Sources
Union Cemetery
Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio
www.centralohiogravesearch.com/union.html
Union Cemetery Association records, Union Cemetery Association office, 3349 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43202. Union Cemetery Association records begin in 1879 although there are burials in the cemetery before that date.
Original source documents from Union Cemetery Association used in centralohiogravesearch.com are as follows:
Hess Book, Nov 1879 - April 1889: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for the purchase of Lots (May 1880-Jan 1888), graves (Feb 1880-Mar 1889), and use of the Union Cemetery vault (Nov 1879-Feb 1889). Names are often spelled phonetically. This is the oldest known record by Union Cemetery Association that contains names of individuals interred in Union Cemetery. This source is cited as "Hess Book."
The Hess Book appears to end at page 69 with an entry dated 08 Apr 1889. Pages 70-72 are blank. Pages 73-76 are missing. There are entries on pages 77-79 for random transactions spanning 1899 to 1905, but these appear to be brief notes, and the information in these entries is repeated in the Griffith Book.
The Hess Book was most likely written by Thomas Moore Hess who served as Superintendent of the vault beginning in November 1878 and Superintendent of the vault and cemetery grounds from April 1880 until his death in May 1889.
Griffith Book, 1889-1905: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for the purchase of Lots, graves, grave digging and interment, brick vaults, and use of the Union Cemetery vault. This source is cited as "Griffith Book."
There are some mistakes with Lot numbers such as 552 for Lot 452, and 554 for Lot 454. Pages 143-146 and 155-162 are missing.
Entries were most likely written by Jacob R. Slyh, Union Cemetery Association Superintendent 1889-1897 and Alexander L. Griffith, Superintendent 1898-1905.
Interment Book 1, Adults Nov 1905 - May 1911, and Children 1905-1918: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for opening graves and interments, use of the vault, purchase of brick vaults, and list of foundations for gravestones and Lot cornerstones. Names are occasionally spelled phonetically. This source is cited as "Interment Book 1."
Single Space Book 1, 1905-1913: Handwritten entries regarding the sale of single grave spaces. This source is cited as "Single Space Book 1."
Interment Book 2, Apr 1911-Nov 1914: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, and payment details. The notation "Col" is used to indicate the decedent was "Colored." Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. Names are very occasionally spelled phonetically. There are a few instances where the cause of death is noted. This source is cited as "Interment Book 2."
Interment Book 3, Dec 1914-May 1919: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, and payment details. The notation "Col" is used to indicate the decedent was "Colored." Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. Names are occasionally spelled phonetically. There are a few instances where the cause of death is noted. There are several entries where Section Old is listed instead of Section 1914 [Section 1914 was usually written as "Section Old, Vacated Street 1914."] This source is cited as "Interment Book 3."
Interment Book 4, May 1919-Oct 1922: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, vault details, and payment details. The notation "Col" is used to indicate the decedent was "Colored." Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. Names are occasionally spelled phonetically. The cause of death is often noted. This source is cited as "Interment Book 4."
Interment Book 5, Nov 1922-Apr 1925: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, race, male or female, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, vault details, payment details, and cause of death. Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. Names are occasionally spelled phonetically. This source is cited as "Interment Book 5."
Interment Book 6, May 1925-Dec 1927: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, race, male or female, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, vault details, payment details, and cause of death. Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. This source is cited as "Interment Book 6."
Interment Book 7, Jan 1928-Dec 1930: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, race, male or female, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, vault details, payment details, and cause of death. Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. This source is cited as "Interment Book 7."
Interment Book 8, Jan 1931-Dec 1934: Handwritten entries regarding payment to Union Cemetery Association for interments. Each entry typically lists the decedent's name, age at death, race, male or female, date of burial, funeral home, burial location, vault details, payment details, and cause of death. Occasionally the entry will indicate whether the interment was on a single space or a private Lot. This source is cited as "Interment Book 8."
Interment Orders 1935-present: Beginning in 1935 and continuing to the present, a typed "Order for Interment" or "Order" has been created for each individual interred in Union Cemetery. The information contained in this document is obtained from funeral homes or family members and usually begins as handwritten notes. The handwritten notes are then typed to become the Interment Order for the decedent. This source is cited as "Interment Order."
Secondary source documents from Union Cemetery Association used in centralohiogravesearch.com are as follows: .
Union Cemetery Association Interment Cards created from other interment records.
Regarding Interment Cards: 3" x 5" interment cards were created circa 1940 from pre-1940 source documents and corrections were made from the phonetic spelling of names to the assumed correct spelling. Example: "Frank Mack Farlen" in the original document was changed to "McFarland, Frank" on the interment card. Both spellings are listed in centralohiogravesearch.com. Interment cards continue to be created for each individual presently. This source is cited as "Interment Card."
Cemetery Information Management Software (CIMS) database program in use at Union Cemetery Association from 2017-present. The CIMS record for each individual is created using information from the Interment Order. The Interment Order is created using handwritten notes of information obtained from a funeral home or family members. Burial information from before 1935 was often not added to CIMS. The source for burials from 2023-present listed on this website is CIMS, a secondary source.
Burials on the Web website, http://unc.cemeterydata.com/ which contained a partial list of burials from 1935-2013. The Union Cemetery Association website was taken offline in March 2014. This source is cited as "Burials on the Web."
Other sources are as follows:
Clark, Lauren, 2013-2018 gravestone reading of the Old (Eastside) Cemetery and New (Westside) Cemetery. Photographs and maps by Lauren Clark unless otherwise specified.
Coen, Sue, 2017-2018 photographs of some gravestones in Section 1 and Section 4 in the New (Westside) Cemetery.
Franklin County Recorder Veteran Grave Search
http://recorder.franklincountyohio.gov/.
Schlegel, Donald M., Early Memorials in Union Cemetery, Franklin County, Ohio, Columbus: 1999.
Union Cemetery Association Interment Cards, transferred to microfilm 06 May 1971, Columbus Public Library.
Union Cemetery Association Minutes.
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