JCCOGS Projects Page


Cemetery Project

The Jefferson County Chapter formed a Cemetery Committee in November of 2002. Since that time, volunteers have been donating their time to reading tombstone inscriptions, locating, cleaning, and restoring cemeteries throughout Jefferson County, Ohio. This has been a long, drawn out process. When we began we thought it would be a matter of locating a few old pioneer cemeteries and reading the tombstone inscriptions, thus providing our members and the public with a much needed source for updated tombstone data. We can not, with a clear conscience read tombstone inscriptions and leave and forget about what we have seen from the countless years of abuse, neglect, and/or vandalism. The reality of it all is that is takes funding to restore these pioneer cemeteries. Since we are a small non-profit organization, we need donations to keep the restoration portion of the cemetery project moving along. Money is needed for archival supplies and other archival materials such as epoxies, glues, cements and cleaners. These all cost money! We hope that the descendants of those buried in these old pioneer cemeteries that live out of state will feel that this is one way they can participate and aid in the preservation of these wonderful, old pioneer cemeteries.

Respectfully yours,
Flora L. VerStaten, Chair Cemetery Project


Records Project

Old Jefferson County courthouse records were stored in the basement and in the annex/jail cells for many years. Some of the records date back to the formation of our county, in 1797 and later the formation of the state of Ohio in 1802. They tell the stories of the early pioneers in the County, as well as the tens of thousands of later immigrants who came to work in the mills and mines.