×

Scout’s ties to cemetery go beyond his Eagle project

WASHINGTONVILLE — For Justin McLemore, a sophomore at Springfield Local High School, it is the perfect Eagle Scout project.

He has relatives buried in the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery in the village, where he started thinking about his project over a year ago.

The church, closed earlier this year due to lack of a congregation, is bordered by High, School and East streets and state Route 14, as it separates Mahoning and Columbiana counties through the small village.

Its address in 150 E. Main St. and behind it is a cemetery with over 100 graves, some dating back to 1810. Of those many old, weather-worn stones, 39 are for veterans of three wars.

McLemore, 15, is a member of Troop 119 from the New Springfield Church of God, and said he began conceptualizing his Eagle Scout project after visiting the cemetery where his sixth-great-grandfather, John Zimmerman, a Revolutionary War veteran, is buried along with “my fifth-great-uncle.”

Great-uncle Joseph Clark Zimmerman served as a captain in the War of 1812, which was also fought against the British, and he, like John Zimmerman, came from Lancaster County, Pa., along with numerous other aunts, uncles and cousins of McLemore who are also buried in the cemetery.

Arriving in Washingtonville on horseback in 1803, John Zimmerman was one of the first settlers. He died in 1829.

The original church was built in 1815, five years after the first graves were dug, and McLemore learned, as he studied more and more about the old cemetery, that the original church was the first to be built west of the Allegheny Mountains.

“There are a lot of noteworthy people who were associated with the founding of Green Township, and prominent members of the township buried there,” he said.

Of the 39 veterans buried on the small rise behind the church, 10 are Revolutionary War veterans, 21 fought in the War of 1812 and eight are from the Civil War.

“They stopped burying there in 1890,” McLemore said, noting he obtained historical documents from the church, including a spreadsheet of the burial plots.

He also noted that current church building is the third after the first, built in 1815, was replaced in 1841 and that was replaced in 1895.

While located in the heart of the Washingtonville on the Mahoning County side of state Route 14, the village has nothing to do with the cemetery, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis said.

He noted the cemetery was deeded to Green Township in the 1930s and the township has been mowing the grass since its recent closing.

When McLemore, a Scout since the second grade, began his Eagle Scout project in earnest in July of 2017, he visited the cemetery.

“It was badly deteriorated,” he said, and a cursory inspection quickly revealed broken headstones, fencing and just plain weather wear.

“As I got more deeply involved in the program, I learned more,” he said but the scope of the project is daunting.

Richard Allen is the assistant scout master for Troop 119 and his wife, Patricia and grandson, Dustin, were enlisted by McLemore to help with his Eagle Scout project.

They were working in the cemetery building a small flower bed into the northwest corner on Wednesday.

Richard Allen said, “An Eagle Scout can have everyone help them.”

He said the physical work has been going on since June with re-standing and painting sections of fence. Scouts and parents are helping him, Allen said, adding, “The original project was to rake leaves and fix the fence.”

It’s gotten much bigger, as there is a pile of headstones with more than a few that need re-setting, meaning they have to pick and dig at the bases.

“We’ll get as many as we can,” Allen, a scout master for seven years, said.

He added, “I think it’s something to have someone 15-years-old, to have the dedication to do a project like this. We don’t hand them projects, they find them.”

McLemore said there are at least five new veteran headstones planned and all 39 will receive stick markers.

He said he was open to any donations noting he’s contacted veteran groups and the American Legion, a chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the Mahoning Valley.

McLemore is also looking for information on others buried in the cemetery. He can be reached at 330-787-3706.

Once the physical work in completed, he expects to have a dedication ceremony, possibly in late September.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today