GRAVEYARDS
(Source: History of Madison Township, Franklin Co., Ohio - 1902)
Chapter XXIX

"Friend after friend departs,
_ no hath not lost a friend!
There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end;
Were this frail world our final rest,
Living or dying, none were blest."
                                    MONTGOMERY

     To many, graveyards are hallowed places; here lies all that is mortal of husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, or friend; and how common the custom for persons of all grades of cultivation to seek a lonely fellowship with their beloved dead while sitting by their silent tomb.
     Who does not cherish the sweet hope that under the willow they are nearer to their departed one than in all the world beside.

"There is a dreamy presence everywhere,
As if of Spirits passing to and fro;
We are almost hear their voices in the air,
And feel their balmy pinions touch our brow."

     Respect for their memories, and for their bodies, out embalm in our hearts the spot where they lie and constrain us our hearts the spot where they lie and constrain us oft to pay our devotions of love there.  How sad the feeling, when one visits one of the old burying grounds to see time doing its inevitable work of destruction and decay.  Only a few more years and every tombstone that marks the last resting place of the pioneer will be gone; and with these sandstone and marble slabs will disappear even the name of these sturdy, simple-lived people, for even now no living person can tell the tone of their silent voice or their form or feature, or the expression of their eye or face.  Some of these old burial places we found very badly and disgracefully neglected, and many of the stones broken or fallen down; in some cattle and hogs running over them; those fenced in so overgrown with briars and undergrowth that it was almost impossible to find the graves, and aften found to decipher the weather worn inscriptions.  We have in our possession as complete a copy of the inscriptions on every tombstone as could be secured in the spring of 1899.
     In going about from cemetery to cemetery, transcribing the inscriptions, we were impressed with the fact that even graveyards have marked individualities, and that they perhaps reveal somewhat of the estimation of the church and religion held by the friends of those buried there.
     In some the silent inhabitants were dead; the most hopeful thing said of them is that "they are gone to the bourne from whence none ever return."  In others the larger number of those buried there were only "sleeping," "resting," "waiting for the resurrection," telling of the life to come in such strains of hope and faith that as we read from stone to stone a feeling steals over our mind that "to die is gain."
     The following are a few of the more curious and interesting epitaphs:

"The mortal body here is laid
No more to mourn and die,
The living spirit now is gone
To live with God on high."

"Beyond, oh, ye ransomed souls,
Your help is from the sky,
And seraphs guide your fearful path
To yon bright homes on high;
Oh death thou art the gate of heaven
To those who feel their sins forgiven."

"We've laid our lowly in the earth,
The child of hope and love,
The light and music of our hearts
Our own sweet cradle dove."

"Fare well dear friends, if there be room
For memories fond and true,
In the bright world beyond the tomb,
I will remember you."

"His Fight is Faught
His Rase is Run
His Joyes in heaven
Is now begun."

"Weep not my dearest friends,
Nor shed your tears in vain,
My face you'll see no more
Till called to rise again."

"Sleep on sweet babe of rest
For such they Savior blest."

On John Colman's marble slab:

"Finish then thy new creation,
Pure and spotless let it be;
Let us see thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in thee,
Changed from glory into glory
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crown before thee
Lost in wonder love and praise."

"Stoop down, my thoughts that used to rise,
Converse awhile with death,
Think how a dying mortal lies
And pants away his breath."

"The bud had spread a rose,
The Savior, she closed."

"Stop, my friend and view,
The grave allotted you,
Remember all must die,
And turn to dust like I."

"Is this the fate that all must die,
Will death no ages spare?
Then let us all to Jesus fly
And seek for refuge there."

"Go home my friend
Dry up your tears
I will arise
When Christ appears."

"I knew full well the loveliest are always the first to go,
To finely wrought they sink beneath the pressure here below.

"Weep not for me my parents dear,
I am not dead, but sleeping here."

"How greatly will my soul rejoice,
How happy I will be
When I shall hear my Savior's voice
Say, Come until me."

     The following is not a complete list of all the persons buried in the various graveyards of the township, but only such as will recall the names of persons who have lived in the township.  The names are alphabetically arranged.  Many, very many- perhaps fifty per cent - of the burials are unmarked.

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