Establishing an Historic Landmark for Ireland rd

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• • Historical Development Rohrer Cemetery is a typical pioneer cemetery, chosen as a place of burial when the need arose. It was established in the fall of 1845 by Centre Township farmer and politician Joseph Rohrer. Rohrer donated an acre of his land that year to St. Joseph County for "the exclusive use [as] a Burying Ground forever. "[1] Joseph and his wife, Mary, were pioneers in this section of the county. They arrived in Centre Township around 1829 with their large family consisting of both young children and adults with spouses . The Rohrers soon purchased considerable amounts of land in the county. They bought the parcel in which the cemetery was later located, consisting of 160 acres , for $300 .00 in 1833 . The property, due east of what was then the Michigan Road, became the Rohrer family farm. [2] Illness and death were always a threat to families pioneering in this section of the Midwest--the Rohrer family was extremely unfortunate in this regard. In the early 1840 's an epidemic disease, possibly typhoid, struck--from the spring of 1841 to the summer of 1845 Joseph and Mary buried seven children on this section of their property. This concentration of burials prompted the Rohrers to formalize the spot as an official county burial place. Joseph Rohrer died of the same malady in the fall of 1845, leaving Mary as owner of the family farm. [3] Rohrer Cemetery then became the final resting place for other Centre Township pioneer families in addition to relatives of the Rohrer family--especially those who settled near this northern part of the township. Prominent names in addition to the Rohrers included: the Millers , Lock[e]s , Ulbrichts , Hildebrands and Henry Stull . Remaining grave markers reveal that the cemetery was utilized almost entirely in the nineteenth century; the majority of remaining markers date from the 1840 's to the 1870 's . After 1870 burials decreased significantly. [4] In the spring of 1882 the commissioners of St . Joseph County transferred the site to the jurisdiction of the Rohrer Cemetery Association, a body responsible for upkeep and the sale of plots . Six years later the association was legally incorporated. The organization then plotted 147 grave spaces for sale to the public. The four original directors elected to manage the affairs of the association were William Stull , Samuel Leeper, Christian Hildebrand and Adam Frick. Other members were primarily Centre Township notables and/or descendants of interred individuals including: C.F. Rohrer, William C. Miller, George W. Lock, David Rohrer Leeper and Sylvester Keen. [5] Only five burials are known to have occurred after the turn of the century. The association and cemetery stockholders made efforts to generate interest in the cemetery, holding meetings in 1914 and 1915 to solicit funds for maintenance and to reorganize the plots for sale. Descendants of buried persons also donated money for upkeep but by 1915 only thirty of the 147 burial sites plotted earlier had been sold at prices ranging from $10 .00 to