OLD GRAVEYARD
Pg. 138

     The first white settlers that died at the licks were buried on the hill afterward known as the Ford hill, not far from the Lutheran church.  Later a number of salt boilers were buried on the hill, which is a part of the McKitterick farm.  The graveyard lies east of the old Indian trail from the licks to Chillicothe.  The place was selected by the whites because it had been used as a burial ground by the Indians.  There is no record of the names of those buried there, but the number must have exceeded fifty.  The graves were marked with native sandstone, many of which crumbled in time, while others were carried away by collectors.  Names and dates were cut on a few, but the great majority bore only initials.  A visiting collector asked permission years ago to take away the stone bearing the oldest inscription, but Mr. John McKitterick, Sr., refused.  A few days afterward, it was discovered that the stone had disappeared, and it was suspected that the stranger had stolen it.  For half a century the graveyard remained uncultivated, but after the ground was cleared the stones disappeared rapidly.  Ten years ago, when I first visited the place, only two were left.  One of them bore the following inscription:  "D. F. D., Sept. 23, 1802."  Daniel F. Dean was killed at a log rolling.  He was a large and powerful man, but on that unlucky September day he lost his hold while raising a heavy log, and it rolled back and crushed him, killing him instantly.  Many of those buried here were men who were murdered at the salt works.  Some of the earliest salt boilers were lawless men, and the morals of the community were at a par with those of the wildest mining camps of the early gold days.  It was a common occurrence from 1795 to 1803 to find the corpse of some one  murdered overnight floating in the salt water tank, and to discover later that one or two others had departed between two suns without leaving their addresses.  The last of these murders was committed by a negro.  He was caught and lynched, the lynching taking place near the Mitchell rocks.  His remains were interred in the old graveyard, which caused it to fall into disrepute.  Many of the earliest burials were made without coffins, but they came into use later.  They were made of good old oak, and one of them lasted over sixty years, for Mr. G. C. McKitterick remembers when the grave fell in.  I have been informed that members of a family named Hill, living in Liberty township, have been buried here, but the information has not been verified.