Jefferson County Chapter

Smithfield Township
Jefferson County, Ohio

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Category: Ohio physical, cultural and historic features; Feature Name: Quaker Cemetery, Type: Cultural, Class: Cemetery, County: Jefferson, FID: 1044812, Coordinates: Latitude 40.4111777 and Longitude -80.7875824.

Source: OR & PF Volume 17, pg. 56) – Additional information on people buried in this cemetery is about destroyed. From Julia Lundy Braga, Union, Iowa, 50258.

“The Townspeople told us that sometime past a windstorm had uprooted a tree in the old Quaker Cemetery and this had dislodged many of the stones in the forepart of the cemetery. At one edge near a pine tree we found a small stone with the inscription ELISHA PURVIANCE, died 22nd of 1 mo. 1847, aged 22 yrs., 9 mo. Beside this was another stone mutilated by a power mower but still decipherable with the name of NATHANIEL PURVIANCE, who was a brother of ELISHA and a lawyer in Steubenville in 1848. Nathaniel died 12th da., 3rd mo., 1848, aged 28 yrs., 1 mo., 13 da.

Hidden under the branches of this pine tree had been placed the stone for my great-great-grandmother, DEBORAK (CLAPP) PURVIANCE, died 10 or 11 mo. 26 da. 1850 aged 51 yrs. She was the mother of Elisha and Nathaniel Purviance. They had been merchants and land owners of Smithfield. We were able to locate the stone for her husband, RICHARD PURVIANCE, Sr., 1785-1868/9.

We did not find a stone for his twin brother, WILLIAM PURVIANCE. Near the pine tree was a stone with the inscription PLUMMER W. PURVIANCE, died 29th da---aged 25 yrs., 10 mos. Under the same pine tree was a small stone for RUTH NAYLOR, Aprile 1844, (Wife of Abraham Naylor).”