Sharon Cemetery

Sharon Township,  Section 34
Located about 3 miles east of Centerville on Highway 2. (about 1/4 mile east of the Sharon school house)
Land for the cemetery was deeded by William C. Packard in 1858.

The following was taken from the Centerville Iowegian Vol. 60, No. 19 - the year was about 1944-1945:

"SHARON CEMETERY-east of Centerville near Sharon School- adjacent to Highway 2. This cemetery was visited by Dr. T. J. Fitzpatrick then 78, of the University of Nebraska, and by C. B. DePuy of the Centerville Iowegian. Only a few markers remain but Fitzpatrick claimed there were about 200 people buried there. A Charles Smith and Adam Angst went there to dig a grave and dug down 5 times and hit where a body had been buried -finally the 6th time they managed to find an unused grave.

Some of the families buried there are:

Wilkinson, Floyd.....was carrying a knife and going down hill, fell and cut his jugular vain.
McCunes, James
Scott, George
Smith
Pixley, Benjamin D., Susan, John A., Martha, Mary
Packard, W. B., F. A., Elmina
Stevens, Jane
Brown, William, Mary A., Sarah, Elsina
Fitzpatrick, John H.
Coles, George died 1883, age 37 - was in the 8th Cavalry (Iowa) in the Civil War, had smallpox in the war-finally caused his death
Crandel, Nettie died 1886, age 19 yrs
Beach, Rebecca w/o R. B. Beach"


This is a map of the stones that are currently in the cemetery today and their position. See Map # column on the transcription table below for the name on the stones.

List is alphabetical as there are so few stones left and there are no records of where the original burials were all positioned.
Map# Surname First Name Birth Death Age Comments
Beach Rebecca 11-13-1901 93y 21d w/o R. Beach (no stone)
18 Brown Elsina E. 1848 1872
18 Brown Mary A. 1839 1862
18 Brown Sarah J. 1846 1871
18 Brown William G. 1851 1863
5 Cowels Geo. N. Jan. 12,1883 37y 3m 3d
Cowels John M. Aug. 13, 1878 5m 25d no stone
19 Crandel Nettie M. Jan. 17, 1886 19y 2m 6d d/o J. & J. Crandel "Forget me not"
13 Fitzpatrick James D. Oct. 20, 1851 2y 1m 6d s/o J.H. and S.A. Fitzpatrick (broken stone, leaning against the tree)
8 Fitzpatrick John H. 42y 1m 3d broken stone, leaning against the tree
Fitzpatrick Mary age 3m 3d d/o J.H. & S. A. (no stone)
9 Fitzpatrick Mary E. Jan. 3, 1853 3m 19d d/o of J.H. & S.A. (broken stone, leaning against the tree)
14 Fitzpatrick Sarah A. 76y 2m 2d w/o J. H. (stone is broken and mostly unreadable)
17 Hays (Shaw) (Amanada) Ellen Jan. 18, 1854 Sept. 23, 1903 New replacement stone
17 Hays S. Colson March 31, 1885 June 1, 1905 New replacement stone (note from LaRue, "drowned in Raven Mine pond"
Lindsey Violetta Dec. 21, 1860 5m 8d d/o J. & J. (no stone)
McCoy Walter Aug. 11, 1865 1y 10m 2d s/o Wm. & L (no stone)
11 Mercer Amy Oct. 11, 1868 17y broken stone, leaning against the tree
Packard Elmina Sept. 13, 1862 1y 11m 1d Dau.of W. B. & M. A. (no stone)
Packard Nelson May 10, 1860 6m Son of W.B. & M. A. Packard (no stone)
10 Packard name unreadable July 16, 1863 6m broken stone, leaning against the tree
Pixley Benjamin O. 1827 1857 30 Y no stone
Pixley Susan 1827 1894 67 Y no stone
Pixley Martha J. 1855 1857 2 Y no stone
Pixley Mary A. 1858 1876 18 Y no stone
1 Powers Georgie T. Feb. 27, 1883 2y 2m 4d s/o A. D. & M. J. (broken, laying behind W. Wittenmyer stone)
1 Powers Johnny A. Mar. 25, 1886 7m 17d s/o A. D. & M. J. (broken, laying behind W. Wittenmyer stone)
6 Scott George W. Jan. 9, 1892 29y 6m 9d unreadable quote at bottom
20 Stevens Harriett A. May 15, 1856 May 8, 1858 2 Y stone is mostly unreadable
20 Stevens Jane 1851 May 30, 1858 7 Y. d/o W. Stevens
20 Stevens John B. Apr. 12, 1847 Jan. 10, 18?? s/o W. Stevens
20 Stevens Mary Oct. 30, 1851 May 17, 1858 d/o W. Stevens
20 Stevens Susan A. Aug. 22, 1828 May 6, 1850 22 Y
Walter Diantha July 26, 1853 1y 5m 28d d/o C. W. Walter (no stone)
12 Walter Elisha Feb. 10, 1857 17y 3m 22d s/o of G. & M. Walter (broken stone, leaning against the tree)
3 Walter Elizabeth (broken, laying to the side of W. Wittenmyer stone)
Walter George Nov. 7, 1883 77y 11m 2d no stone
4 Wittenmyer Mary Sept. 19, 1901 56y 4m 13d w/o T. W.
2 Wittenmyer Walina Oct. 20, 1918 1y 10m 15d Dau. of ? Wittenmyer
Wittenmyer Wakram 1881 no stone
6 Unreadable
15 Unreadable or base of stone
16 Unreadable or base of stone

The above transcription is compiled from transcriptions from LaRue Strickler Exline (from the 1950's), Alice & Wayne Daniels (from cemetery listings from the Appanoose County Genealogy Society published in the mid 1980's) and a survey of the cemetery by Renee Rimmert & Vicky Dischler (November 2015).