Henry County Genealogical Services

    Wayne Township was created by the Board of Commissioners on 11 June 1822. The early land purchases were made in 1821, Probably the first white men to settle in Wayne Twp. were Daniel and Asa Heaton who settled just east of here near Blue River sometime around 1818 where they traded with the Indians. Asa Heaton later built the "Heaton" grist mill at that site. Samuel Goble was one of the early settlers, but his land was bought from under him before he could get to the land office at Brookville to pay for it. In 1822, about forty families were settled in Wayne Twp. The first town or village was West Liberty which was about a mile South-west of here. It was platted in 1821 by a Samuel Furgeson. West Liberty was situated on what was then called the old State Road, the main road through Henry county at that time, today we call it County Line Road South. At one time it had sixteen or more houses and the Post Office for this part of the county. In 1827, when they decided to build the National Road (US 40) through Henry county, then everyone moved north to the National Road and West Liberty vanished.
Cemeteries:
      Regular Baptist, also called "Pioneer Baptist, Greensboro Pike, Morgan Street This cemetery was started by the Regular Baptist Church on Sept. 22, 1827. Most of the early founders of Knightstown are buried here.
      Bethel Presbyterian. In a deed dated July 21, 1834, Samuel and Elizabeth Ramsey deeded to the Knightstown Bethel Presbyterian Church one half-acre of land for use as a burial ground for the church, To wit: "Commencing at the south of the alley directly across from the Bethel Church in Knightstown" and continues the exact location.
      Raysville Christian Cemetery was deeded in 1834 for use as a public burial ground for use by the church and the citizens of Raysville.
      Elm Grove Friend's Cemetery was deeded in 1836 to the Quaker church for use as a burial ground for members of the Friend's church.
      Knightstown Cemetery, also called the "Old Knightstown. Cemetery," located on Highway #109, Just Northwest of town was deeded August 30, 1838 as a cemetery for the citizens and general public of Knightstown. The I.O.O.F. took care of this cemetery for many years, later turning it over to the town of Knightstown to maintain.
      Raysville Friend's Cemetery was deeded in1839 for use as a burial ground for the Friend's church at Raysville.
      Joseph Fort who died in 1844is buried on his old homestead near Montgomery Creek with his wife Mary who died in 1843. His gggrandson, Joseph Fort had a marker erected at the grave site in 1962. I have come across mention of other burials here.
      Francis Fort Graveyard is about a hundred yards northwest of Joseph's in a woods. There are several stones here and I am sure there are probably more covered over with ages of soil build up.
      Glen Cove Cemetery is the last and newest cemetery in Wayne township. Located just northwest of town, on highway #109, it was deeded sometime in the 1880s for use as a public burial ground. It is one of the best maintained cemeteries in the county. A list of burials was compiled a couple of years ago but they have not been published as of yet.

    There are plenty more unknown burial sites in Wayne township that I have came across in family histories, where they were buried on their farm. I'm sure somewhere just north of Ogden there is a fairly large burial ground for the people of Ogden and the Heaton neighborhood. None of those earliest settlers, Heatons, Balls, Byrkits, Macys and other earliest families are not accounted for. John Driver, one of the earliest settlers and his wife and several children who died during the Cholera epidemic and were buried on his farm just north of here. Cholera wiped out several area families and there are no records of where they are buried, but they are out there somewhere.