Goshen Quaker Cemetery

Established in the early 1800's, Goshen Quaker Cemetery became the burial place of early Quaker pioneer families including Martin Marmon, Robert Marmon, Samuel Marmon, and their sister Kesiah Marmon-Outland, who began migrating to Ohio from Northampton, North Carolina, in 1806. Other Quaker families, including the Outlands, Reames, and Watkins, followed to begin new lives, spread their faith, and escape persecution in the southern states for nonsupport of slavery. Their shared faith led to the founding of Goshen Friends Church in 1807, and their relocation to the Ohio territory later enabled these families and their descendants to become quiet helpers in the Underground Railroad system. Buried there are many pioneers and descendants, along with 1 Revolutionary War veteran, 3 War of 1812 veterans, and 12 Civil War veterans. The cemetery is also the resting place of Evangeline Reames, founder of the Ohio Friends Home in 1905. Reflecting early Quaker beliefs that ornate tombstones were ostentatious, many graves were left unmarked or marked only with simple fieldstones, and later tombstones remained simple in design, though some larger and more ornate stones in the upper portion are descendant-purchased replacements for original monuments destroyed or lost over time. In 2007, during the 200 year anniversary of Goshen Friends Church, the cemetery was restored by the Girl Scouts of Appleseed Ridge, Junior Troop 553, of East Liberty, with recovered stones reset and memorial markers placed for individuals historically listed as interred there but for whom no stone could be found.

Ohio · United States