Located in Fairfield County, Ohio, the Stonewall Cemetery stands as a unique and elegant attempt (successful attempt) to protect an early family cemetery. The dodecagon (12-sided) stone wall is an exquisite example of stone masonry in pioneer Ohio. The inscription above the gate says:
THIS WALL which encloses the family burying ground of NATHANIEL WILSON (one of the early Pioneers of the West) who emigrated from Cumberland County Pa and settled near this place AD 1798, when all around was one continued and uninhabited wilderness, was commenced by him AD 1838 & finished in the following year by his son GUSTIN, the former having suddenly died May 12, 1839.
In 1817 in a further attempt to protect his family plot, Nathaniel Wilson deeded the land of the cemetery to President James Monroe and all succeeding presidents. The cemetery is now under the care of the Fairfield County Historic Parks Commission.
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