Wagnor Cemetery

Wagnor Cemetery. Pioneer Burial Ground and Site of First School in Plain Township. , In 1820, Mark Evans, John Davis, and Jacob Waggoner acquired from Daniel Triplett an 18-rod-square parcel (approximately two acres) at this location on which to build the first school in Plain Township. Education was not publicly funded at the time and the first teacher, Jacob Smith, “kept” school for $1.50 per scholar. The fact that part of the school lot became a cemetery suggests that the log building was also used for church services, as was a log school a mile and a half east of here on Cenrtal College Road., The Wagnor Cemetery is in the northeast quarter of the township. Many people buried here belonged to families that settled the area soon after 1812, when the federal government offered the 8,000 acres in the township’s northern half to all comers at $2 an acre. Rebecca Frampton’s tombstone recalls hazards the pioneers faced as they transformed the wilderness. Her three infant daughters died on April 30, 1827; 29-year-old Rebecca died on June 5. Other tombstones recall past wars. Zimri Hills and Christian Horlocker served in the War of 18 12. Alvin Evans and Peter Bevelhymer were veterans of the Civil War. Sales in 1860 and 1881 reduced the property to its present size.