This cemetery donated by John Bretz and taken out of his farm, was visited in 1928 by J. H. B. It was fairly well kept and there were but few fallen stones. Several graves had only rough slabs which apparently never had inscriptions on them. The cemetery is located on a southern slope, well above the valley bottom. The landscape is a pleasing mature topography, pre-Illinoian in age, only 10 to 20 miles south of the margin of glaciated southern Ohio. Valley trains fill the major valleys but there is no outwash in the valley near the cemetery.
The church, across the road from the cemetery, bears the inscription “St. Pauls Ev. Lutheran. Organized 1820, built 1874.” John Bretz gave a baptismal cup to the original Lutheran society but, if he died in 1812, this present society cannot be that original Lutheran Reformed to which he made the gift. The John Bretz headstone is of dense sandstone. Part of the inscription was almost undecipherable. The year of death was apparently 1812. 18 was clear enough and 2 was fairly clear. The spacing and the absence of any cross grooves seem to indicate that the third figure was 1. It can hardly be 0 or 2, if other history is to be relied on. The stone had a painted design on the head, a crescent moon and several stars, and the incised letters and figures were also painted. Much of this paint still clung to the stone.
| John Bretz | departed this life June 5, 1812 | Aged 74 years, 9 months | (This is the grave of 1-John. His birth date would be Oct. 1737) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Christena | wife of John Bretz departed this life April 5, 1818 | Aged 76 years and 7 months. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In Memory of John Bretz | who departed this life Nov. 4, 1836 | Aged 68 years, 7 months and 3 days | (His birth date would be 1768. He probably was John Jr.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mary | wife of John Bretz died Aug. 12, 1850 | Aged 75 years, 5 months, 6 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Bretz | died July 9, 1874 | Aged 65 yrs., 11 days | (He was born, therefore, in 1809. According to the Bretz Register, John III was born in 1809 and died in 1871. He was a farmer in Bremen, close to Lancaster. This is very probably his grave.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In memory of Valentine Bretz | who departed this life April 28, 1845 | Aged 75 years, 1 month and 1 day | (This is the grave of Valentine, son of John.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In memory of Elizabeth Bretz | wife of Valentine Bretz died January 24, 1848 | Aged 72 yrs., 8 mos., 24 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Stoneburner | died April 27, 1860 | Aged 60 yrs., 4 mos., 3 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Catherine | wife of John Stoneburner B. May 28, 1803 d. Feb. 10, 1889 | (A daughter of Valentine, son of John) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[IMAGE]](HeartlandPrairie.gif)
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