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Miami University students have mapped the locations of Mercer County cemeteries. The online map is available via the Recorders website.
CELINA - The Mercer County Recorder's Office has debuted a new online resource offering information about cemeteries in the county, including the location of veteran graves, that's sure to be a boon to armchair genealogists, historians and patriots alike.
A fruit born of a blossoming collaboration with Miami University students in an advanced geographic information systems class, the online cemetery resource is now available on the county recorder's website at mercercountyohio.org/elected-officials/recorder.
Initiated last May, the project was carried out under the guidance of Mercer County Recorder Julie Peel and with assistance from Janell Weiss, the tax map coordinator of the Mercer County Auditor's Office.
The goal, according to Peel, was to build a comprehensive, user-friendly digital tool providing detailed information about cemeteries.
"I am absolutely pleased with how it turned out, just having that vision of how I would like to see the website and then just getting it pulled together with the help of the Miami University students and also Janell Weiss," Peel said. She added she hopes it becomes a valuable resource for those interested in local history, genealogy or honoring veterans.
The online resource consists of two primary features - a cemetery records search and a cemetery map search.
Under the records search feature lies volumes of cemetery inscriptions featuring history, maps and other visuals, and locations of the remains of multitudes, courtesy of the Mercer County Chapter of The Ohio Genealogical Society.
"We have worked with them here and there in the past," Peel said about the local genealogical group. "With this project, I did reach out to them just to make sure that they were OK that I was providing these volumes out there on the website."
There's also numerous online documents showing the locations of veteran graves within the cemeteries.
The tombstone of Civil War veteran J.W. Hawkins of the 40th Ohio Infantry is seen at Petrie Cemetery in Celina.
A GIS-based map available on the website allows users to access cemetery names, location details, historical notes and interesting facts, and direct links to the Find a Grave website, WPA plats and genealogy society volumes.
The online cemetery resource may also be helpful for residents taking part in The Revolutionary War Veterans Graves Project, a statewide initiative of America 250-Ohio and Ohio History Connection.
The public is asked to help identify, document and map the final resting places of an estimated 7,000 Revolutionary War patriots buried in Ohio.
"Actually, as the (Ohio) Recorders' Association we just recently had a conference and were made aware of the Revolutionary War project that they are doing," Peel said. "Hopefully with what I have out there, (it) may be able to help those that are looking to pursue helping with that project."
For more information on that project, visit america250-ohio.org.
The partnership with Miami University began when students in Robbyn Abbitt's advanced GIS class were tasked with identifying land in Mercer County originally purchased for the freed Randolph slaves.
The county recorder's office has documents related to the Randolph slaves, who were denied land set aside for them in Mercer County upon their emancipation. The 383 men, women and children upon their arrival were met by armed farmers and were not permitted to take possession of the land.
"Since they had already been with Mercer County with the Randolph slaves, they enjoyed learning the history of Mercer County," Peel said. "So therefore they decided to reach out and see if there was anything else of interest in our county to help us out with our GIS."
Peel said she communicated with the students periodically via phone class, Zoom meetings and emails.
"They went over and beyond," she said of the students' assistance with the project. "I'm just really impressed with what they did."
Abbitt also addressed her students' work in an article published in March on Miami University's website.
"Last semester's project (Randolph freed people) introduced me to more people working at the county level who have GIS needs and not enough time or manpower," Abbitt said in the article. "The projects this semester will meet specific needs of Mercer County while also giving Miami students real-world experience while in the classroom."
