Members of Headwaters Outdoor Education Center gathered with other groups on July 28 at Headwaters to dedicate a memorial to honor residents of the Morrow County home who were buried at the “Morrow County Home Cemetery” from 1900-1940.

The cemetery is located on CR 76, also known as Home Road. The wrought iron fence and the decorative iron arch are all that is left from the Morrow County Home and are now the boundary marker for the cemetery, which is on Headwaters property.

Over the past 25 years, Headwaters committee members have connected with Morrow County Historical Society and Genealogical Society members to trace the records of County Home residents who are buried in the cemetery. The ceremony on Sunday was a culmination of their efforts.

Eddie Lou Meimer, president of Headwaters Center, welcomed visitors to Headwaters Outdoor Education Center. She introduced former County Commissioner Olen Jackson, who was commissioner when he and Commissioners Don Staley and Don Weaver were in office at the time Headwaters was first envisioned in 1997-98.

Jackson said the commissioners got the idea when they toured an outdoor education center in Ashland County and realized the county home property, which was no longer being used, would be a good location for that type of outdoor educational center in Morrow County.

The Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) board with Eric Anthony and SWCD Director Dan Barker got behind the idea enthusiastically. The commissioners leased 150 acres to the Morrow County Soil and Water Conservation District “as long as it was used for educational purposes.” Jackson added that not everyone was happy with the decision, especially the farmer who was grazing cattle on the property.

The original Headwaters committee included Marilyn Weiler, Mia Shotwell, Phylis Miller, and her late husband, Jim Miller, Kay and Charlie Evans, and Meimer. Gail West and Kim Forget are the newest members of the committee. The main building was added in 1999, and three miles of trail are now maintained on the property.

Phylis Miller told the story of the Morrow County Home, which opened in 1871 after 200 acres were purchased by the county in 1870 for $12,000 to be a home for the poor and indigent. The property originally had a house with 12 rooms. It was remodeled with a three-story addition which totaled 48 rooms. Some rooms, like a dormitory, had space for four beds.

The first resident was accepted in 1971 with a total of 23 residents that first year. In the span of 115 years the county home was in use, there were 2,100 persons living there, ranging from newborn infants to the elderly in their 90s.

A separate building called an infirmary was built with cells or cubicles to house persons the courts called insane as well as quarantining some who had tuberculosis and other diseases. In 1907 and again in 1934, the home was considered for use as a hospital for the county.

The number of residents was at its highest in the 1930s when 49 persons were in residence. That was during the Depression. Miller said the economy was always a factor in the number there which fluctuated from week to week. Sometimes whole families were there due to emergencies such as a fire.

It was a working farm with orchards, a large garden, crops, cattle, sheep, hogs, and chickens. There was a washhouse where women did the laundry and a huge kitchen that served three dining rooms with separate rooms for men and women.

The longest-serving superintendent was C.R. Swisher, who was there for 40 years from 1923-63. Phil and Clara Dumbaugh took over leadership at a time when the need for the home was decreasing. Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare filled some of the home’s purposes along with unemployment and welfare payments.

The home closed in 1986 after a decade-long controversy with a committed group wanting to keep it open. The few residents remaining were relocated. The buildings were demolished in 2002 with the exception of the barn. Commissioners donated some remaining furniture, the piano, and barber chair to the History Center where it is now on display.

Headwaters board member Kay Evans spoke about the research done on the home and its residents by Jim Miller and Stan Sipe before they passed away. She described the booklet “Morrow County Home Records,” which lists every person who resided there by name, number, age, place of birth, record of death if known, discharge date, and remarks. Some residents came and went several times, some were runaways, and some were sent to children’s homes or other locations.

Evans noted the hard work and resourcefulness of residents who worked at the home and how they could be seen in the fields working. Some of the grapevines are still on the property which were used for jams and jellies.

“This will be a monument to remember and honor the hard-working residents buried here,” said Evans before leading the group to the cemetery for the dedication of the monument donated by Gene and LeAnne Gompf.

The Headwaters committee also thanked Mary Jo’s Greenhouse Legacy owners Shad Gallogly and William King for their donation of flowers for the cemetery dedication.

At the cemetery, Gompf spoke of his interest in the history of the cemetery, beginning when he was at its dedication in June 2022. He said it is important to remember the lives of those who never before had a grave marker and was pleased to provide the monument by Gompf Monuments.

Miller gave the background of some of the names engraved on the monument. They include 20 names who are known to be in the cemetery and some who are at a nearby location.

Rev. Don Linn, pastor of Pleasant Grove Church of Christ, ended the ceremony with a meditation and prayer on the importance of honoring the lives of the forgotten and those who worked so hard at the County Home.

The haunting sound of “Taps” echoed across the hill, played by Liam Shotwell to close the ceremony.