Cleanup project: Scout Matthew Beamer restores old cemetery in Perry Township

PERRY TOWNSHIP ‒ In an out-of-the way corner of Tuscarawas County, 50 souls are buried in an old church cemetery along Grove Road.

The church is long gone. The cemetery gets mowed a couple of times a year. The old fence that once proudly marked the cemetery boundaries was overtaken with brush. The few folks who drive the dirt road by the cemetery probably pay it little attention.

But 17-year-old Matthew G. Beamer of Troop 5429 noticed how shabby the Grove Methodist Episcopal Cemetery had become. Earlier this year, he chose to clean it up and replace the cemetery fencing and gates for his Eagle Scout project.

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A meaningful project

“I wanted to do a good project, a really meaningful one,” said Matthew, a teen of few words. He completed the project in early September and is waiting to receive his new rank from the Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

He succeeded, according to two men whose relatives rest in that cemetery — James Ward of nearby Peoli Road, and his cousin, Steve Parker of New Philadelphia. Ward and Parker recently met with Matthew at the cemetery, which is on property owned by the Gardner family in the 1600 block of Grove Road SE, Port Washington.

“It was needed and it wouldn’t have gotten done without him,” Ward said. Parker agreed as both men stood at the grave marker of James and Gertrude Logan, Ward’s great-great-great-great-grandparents.

There are no Beamers in the cemetery.

Project began in August

Matthew, son of Harry Beamer of Port Washington and Lora Beamer of Gnadenhutten, is a junior at Indian Valley High and Buckeye Career Center. After getting approval for the project in the spring from both the township trustees and the Boy Scouts, he began the cleanup in August.

It took Matthew, his dad and some troop members about 30 hours to cut and clear the brush that choked the original fence line. Then the original chestnut fenceposts that remained were removed. Matthew and his crew spent another 30 hours to set 65 new fenceposts around the perimeter of the half-acre tract. The posts are three feet in the ground; the corner posts are in the original holes. A total of 660 feet of new wire fencing then was stretched and secured.

The cost of the project was about $3,500. Matthew collected donations of cash and needed supplies. The fenceposts were donated by Tom Stocker, the gates by Gerber Feeds, the signage by USP, and the tools needed to build the fence by Ward Farms. The fencing was purchased in part with a donation from Parker Farms.

History of the cemetery

The Grove Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery lies due west of the village of West Chester in Perry Township. Perry Township, formed in 1818, is a rugged and sparsely populated township of five square miles in the southeastern corner of Tuscarawas County.

The initial Pleasant Grove church was a log structure built in 1836. That structure was replaced by a frame building in 1854 that burned down in 1858. Later in 1858, work began on a second frame church. James Logan was employed as the foreman on the project. By 1884, the church membership stood at 50. That second church building was moved to Gilmore in the 1960s and was used as a residence until it was torn down about 10 years ago. Woods have reclaimed the spot where the church once stood next to the cemetery.

No one has been buried in the cemetery since 1941. James and Gertrude Logan’s grave marker boast the earliest birthdates in the cemetery at 1815 and 1816, respectively. The earliest death noted in the cemetery is that of Joseph Spicer, who died in 1841.

One veteran of the War of 1812 is buried in the cemetery but his gravestone, like many others in this cemetery, is unreadable. Many are dislodged from their footers or broken and lying on the ground. Some of the names seen on stones are Sewell, Packer, Gilpin, McCue, Timmerman and Galbraith.

Renee Brown Parker is a former staff writer for The Times-Reporter.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Beamer restores old cemetery in Perry Township for Scout project