switch placed in damp ground will readily become a new tree.Anna Maria Hanthorn, whose history remains unknown, died at age 25. A hand holding a rose or broken flower can represent a life or love cut short.Selah Sammis was married four times. Mary H. Sammis died in 1857, Martha M. Sammis died in 1859, Mary T. Sammis died in 1866, and Nancy M. Sammis died in 1890. Of the four widows, only Martha is interred at another cemetery. The Sammis farm was located on South State Street near where Speedway is today.An 1883 map of Blendon Township shows an unlabeled south/north road intersecting with Cheever Road (now East Walnut Street). A later map shows the road extended north across a corner of the Horace and Minerva Spring farm. The road is labeled “H. Spring Road.” Thus, Spring Road did not get its name from the season or a spring in its vicinity. Horace Spring was an abolitionist. Whether he had a role in Westerville’s Underground Railroad connection is unknown.Kate Spring, age 4, granddaughter of Horace and Minerva Spring. Interred in this same plot are her sisters Adell, age 2, and Hattie, age 10 months.The etching on Anna Sharp’s gravestone is still well defined. That turned out not to be the case with husband Garrit (as shown further down in the blog).Gravestone cleaning training, June 2024. Old Colony Burial Ground, Granville.The cleaning kit.
The Sharps
The Garrit and Anna Goodspeed Sharp arrived here from Genesee County, New York circa 1810-12, and the area became known as Sharp’s Settlement. Garrit Sharp and his sons were abolitionists assisting in the Underground Railroad movement. While their farms may or may not have housed runaway slaves, three of the farm houses still exist. Two are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Garrit and Anna Sharp house, 259 North State Street. Built circa 1840’s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Even when cleaned, Garrit Sharp’s gravestone is only partially readable…and that’s providing the sun is shining on it. (Anna’s gravestone was previously shown.) A granite stone was made and added at the base.Stephen, Sr. and Hester Sharp house, 656 Africa Road. Built 1859. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Stephen and Hester Sharp.Joseph and Sophene Sharp house, 495 Africa Road. Built 1843. The red brick exterior was stuccoed in 1923.
Joseph and Sophene Sharp. Sadly, Joseph’s gravestone is missing the bottom half plus its base.
The Westervelts
Four Westervelt siblings arrived in Westerville from Dutchess County, New York, circa 1818: Katharine, Matthew, Peter, and William. Matthew and Peter donated land for a Methodist institution of higher learning and plots to establish a village. Local Justice of the Peace Randall Arnold and William Hance, postmaster of nearby Galena, named the village Westerville. They then successfully petitioned the U.S. Postalmaster General to establish a post office here in 1840. Peter and William are interred at Olde Methodist. Katherine Westervelt Brinkerhoff is interred at Pioneer Cemetery (South State Street at I-270). Matthew is interred at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus. Randall Arnold is also interred at Pioneer Cemetery in an unmarked grave. William Hance is interred at Marengo Cemetery in Morrow County.
Peter and Hannah Westervelt. Peter was a Veteran of the Civil War and a founder of Blendon Masonic #339.William and Sally Westervelt. Their house was located where Columbus Running Company is today.Katherine Westervelt Brinkerhoff. The farm of Stephen and Katherine was located south of West Walnut Street. Their son Stephen and his wife and two children (and likely the third) are interred at Olde Methodist.Matthew and Abiah Westervelt who gave the land to build the church on North State Street. Abiah died at the home of their son Emery and is interred at Graceland Cemetery in Fairbury, Illinois.Randall Arnold is likely interred in the same Pioneer Cemetery plot as his first wife Mary Baldwin Arnold (left). Arnold Alley off North Vine Street is named for him. Otterbein University’s being located in Westerville is due to Randall Arnold. He remarried after Mary died, and his second wife Lucretia (right) is interred at Olde Methodist.In author Harold Hancock’s Nineteenth Century Westerville, reference is made to Randall Arnold having consulted with Galena postmaster Dr. Vance about establishing a post office and a name for the village. They chose the name “Westerville.” A search awhile back for a Vance in Galena ended without success. The search resumed this year thanks to a post office document of long ago provided by a historian at the Columbus Metropolitan Library. A script V turned out to be the letter H. What a fun find!!! William Hance’s gravestone has been cleaned. Hopefully, continued periodic spraying of his gravestone with D2 Biological Solution will improve readability even more. Same with his wife’s gravestone next to it.
Other NotableGravestones
Thomas and Charlotte Alexander were abolitists and active participants in helping escaping slaves move north through Westerville. Thomas was a founder of Blendon Masonic #339. Charlotte was a temperance crusader and a charter member of the Westerville chapter of the W.T.C.U. (Women’s Christian Temperance Union).
The Alexanders had a foundry at the back of their 48 West College Avenue property (the barn-like structure partially shown above at the rear) where Thomas made iron fence and agricultural implements such as rakes. He concealed slaves in his wagon when making deliveries to areas north of Westerville. Meals would have been prepared in the house. When they passed away, the house was moved to 60 Logan Avenue and reconfigured. Their daughter Inez Crouse and her husband then built a new house at 48 West College Avenue as shown below.The current occupant of 48 West College Avenue is Zeta Phi Fraternity of Otterbein University. The foundry stood where the brick building (right) now stands at West Main and Knox Streets. The Crouse home can be seen at the rear.Elizabeth Slight’s gravestone (on the left) is made of zinc…and not stone. When exposed to air, zinc turns a bluish-grey color, and this serves as a protective coating. Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut was a major manufacturer of these. Hollow and less expensive, they were customizable with decorative panels that could be made and screwed into body of the monument. These monuments were banned in some cemeteries which preferred the dignity and durability of stone (which is not so). There is also a zinc monument (on the right) at Pioneer Cemetery.At least 22 burials are missing gravestones. Several were found among those piled in a back corner of the cemetery. Those and gravestone fragments were cleaned and laid out in that area.
The idea for this came from the recently restored Springfield (OH) Burying Ground.
A Side Story
Once cleaned, four of the gravestones at Olde Methodist revealed the names of the engravers etched at the base which is not all that common. Each engraver was researched, but D. Stockwell Harlem, Oh. researched by Pam Allen became a project itself. Where is Harlem, Ohio? It’s considered a ghost town in Harlem Township just east of Hoover Reservoir. Dexter Stockwell engraved Sophronia Westervelt’s gravestone in 1847. Sadly, he was found to have died of starvation in 1863 at Belle Isle, a Confederate prison camp near Richmond, Virginia. The pictorial below tells the rest of the story.
Before and after cleaning.D. Stockwell Harlem Oh. in the bottom right corner of Sophronia’s gravestone.Dexter Stockwell was buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Marion County, Ohio. His gravestone was discovered to be in pieces.Contact was made with Tim, the Cemetery Sexton. He was so moved by the Civil War sacrifice of Dexter Stockwell and the state of the gravestone that he voluteered to build a new concrete foundation and reset the gravestone. (Cemeteries are not responsible for maintenance of gravestones.) Despite being in shade under the tree on the left in 90+ degree summer heat, curiosity drove the cows over to watch the progress.The gravestone was cleaned and dignitity was restored: Dexter and Barbara Stockwell.Tim, Sexton of Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
The finishing touch: the Ohio History Connection awards an Ohio Historical Marker.
Side 1Side 2Marker Dedication, Sunday, May 24, 2026. L to R: Aaron Glasgow, Westerville City Council; Don Foster, local historian; Pam Allen, Historian, Church of the Messiah; Rev. Katy Wheat Borhauer, Lead Pastor, Church of the Messiah; Morgan McQueen, Ohio History Connection.Marker funding was provided by Church of the Messiah members, community members, Blendon Masonic #339 (3 of their 10 founders are interred here), and the Rotary Club of Westerville.
Ending on a humorous note…
The plot plan drawn in 1851 by Stephen Sharp and Lewis Goodspeed shows straight rows of graves. That seems to have gotten a bit out of hand. They look more like those in the photo below. If you don’t recongize what this is…it’s a family tree. 🙂
Histories and Mysteries 