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Rathbone Cemetery and Clinton Chapel Cemetery
Joe Smith has an intriguing theory about Clintonville’s elusive Rathbone Cemetery. I think it’s interesting; what do you think?
From Joe:
I came across some maps that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) did from 1935-1943, as part of FDR’s “New Deal” programs. One Clinton Township map particularly caught my eye. It was named (by them) the “John Rathbone Cemetery.” There’s is a link to that particular map on an Ohio History Connection affiliated website (link here). To date, I have only found two other websites that make reference to that cemetery by name:
dev.clintonvillehistory.org/ website;
FCGHS website.I have spent the past few days trying to locate this cemetery. It has been confusing, because the WPA listed it at the corner of US-23 and C-93. As you know, today US-23 follows Indianola Avenue starting at Hudson Street. But I believe prior to the 1960s it was actually still North High Street. C-93 is Hudson Street, according to the Franklin County Engineers (link to PDF here). So, using the WPA location (0.9 miles north of Hudson, and 150 feet east of High), we are at Clinton Chapel Cemetery!
I was very impressed by the WPA map drawings, well before computer aided design (CAD) and printers/plotters were available. So, I took their map and made a rough estimate of the dimensions of the “John Rathbone Cemetery,” and it also fits (within an acceptable tolerance) the known dimensions of Clinton Chapel Cemetery! Three of the boundaries are within 5% but the east boundary is off nearly 10%. I think that is due to inaccuracies with the measuring and/or digitization of their maps.
I know everyone likes maps, so I’ve attached the one I created (see above) to support my findings that Clinton Chapel now has at least three alternate names:
North M.E. Cemetery
Armbruster Cemetery
John Rathbone Cemetery
More from Joe:
There were six Clinton Township cemeteries that WPA reported on: Amaranth Abbey Mausoleum, John Rathbone Cemetery, Kempton Cemetery, Mc. Kendree M. E. Church Cemetery, Union Cemetery, and Webster Cemetery. Note, Cooke and Clinton Chapel Cemeteries were not on their list.
Here’s a link to the very cool 1920 Baist Map earlier (it’s here.)
Other general observations:
Both Rathbone and Clinton Chapel cemeteries were of similar orientation, size and shape (0.47 acres vs 0.50 acres). The Clinton acreage is also an estimate. I actually expected Rathbone acreage to be higher, given that each of the borders are slightly larger, but again I think this is more due to issues with precision.
Here is a comparison of the border dimensions (in feet) for each cemetery. The borders for Rathbone were estimated based on pixel counts on the WPA map.
Border Clinton Rathbone North 200.00′ 200.00′ South’ 196.00′ 200.06′ East 97.02′ 107.06′ West 124.00′ 128.30′
What do you think? Talk about an “identity crisis!” Feel free to comment below.
To be sure, there remain some “unknowns”, such as the fact that Ohio Genealogical Society lists both a Rathbone Cemetery in Sharon Township and a John Rathbone Cemetery in Clinton Township. There may have been a family burial plot for the Rathbone/Wetmore family, graves in which were moved to Greenlawn at an unknown past date. I have no facts to back that up! I’m just leaving this possibility on the table until we can find out more. As Joe states, I mention a Rathbone Cemetery in prior posts. I learned about that from Algy McBride, past president of the Clintonville Historical Society and also of the Franklin County Genealogical Society. Algy passed away in 2015 and is greatly missed.
[This entire entry is courtesy of Joe Smith. Thanks Joe!]Clintonville Electric Building, 3363 N High
I’m delighted, and also sad, to learn that the derelict building that once housed Clintonville Electric is now in receivership. Why sad? The business most recently in that location was beloved by Clintonville residents; virtually everyone bought their appliances there. The original business owners were good citizens of their community. All that changed when the business changed hands and in 2004 left Clintonville (and subsequently went bankrupt, cheating half-dozen of its customers). Rumor has it that the property owners–who owned the properties from at least 1936 to the present day– simply declined to either sell or to fix up the buildings, yet kept the city from condemning it. I’ve heard that this building’s roof had a hole in it, and the water coming in caused the ground-level floor to collapse into the basement.
The family that owned the Clintonville Electric building owned a handful of other buildings that are so neglected that they affect the neighborhoods in which they are situated. The following Clintonville buildings have been put into receivership:
- 3361-3363 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-010845-00, shown above, which also includes
- 18 West Brighton;
- 4469 Rosemary Parkway, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-086671-00–a lovely house that has also been allowed to go down hill;
- 4994 A North High Street;
These following buildings have also been put into receivership. I know nothing about their condition and some have business occupants unrelated to the landlords.
- 1101 Folkestone Road, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-129831-00;
- 4480 Kenny Road, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-136767-00;
- 4450-4454 Kenny Road, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-129882-00;
- 4460 Kenny Road, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-013993-00;
- 5701-5707 Maple Canyon Drive, Columbus, Ohio, Parcel No. 010-115253-00
Some legal documents about the case can be found on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. Two are linked here and here.
I’ll write about the businesses that occupied this space, in upcoming months.
Good News, Bad News
On the bright side: Clintonville Historical Society has erected a new plaque for the Clinton Chapel and for John and Laura Olive (Wilson) Smith near the corner of East North Broadway and North High. It gives us pause to remember slaves and slavery in the Unites States and to give thanks to the people who fought against it.
On the bad news side: it’s very unfortunate, from my perspective, that 12 staff were recently laid off from Ohio’s Historic Preservation Office. The federal government mandates that every state must have this sort of office, and to accompany that mandate they give the offices some money to fulfill their mission. That money was apparently withdrawn by DOGE and so Ohio History Connection had to terminate staff. Here’s a link to a newspaper article about the staff terminations.
[Photos courtesy of Joe Smith.]Bill Good, 1946 – 2025
I was very sorry to recently learn of the death (in February 2025) of Bill Good, former owner of the Southwick-Good & Fortkamp Funeral Chapel. This funeral home, at 3100 N High, was located at the site of Clintonville’s Clinton Chapel, which later became the home of Mathias Armbruster, became a funeral home in 1938, and is currently a day care center.
I met Bill when I was working on my Clintonville and Beechwold book. He was a devoted caretaker of the building in which his funeral practice was located, knowledgeable about its architecture and history, and respectful of the entire property. He even made sure that expert wall builders were called in the rebuild the property’s perimeter wall, at considerable expense. He was always willing to share his knowledge, and was patient even as he had to explain to me what an “adze cut” is. He had civic pride and was pleased that the building served as a polling place each election day. More personally, he graciously advised me in planning for the funeral of my mother-in-law. I am grateful. I remember Bill fondly and extend my condolences to his wife and family.
Open House at 314 W. Kanawha
The log home at 314 West Kanawha is up for sale! Wendy Baker alerted us to this auction; the auction starts at $100,000.
Wendy had first told me about this property and the family who developed it; my post is here.
The house has had just 2 owners since the Rorers built it, and the most recent occupant purchased it in 1973. Here’s the current listing, with some pix of the houses’ internal rooms.
The Columbus Dispatch did a nice article about the auction, but does not seem to allow me to provide you with a gift link. Here is the article for those of you with a subscription.
If you’d like to see it, the home will be open from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday March 27 and again on April 6, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. The auction will end 4 days later.
I went to the first open house this past week, and can attest that it needs some loving care. I certainly hope it’s not a “knock down.” And of course, I wonder who “Ma” and “Pa” are.
Here are a few more pix courtesy of the realtor’s web site.
Researching Your Address
A fun tip for researching your address, from Clintonville Historical Society’s Jeffrey Carter:
–Go to the Columbus Library’s web site.
–Go to Research.
–Find Columbus Dispatch.
–Put in your library card and pin number.
–Enter keyword and search by date. {Shirley suggests: try using your street address in quotes.]
Jeffrey says, “I researched my address and found that during prohibition 3 people were arrested for bootlegging
at 265 Brevoort!”
