THE MORRIS-LATTA CEMETERY
by Betty Latta Kitchen
My husband, Don,
and I visited the Morris-Latta property in Monroe County, OH, on October 20,
2002, that is currently owned by my cousin Don Latta and myself. John Christman
who operates the dairy farm through which we have access (32600
Miltonsburg-Calais Road, Woodsfield, OH 44793) escorted us to the cemetery
site. Although Don and I had tried to find it on the 62 acres three times
previously, it was always in summer; and the vegetation made it impossible to
find. John hiked us up the hill behind his house, then down and across the
hollow onto our property. He showed us the spring, the springhouse (only one
front wall is now standing), and the location of where the house and the barn
used to be. Two immense pines indicate the site of the house. The overgrowth of
the thorny florabunda roses, the challenge of the barbed wire fences, the
steepness of the hills, and the unsure footing because of ruts made by the cows
all contributed to the difficulty of the 30-minute trek to the cemetery. John
kept his eyes peeled for the “saddle” between the hills where the cemetery was
laid. On the way back down, Don and I went straight down the dry wash from the
cemetery to the “holler,” a creek, or sometimes just a dry wash, that leads
back toward the road. At one time a road followed the creek bed, on around the
Morris property, and back out the other side. There is no evidence of that now.
Before this
trip, we had three sets of pictures--a black and white set, a color set printed
from slides taken in the 1940’s by the Latta’s, and two snapshots taken by
Elizabeth Hinton and Beulah Crawford, Morris relatives, in 1974. In the 1974
picture there is a rounded, partially above the ground, stone crypt that was
probably used as a temporary holding spot for coffins when the ground was too
frozen to dig. I saw no evidence of that in 2002 and will take the picture and
ask John Christman about that next time. Now one can only see a few of the posts
that were part of the fencing. Most of the ground is covered with a dark green
myrtle, and there is a locust grove. Lilies are spread throughout the area. Now
all the taller (approximately 2 feet) tombstones except one are laying flat.
The 9 - 10 inch (above ground) stone of T.J. Morris is also standing. There are
several very short stones that appear to be markers. They still protrude
vertically about six inches above the ground, but no inscribing can be seen.
Below I will try
to describe what I could make out on the stones.
T.J. Morris, the
last person to my knowledge buried in this cemetery, had a stone about 12 feet
from the main line of the rest of the family. About 10 x 14 inches showed above
the ground. It was still standing.
T.J.
MORRIS
1845 1921
The biggest
stone of all, that from other pictures I assume to be that of Henry Gusler
Morris, was flat and broken. No writing at all could be discerned. It appeared
that praying hands might have been at the top. It was on the left.
The stone of
Henry Morris, the son of the above, was laying flat. It was approximately 20
inches x 16. The engraving was clear. It was a rectangle that was rounded at
the top with his name following the curve of the arc and covering about l/3 of
the length of the stone.
At an angle and four
to six feet behind the row was the only taller standing stone, that of baby
Rachel N. Leaning against that stone but not secured was the stone of her
mother, also Rachel. Both were rectangular and about 20 x 14 or so.
?????????
?????????
I could not read
the verse on the stone for baby Rachel, nor all the date information for sure.
Her mother’s read:
RACHEL
DAU. OF
H.G. & M. MORRIS
DIED
NOV 22 1859
AGED
17 Y... 5 M...
If one compared the
dates and the ages, it appears that Rachel only lived a few days beyond the
birth of her daughter.
Located maybe 12
feet from the main group was the stone of Rachel Minerva. In the 1870 census,
there was a Rachel Carpenter listed with the family of Henry G. Morris, age 8.
At that time Phoebe, age 30, was listed as keeping house for Henry since his
wife was dead. Phoebe had a son Charles, age 7, in this census. I thought
perhaps Rachel was another of Phoebe’s children, but we really do not know how
she relates. We do know that people by the name of Carpenter owned the land to
the north and east of the Morris property. The stone was about 20 x 14 inches
and again a rectangle rounded at the top, with her name following the arc of
the rounded stone almost l/2 way around. Her verse starts so poignantly, I hope
next time chalk will reveal the rest of the message. I was not positive about
the Days.
----------
Happy Rachel early blest
Rest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nancy’s was
approximately in the middle of her parents. Hers again was the rectangular type
with the rounded top, but only NANCY went around the rounded edge. Below hers
were two small stones, maybe 8 inches x 6 inches showing. One had just B. M. Another stone said, B.N.M. I assume these to be
babies, and perhaps the B.N.M. stands for Baby Nancy Morris. There was a Nancy Morris, age 9 months,
in the 1860 census in the Henry G. Morris household. The only girls listed old
enough to have a baby of that age in the household were Mary J., age 22, and
Phoebe, age 21. Nancy does not appear in the 1870 census so perhaps this B.N.M.
is that Nancy, but we do not know. Here is the engraving for the older Nancy,
daughter of Henry G. and Mary.
NANCY
wife of
Robert H. Leek
DIED
July 31 1863
Aged 34 years
Parted friends again may
meet
from the toils of nature
free
crowned with mercy O how
sweet
will eternal friendship be!
………………………………………………………………………………..
--------
There were other
people supposedly buried in this cemetery, some of which were not even family.
I was told that Henry G.’s and Mary’s daughter Mary Jane,who with her husband
John Copeland Latta bought and lived on the property after her parents’ death,
allowed other people to bury their dead on her hill. The two youngest sons of
John Copeland Latta and his wife (the Mary Jane noted above), Henry Harvey who
died 24 Sep 1865 and his brother Samuel Seymore who died two days later, both
of cholera, should be among the dozen or more other smaller stones that were
there. I was told that Mary Jane’s youngest sister, Sarah (Morris) Somers, who
died shortly after her marriage about 1878, was also there.
Directions
to the Morris-Latta Cemetery: Directions from
Calais: take Monroe County Road #2 (Miltonsburg-Calais Road) east about 5
or 6 miles or Directions from Miltonsburg: take Monroe County
Road #2 west about 2 miles, to 32600 Miltonsburg-Calais Road Property. The cemetery is a few hundred yards north of
Christman's home and perhaps 100 yards west.
Note: The cemetery is on
land-locked acreage. It would be necessary to get the permission of Mr.
John Christman to cross his property.
Submitted by
Betty (Latta) Kitchen
8455 Meadow Drive
Brownsburg, Indiana 46112
phone: 317 858 0343
email: Betty
Kitchen
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