How it began…
In the 1840s, Jefferson County was being settled by people from Europe and the eastern U.S.
Sarah Wey came from Ohio to live at the Sherman farm which was near what is today the cemetery. Here she met Edward Ward who arrived from England in 1844. They married in 1845 and had a son, Martin, in 1846.
Sarah died two months after giving birth, and Martin died one month later. How they died is not known. Ward family legend says that the cemetery is located where it is because Sarah had requested to be buried under a certain tree. But was she really the first to be buried there?
Judson B. Ward came to Jefferson County from New York with his parents, E.V. and Effa Ward. Most likely they were not related to the Wards who had come from England.
In 1846, 10-year-old Judson died about two weeks before Sarah. According to the records, he was the first person buried at this location. How did two separate families choose the same location to bury their loved ones? We do not know. But a cemetery was born.