Cemetery Information
When Old Otterbein Church was established in 1771, like most early churches, it had its own graveyard, or God's acre, around the church. In fact, this German congregation gave permission for the Strawberry Alley Methodist Episcopal Church to use its graveyard for its burying ground.
By 1825, 54 years after its first burial, however, it was crowded, so a piece of property was bought from Adam Welsch, a church vestryman, for $1,400. In the vicinity of what is now Washington Boulevard and Scott Street, 16 by 16-foot lots sold for $10. A section, however, was reserved for free burial for members who dues were paid.
But the cemetery, like 43 others recorded in the city, were eventually abandoned. In 1852, the vestry purchased a 70 by 90-foot lot in Western Cemetery. Well-maintained, park-like cemeteries had come into vogue. Established in 1846, Western Cemetery was near Gwyns Falls, about a mile west of the city, between the Frederick Road (now Baltimore Street) and Franklin Road (now Edmondson Avenue, just west of Poplar Grove Street.)
A Partial List of Otterbein Church Ground at Western Cemetery
Lots: Area P
155/156/157/158/159/160
161/162/163/164/165/166
167/168/169/170/171/172
08-02-1898 ACKERMAN, Anna
07-02-1900 ACKERMAN, Julius
01-24-1994 ARTHUR, John Wesley 155-P-Grave 1
06-20-1877 BINDEWALD, Catherine
07-19-1888 BURCHEIMER, George 165-P-Grave 1
02-20-1890 BASSLER, Mattheis 165-P-Grave 2
04-29-1898 BENNER, Mary
05-06-1899 BENNER, Willie
01-02-1937 BOSTON, Geraldine Loretta 157-P-Grave 1
02-04-1903 BUCKHEIMER, Amelia
04-29-1943 BRYANT, Elsie 169-P-Grave 2
12-29-1979 BRYANT, Paul 160-P-Grave 1
12-22-1952 CROSS, James O 155-P-Grave 3
06-03-1903 DRAKE, William H
09-21-1877 FREDERICK, Margaret
10-16-1877 FREY, Regina
07-29-1884 FIELDER, Charles W
07-03-1887 FIELDER, Frederick J
09-09-1973 GILL, Lillian 158-P-Grave 3
02-16-1933 GRAMMER, William 169-P-Grave 1 Bottom
09-25-1946 GRAMMER, Terry Lee 160-P-Grave 2
08-27-1952 GRAMMER, Cora Lee 169-P-Grave 1 Top
08-31-1891 JOHNSON, Infant of Rev. W.J. Johnson 164-P-Grave 3
01-30-1892 KOMM, Sophia
09-18-1882 MEAHA, Amelia
12-31-1934 MARTIN, Andrew 170-P-Grave 3
11-06-1933 MARTIN, Norma B 170-P-Grave 2
03-27-1876 PETZHOLD, A
01-06-1877 POPP, Catherine
09-07-1881 PURSLEY, Jefferson
10-16-1884 PERCLEY, Gertrude
07-21-1892 PURSLEY, Martha W
12-26-1995 SANNER, Ethel Ruth 158-P-Grave 2
11-01-1933 SCHOPPERT, Leon D 158-P-Grave 1
05-05-1940 SMITH, Emma C 159-P-Grave 1
07-03-1951 SMITH, Henry S 159-P-Grave 2
12-26-1892 STRAUSS, John
05-03-1897 STOLL, Sarah
07-30-1898 STARKLOFF, Ida
01-18-1954 THOBE, Carl T 170-P-Grave 1 Bottom
01-15-1975 THOBE, Katie E 170-P-Grave 1 Top
09-12-1902 VON HEIM, John
02-14-1875 WARNER, Mary 172-P-Grave 2
10-20-1880 WAGNER, Stillbirth of Frank 172-P
02-29-1888 WENZEL, Catherine E
04-14-1891 WENZEL, Charles
1771 250th Anniversary 2021
OLD OTTERBEIN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH