Wesleyan Cemetery is a prominent cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the oldest continuously operating cemetery in Hamilton County, Ohio.HistoryThe cemetery was founded in 1843 by the Methodist Church when its old cemetery behind Wesley Chapel had become full. The church then bought approximately 25acre on Colerain Avenue adjacent to Mill Creek. Bodies from other cemeteries were moved there from downtown.Wesleyan is an historic cemetery and the first cemetery in Cincinnati designed in a park-like fashion, with winding drives, trees, and shrubs. Spring Grove Cemetery, another historic Cincinnati cemetery of similar design, was founded two years later in 1845. Wesleyan Cemetery was also the first in the city to keep and maintain records of its burials and grounds, which it has done since its founding. The grounds are known for their role in the Underground Railroad.The cemetery once played a pivotal role in "The Escape of the 28", one of the largest and best documented runaway slave escapes in the history of the Underground Railroad, when an abolitionist farmer named John Fairfield led 28 fugitive slaves through the city of Cincinnati in the daytime. With the help of anti-slavery Underground Railroad agent Levi Coffin's plan to pose as a funeral procession, they marched themselves to the north end of the city into the cemetery, where they found shelter, and were later led to Coffin's safe house. They then made their journey across the border into Canada and to freedom.
