Massillon’s Quaker Cemetery: History and Burial Practices

Massillon, Ohio

Located in a residential neighborhood in Massillon, down a dead-end street (pun intended) is a tiny cemetery dedicated to the memory of a famous resident, Charity Rotch (pronounced “Roach”) that contains the graves of other Quakers in the area. It harkens back to when a portion of the northern part of town was the Village of Kendal, which was once an Owenite Utopian Society.

Quaker Burial Traditions?

Before you ask, Quaker burial traditions aren’t as strange as the internet would have you believe. They aren’t buried standing up (not sure where that one came from), and, at this point in time, there aren’t any religious tenets that proclaim what types of coffins and headstones are required. Most just choose to follow the simplicity that’s the hallmark of the religion, and many burial grounds are right next to their churches.

Quaker cemeteries usually have inexpensive gravestones that might have initials or even a name carved into them. Some just have non-carved rocks to mark the graves. Quakers buried before the late 1800s weren’t allowed to have tombstones. After that date, those belonging to the Ohio Trand Philadelphia Yearly Meetings could have a gravestone. This makes the marking of Charity Rotch’s grave a little unusual, as it consists of a stone with her initials on it:

In addition, many Quaker gravestones use a very specific manner of marking the dates, using numbers for the month and other things, that is, if they inscribed the gravestone at all.

Who Was Charity Rotch?

You’re probably familiar with the Underground Railroad, but not with the Rotch family. Charity and her husband Thomas moved to what is now Massillon in the early 1800s in order to escape the climate in Connecticut, which contributed to some of her health concerns. They founded the Village of Kendal, farmed sheep, and built Spring Hill Historic Home sometime in the early 1800s.

As Quakers, the Rotch’s felt very strongly against slavery and ran their home as a stop on the Underground Railroad, providing safe passage for escaped enslaved people on their way across Lake Erie to freedom in Canada. Charity also founded a school, called the Charity School of Kendal.

Unfortunately, the Rotches didn’t have much time enjoy their lives in Kendal, as they both passed away with a year of each other. Thomas died in 1823 while visiting Mount Pleasant, Ohio and Charity died in 1824. Although the Find a Grave site for the Massillon Quaker Cemetery has Thomas listed as one of its residents, this more than likely isn’t correct. His current resting place is unknown, but is probably in Mount Pleasant.

Sources

One comment

Nice Job. As an Appraiser for 30 years I had appraised funeral homes in various Northern Ohio areas. And I found out that many strange cultures. Have traits.

LikeLike