found in several places. These have been used to deduce the arrangement of the grounds as shown on the accompanying map. The arrangement is somewhat similar to the older portions of Union Cemetery, the only existing, large cemetery in the county which was contemporaneous with the North Graveyard. The arrangement is somewhat more crowded than Union Cemetery's. Because the reasoning behind the reconstruction of the plat involves the use of later records, it will be described in a special section below.
The plat shown is, of course, only an
approximate reconstruction. Other pieces of information, some of which are
mentioned below, make it clear that the northeastern portion of the
Doherty Tract was wet, containing a swamp or pond, and was unsuitable for
burials.
OPERATION UNDER THE ORDINANCE OF 1834
On July 8, 1834 the city council passed "An
Ordinance respecting the Grave Yard of the City of Columbus." This
ordinance provided for the annual appointment by council of a graveyard
superintendent, whose duties would be "to take charge of the Grave Yard,
to make sale of the unsold lots therein, to cause the fence about the same
to be kept in proper order, to defray the expenses thereof out of the
proceeds of the lots sold, to expend the balance of such proceeds in such
manner as may be directed by the City Council, and to make report of his
proceedings to the City Council at the end of each year." Any person
desiring to purchase a lot in the graveyard was to pay five dollars to the
superintendent and take his receipt to the mayor, who would write a deed
for the lot in a specified form. The office of sexton was changed to an
annual appointment by this ordinance, which also simplified the sexton's
duties: "to keep the Grave Yard in proper order, and to dig graves
whenever called on." The fee for his services was raised to two dollars
for persons over fifteen years old and $1.50 for children under fifteen.
Though the deeds written by the mayor for
graveyard lots were not in fee simple but were only "for a burying place,"
thirty-one were taken to the courthouse over the years by the purchasers
and were recorded there, the first five such being dated 1833. (All such
references can be found in the Consolidated List following this history.)
Unfortunately for today's researchers, the plat of the graveyard was not
recorded at the courthouse, the deeds referring to the lots by number and
to the plat "filed in my office" by the mayor.
The first and long-time superintendent of
the graveyard was Robert W. McCoy, president of the City Council. Though
the superintendent was required by the 1834 ordinance to make an annual
report to the council, McCoy apparently did not do so until 1838, when he
reported cash on hand from the sale of lots to be $310 and projected
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