Forgotten Cemetery Comes Back To Life

COLUMBUS, Ohio—During the Independence Day holiday, we remember those who have made significant contributions to our community and one such man who has helped us remember Columbus’ history.

A cemetery that was all but forgotten has risen from the dead.

The original settlers of Columbus, back when it was only known as Franklinton, are buried on the west side of town.

Snug-fit between a factory, warehouse and railroad tracks, the old Franklinton Cemetery was nearly forgotten—until Gary Royer became involved.

“This is the oldest cemetery in Central Ohio. It was established in 1799. There’s believed to be probably 175 people buried here,“ Royer said.

Royer is a volunteer. He doesn’t get paid to clean up and care for the cemetery filled with the founding fathers and mothers of Columbus.

The people buried in the cemetery came with Lucas Sullivant to the area in the 1700s.

They died, were buried and if not for Royer, may have been forgotten.

In 2005, he came upon the cemetery and knew he had to do something.

“It actually looked like a jungle, there was overgrowth everywhere. There were homeless people living in the bushes. There was trash everywhere,“ he said.

So bit by bit, Royer started putting the cemetery back together.

He works at a monument business, so he knew how to put broken tombstones back together.

“I was kind of wondering if any of these broken pieces would fit together and actually this one fits pretty well,“ Royer said. “I went around with a knife and actually it was pretty much random at first and I went around poking the knife in the ground and occasionally would find one.“

His work has been so successful that recently, an archaeological group volunteered its time to try to find more graves.

Ultra Sonic waves are sent into the earth to try to determine where old crypts or coffins might be in the piece of land that is important to Columbus’ history.

“A lot of the streets in this area were named after these early pioneers,“ Royer said.

The cemetery holds the remains of several Revolutionary War and War of 1812 veterans, along with a few civil war veterans.

With tight budgets, it is volunteer work that keeps the cemetery in shape.

The city parks and Recreation department mows the lawn, but all the refurbishing is done through volunteers and donations.